Articles about Android

The public beta of McAfee's newest mobile security app becomes available to download for Android devices today. Its leading feature is something called Smart Perimeter which addresses one of the key concerns of users, losing your device.

Smart Perimeter works by allowing devices to track each other and alert the user if they stray more than 30 feet apart. If a device goes outside the perimeter an alarm sounds and it's also locked so you have to enter a PIN to re-enable it.

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I am a longtime Android user and fan. However, my Nexus 7 has been running very slow. Needless to say, I am in the market for something to replace it. I was planning on looking for another Android tablet. Heck, like my colleague Joe Wilcox, I even collect Android collectibles. However, I am currently having a sordid love affair with Microsoft Windows 8. Everyone who hears about my love for Windows 8 on the desktop tells me that the operating system will really shine on a tablet. And so, I decided to explore an Android alternative -- a Windows 8 device.

When looking for a Windows 8 tablet, there were only two things I knew I wanted -- great build quality and for it to be light-weight. However I knew for sure what I didn’t want -- Windows RT. I expect Windows RT to slowly grow and gain momentum in the future. However, that time is not now. I need to get work done with my tablet so I must have access to Windows x86 apps.

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Dr Web Anti-virus has released its latest report on malware activity showing that Trojans continue to be the most common threat.

New threats found in May include Trojan.Mods.1 which replaces the contents of webpages loaded in a browser. This is part of a premium rate SMS fraud that puts up a page asking for a mobile number and then sends a text message asking for a reply. Almost 16,000 copies of this Trojan were detected by Dr Web during the month of May.

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The BBC’s weather predictions tend to be reasonably accurate, and now you can check the corporation’s latest forecasts on a new app available for iOS and Android.

When you launch the app it detects your location and tells you what the weather is like where you are, providing details such as high and low temperatures, current conditions, humidity, visibility and wind speed.

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Finding the right keyboard for Android can turn into a lengthy mission. There are few stock keyboards that cut the mustard and timesaving, gesture-friendly alternatives such as Swype and SwiftKey have gained a massive following in recent months. Not wanting to feel left out, Google is making its own stock Android keyboard available in the Play store.

Despite being a stock keyboard, Google Keyboard is surprisingly good -- Nexus users should not be surprised at this as this is the keyboard they are used to working with. Unlike many native keyboards, this one goes above and beyond being a basic onscreen input device for typing letter by letter. Well above and beyond.

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Following the Galaxy S4 Mini, on Wednesday, South Korean manufacturer Samsung introduced a new smartphone in its high-end Android lineup. Called the Galaxy S4 Active, the handset sports similar hardware specifications to the company's current green droid flagship -- the Galaxy S4 -- but in a more rugged packaging.

"The Galaxy S4 Active is the newest addition to the Galaxy series and is purposefully designed for active users who love the outdoors", says Samsung CEO JK Shin. "Samsung has taken the innovative features of the Galaxy S4 and added breakthrough protective design elements to create a device that thrives in an active environment and is built for a lifestyle of travel and exploration".

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As the cloud computing gold rush continues, more and more companies are trying to lay their claim. Like it or not, the future of computing is the cloud. Make no mistake -- whoever controls the cloud will control the web and computing overall. With that said, major computer manufacturer, Lenovo, has decided to get into the ring with its newly announced cloud platform named Reach. It will work on both Lenovo and non-Lenovo computers.

The company says that Reach "…allows users to access social networks, favorite applications, as well as help them find files, photos and other digital media across your online storage accounts, no matter where users put them".

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Google has released Gmail for Android 4.5, a radical new version of its Google Mail client for Android smartphones. At the present time, the update is slowly making its way to users through the Google Play store, with the intention being all users will be able to update or install the latest version within the next few weeks.

We’ve managed to get hold of a sneaky copy, and can reveal it’s as radical an update as anticipated, with a revamped user interface and support for new features such as Gmail tabs and pull-to-refresh. As expected, these new features require a handset or tablet running Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) or later -- those running earlier versions of Android get version 2.3.6, with minor bug fixes.

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Eye-Fi memory cards can automatically copy photos from your camera to a wireless enabled device, such as your PC, whenever you get in range. The new Mobi card, announced today, is designed to transfer photos from a camera to any iOS or Android handset.

All you have to do is insert the Mobi card into your camera, and use it as you would any ordinary SD card. Install the free app on your phone and pair it to the Mobi by entering a unique 10 digit code. Once paired, photos and videos can be copied over automatically.

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South Korean manufacturer Samsung unveiled, on Monday, two new tablets as part of its Galaxy Tab 3 lineup. The fondleslabs, available in 8-inch and 10.1-inch display trim, run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and feature mid-range to low-end hardware specifications.

Despite touting them as offering  an "exceptional reading and entertainment experience", both the 8-inch and the 10.1-inch Galaxy Tab 3 tablets come with TFT displays sporting a resolution of 1280 by 800 (the ppi -- pixels per inch -- density is 189 and 149, respectively). That's on par with other 8-inch devices like the Galaxy Note 8.0 but significantly behind 10.1-inchers like the Google Nexus 10 (2560 by 1600 resolution and 300 ppi).

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We all thought that smartphones would become smaller and more portable with the passage of time. However, the opposite seems to be true as smartphone manufacturers are all creating devices with bigger and better displays.

Today at Computex 2013, Taiwanese manufacturer Acer reveals its first phablet, the Liquid S1 running Android 4.2 Jelly Bean and boasting a 5.7 inch HD display with 1280 by 720 resolution.

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At Computex 2013, Asus unveiled the Transformer Book Trio or what it calls "a three-in-one mobile device" that can be a Windows 8 notebook when connected to the keyboard, a Windows 8 desktop PC, or a standalone Android tablet.

The Transformer Book Trio runs two operating systems -- Android (Jelly Bean) and Windows 8 -- and is designed to switch between the two seamlessly, giving users access to over 700,000 apps from Google Play and Windows Store.

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Today at Computex in Taiwan, Asus announced a lot of new products, including a new MeMO Pad HD 7 tablet.

The Android device is 10.8mm thick and weighs just 302g. It packs a 7-inch 1280 by 800 IPS display with 170-degree wide viewing angle. The device is powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor, has 1GB of RAM, and features a 1.2 megapixel front facing camera and an optional 5 megapixel rear facing camera.

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Remember the days when Google Nexus-experience phones were slim pickings? The days of one "Nexus" branded device are now gone, as Google continues to pull new handsets into the family -- granted, it is not really under the Nexus name, but they function as such. Now Chrome and Android chief Sundar Pichai announces that the pure Galaxy S4 unveiled at Google I/O will be joined by the HTC One.

Appearing on stage at the All Things D D11 conference, Pichai was asked by co-host Walt Mossberg about his current hardware and responded "I’m carrying an HTC One in my pocket. This is running the core UI on Nexus phones as well", in reference to hardware makers junking up current devices.

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After launching the smartphone in its home market, on Thursday, South Korean manufacturer LG announces that the Optimus G Pro, the company's Android flagship, will finally be available in remaining Asian markets starting next month.

"Asian customers are leading many of today’s technology trends and we’re confident Optimus G Pro will find a large following in this region", says LG' Jong-seok Park. The handset, labeled indirectly as a phablet by the company, will be launched in Hong Kong first, followed by other local markets like Taiwan, Singapore, Thailand, India, Indonesia, Philippine, Vietnam and Malaysia throughout June.

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