In some parts of the world, new phones come unlocked. Europeans, for example, are typically able to buy unlocked phones from their carriers. In North America, however, carriers are different. Whether you’re purchasing a phone in the United States or Canada, you will likely receive a locked smartphone. What does “locked” mean? When a phone is “locked” it means it’s restricted to a certain carrier’s network. You can’t pop an alternative SIM card into your phone to access…
I’ve never found a voice-to-text system that’s 100% accurate. I don’t think one exists. That’s why it can be so frustrating to use voice activation features on your Android device. The few times I’ve used Google Now while driving, I feel like I’m driving more dangerously because I have to correct all the mistakes Google made. That’s why I was happy to discover a new feature with Google Now. That feature is simply, “No, I said.” For whatever reason, Google isn’t…
Google has named the latest version of its Android OS as Android L. There is no doubt that this version would be upgradeable and you can enjoy its benefits on your current phone. But it will be some time before application developers move in with their creations to fully utilize its features and ensure a great user experience. According to Sunder Pichai, the Android head, this upgrade is quite a significant one as it would have 5000 new APIs that developers can preview soon. Moreover, voice too…
Have you ever sold a smartphone? If so, then you probably wiped all data from the device and restored its factory settings. Unfortunately, that’s not always enough. A new study by Avast reveals some scary facts about leftover data on smartphones. During the study, Avast purchased 20 used Android smartphones off eBay and then used “simple and easily available recovery software” to restore deleted files. In other words, Avast did something that anybody could have done. They…
In today’s world, technology obsolescence is a reality. Consumers want more out of the next product and that is forcing brands to continuously keep innovating. The smart phone brands have not been able to escape this trend either and with the market growing rapidly every passing day; they are always looking at offering something more exciting to attract consumers. Indeed, reaching out rapidly to the new users and developing emerging markets is a challenge many of the top smart phone brands…
Over the past month, KitKat has rolled out to a wide range of devices. The latest Android usage numbers reflect that change. Google recently released its monthly Android usage statistics. These statistics, like always, are gathered from all visitors to the Google Play Store over the first week of the month: There aren’t a lot of surprises this month, although Google will certainly be impressed that KitKat usage is not at 17.9%, making it the third most popular OS behind Jelly Bean…
Would you switch to Apple for haptic feedback? Probably not. Haptic feedback, for those who don’t know, is the vibration feedback you feel when using video game controllers. Some Android phones already have haptic feedback and will gently vibrate with every key press. Samsung Galaxy S devices, for example, have haptic feedback enabled right out of the box, although most users choose to disable the feature. In any case, the latest rumors from Apple-land state that the iPhone 6 will…
If you’re a Chromecast user, then you’ll be happy with the latest Chromecast update. Google has officially made screen mirroring available on many Android devices. In other words, you can use your TV to display whatever is currently on your Android screen. Screen mirroring can be useful for many different reasons. Some people will use it to display presentations at work, while others will use it to play games on their HDTV. You can also use it to show pictures from a recent vacation…
On July 11, AT&T officially brought the LG G3 to the United States. LG’s latest flagship phone has been breaking sales records in South Korea and has been widely praised for its awesome battery life, crisp display (with a resolution of 2560x1440), and 4K video recording, among many other amazing features. All four major carriers in the United States will start selling the LG G3 over the month of July. Release dates are planned as follows: AT&T: July 11 T-Mobile: July…
Unicorns aren’t real, but you wouldn’t know that if you looked at the Google Play Store. Reddit user rabidgremlin recently discovered an interesting Google Play Store Easter Egg. Specifically, if you leave the Search bar blank and click the ‘Search’ button, the Store will display results as if you typed in unicorn. Your results will vary based on your location. I see apps like Fluffy Unicorn, Unicorn Pet, and Unicorn Run alongside G2 Xposed (for whatever reason). I also…
