Do you remember the moment you bought a new phone? You took it out of the box, put in the battery, turned it on, and enjoyed a clean smartphone with a 100% blank slate. Except that didn’t happen, because no smartphone comes with a blank slate these days. Instead, even Google’s Nexus devices come with all sorts of preinstalled apps. Samsung, HTC, and Sony are also major offenders. There’s nothing wrong with preinstalled apps until you realize that they cannot be uninstalled.…
For a long time, the two most popular custom ROMs have been CyanogenMod and the Android Open Kang Project (AOKP). Today, both of these custom ROMs delivered major news. The founder of AOKP, Roman Birg, has left Kang and joined CyanogenMod, Inc. AOKP is just two and a half years old. Over that time, Roman was able to grow his small homemade operating system kernel into one of the most highly-respected Android ROMs. In a world where there are literally thousands of developers competing for…
It sounds like something out of a futuristic movie: you can answer your smartphone with a whistle. But using a clever new app, whistling to answer your phone has never been easier. And no, this isn’t a joke designed to trick you into whistling at your phone in public. Whistling to answer your phone is more than just a gimmick. It can be extremely useful for anyone who does a lot of driving. Instead of reaching down to ‘swipe’ and accept the phone call, you can simply whistle without…
One of the biggest joys of rooting is getting to sample new custom ROMs whenever your heart desires. ROMs change the look and feel of your Android phone or tablet. They can improve performance, boost battery life, and breathe new life into an old device. But before you enjoy any of these benefits, you need to flash a ROM onto your Android. Today, we’re going to show you how to flash a ROM – even if you have no idea what ‘flash’ or ‘ROM’ actually mean. What is a custom ROM? A…
It’s 2014 and there’s never been a better time to root Android. Whether you’re trying to solve fragmentation problems or just checking out some of the awesome root-only apps, there are plenty of benefits to rooting Android in 2014. Here are our 10 favorite benefits: 10) You will never see “this app is incompatible with your device” again If you take a browse through the Google Play Store on an unrooted Android device, you’re going to see the following message a few times: “This…
CyanogenMod had humble beginnings as an Android custom ROM. Over the past few months, however, CyanogenMod has attempted to become an innovative, profitable tech company. GalleryNext is one example of CyanogenMod’s innovation. GalleryNext is the much-anticipated new gallery app for the popular custom ROM. This past week, CyanogenMod released the GalleryNext beta, which means users can test it out for themselves. Koushik Dutta announced the news on Google+. Here’s what GalleryNext…
I like root-only apps, you like root-only apps. But do you know who doesn’t like root-only apps? Android 4.5. That’s right: the next Android update is actively in development and should be released within the first quarter or second quarter of 2014. Unfortunately for users of rooted Android devices, Android 4.5 could be a devastating update. Why? Well, according to a new report from ChainFire on Google+, Android 4.5 has some serious issues with the way it handles root-only…
Google Glass is a cool concept. Unfortunately, most people will never own Google Glass. Unless you live in San Francisco, walking around with a pair of Star Trek-like glasses on is a little bizarre. Meanwhile, some people don’t like having their phone’s information in their face all day. But a new project from Google could be the start of a revolution: wearable high-tech contact lenses. Google recently announced via a blog post that it was developing contact lenses that have special…
We’re going to be learning a lot more about the Galaxy S5 over the coming weeks. Samsung is gearing up for a March/April release of their next-generation phone and already, we’ve started to learn a bit more about the features we can expect. The latest news involves the way users will unlock their phones. Just like the iPhone 5S, the Galaxy S5 will have a fingerprint sensor. This information comes out in contrast to earlier reports which stated that the Galaxy S5 could have a…
Shutting down a PC can be annoying. You have to go to your office chair, leave over your keyboard, press the Windows Start button, click Shut Down, and then walk away. Life is tough. If your PC shutdown process is bringing you down, then you need an app called Droid Remote Lite. Droid Remote Lite is designed to shut down, restart, and hibernate your PC from your Android device. Here’s how it works: -Install the app on your Android -Install the executable file on your…
