Android Authority |
- Root Call Blocker for avoiding unwanted calls and sending auto SMS to unwanted callers
- Ovoto: Sharing photos and polling your Facebook and Twitter friends
- HTC Media Link HD showcased, makes connecting to HDMI displays a breeze
- Video: Google dev accidentally shows Google Drive on phone
- Tegra 3 + LTE devices coming in Q3 2012, says Nvidia
- HTC One X now available in Canada, exclusive to Rogers Wireless
- Unlocked US Samsung Galaxy S2 now receiving official Ice Cream Sandwich update
- InvisiBright: Automated brightness levels without touching your phone
- Samsung S-Cloud to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S3 on May 3?
- Mobile GPUs to be on-par with consoles in a couple of years? NVIDIA says it’s possible
| Root Call Blocker for avoiding unwanted calls and sending auto SMS to unwanted callers Posted: 21 Apr 2012 11:00 PM PDT
In this day and age, contacting someone is as easy as one, two, three. Call, send an SMS, or even send an e-mail; there’s no shortage of ways to contact people. Though being easily contactable has its advantages, this is also means that people we’d really rather avoid have easy access to us. They can be telemarketers, prank callers, and even annoying relatives. Sometimes we get calls from numbers we don’t even recognize and that can be especially annoying when we’re waiting for a call that matters. Sure, we can opt to hit the Ignore option but that also means that our phone would still be vulnerable to calls. Wouldn’t it be much better if there were an app that killed calls even before they made your phone ring?
Developed by Fahrboot Mobile, the Root Call Blocker is an app that everyone evading pesky telemarketers or relatives absolutely needs on his or her phone. As the app’s name suggests, Root Call Blocker requires root access on your Android device. This allows Root Call Blocker to work at a system level and to provide airtight blocking and filtering from calls and SMS. The power to block calls from the people you don’t want to hear from is in the palm of your hand. Root Call Blocker is no-frills, straight to the point. and carries only features that you need.
We all need breaks, and with how we feel obligated to stay connected with people all the time, an option to schedule when Root Call Blocker should work is extremely handy. Take the weekend off and keep your mind free of worries by blocking unknown numbers. Select any day of the week, or all of them if you’re feeling especially like a hermit. Root Call Blocker makes sure that blocked calls never get through–and any blocked calls and messages from blocked numbers stay hidden. You can even opt to reject unknown or restricted numbers and area codes for countries. If you’d like to keep tabs on blocked numbers, you can enable notification for when a certain caller or number has been blocked. Root Call Blocker even comes with an option for you to enable SMS auto-replies when a blocked number tries to contact you. You’ll never have to be annoyed with telemarketers, pesky relatives, or even prank callers again. Once you’ve installed Root Call Blocker on your device, load up the list of people you’d like to avoid talking to. You can then select specific ways on how to block those numbers. You can also make a whitelist for numbers that you’d like to allow.
For Root Call Blocker to run effectively, both root access and Internet access are required. Internet access allows the app to hook into the communications system for licensing and Flurry application tracking. Root Call Blocker can only run on devices with Android 2.1 and higher. Like all apps, Root Call Blocker seems to have a few bugs that need to be worked out. One of the three network options that Root Call Blocker provides, Don’t Answer, actually crashes the app when activated. There also seem to be some compatibility issues with a few phones, as well as compatibility issues when users need to re-root after upgrading their software. If you’d like to start blocking messages and calls from unwanted numbers, you can download Root Call Blocker Trial from the Google Play Store. Root Call Blocker’s trial version allows you to block one item, but you can get around this by using Google Groups to block multiple numbers. If blocking just one person or one group is insufficient, and you’d like additional features, you can purchase Root Call Blocker Pro on the Google Play Store. This article, Root Call Blocker for avoiding unwanted calls and sending auto SMS to unwanted callers , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Ovoto: Sharing photos and polling your Facebook and Twitter friends Posted: 21 Apr 2012 01:00 PM PDT
If you’ve ever been caught in a dilemma, you’ll know that calling up a friend or a relative is the best way to resolve it. Instead of standing there, waffling over an item to purchase or an item to wear, it’s so much easier to ask someone for her or his opinion. But, if the person isn’t with you, how can he or she properly analyze your dilemma? You could send the person a picture of the item, but what if you wanted more than one friend’s opinion? For situations like that, there’s Ovoto.
Ovoto, developed by HayStaks, was first introduced on the iOS and has recently arrived on Android. It’s a free Android app that allows you to create a poll by using pictures snapped by your phone. After you’ve snapped the items of your dilemma, Ovoto guides you through setting up a poll and it’s that poll you can share with your Facebook friends for their input. Select how long your poll should run. You can have it run for as short as 15 minutes to as long as two hours. If your friends have Ovoto, you can use the app to browse and vote on their polls. The app is quite straightforward but a little limited for users who would want to vary their questions. Ovoto only gives users the options to add a verb at the end of “Should I…” Snap a picture of a watch you’re not sure you should wear, for example, and wait for your Facebook friends to cast their votes. Snap a picture of that game you want to buy and wait for your friends’ input.
To be able to publish your polls to Facebook, you’ll have to authorize Ovoto to access your Facebook account. Afterwards, snap an image using the camera button on Ovoto’s homescreen and complete “Should I…” with the verb of your choice. You can then specify how long you’d like the poll to run and you’re all set to share the poll with your Facebook friends. Ovoto isn’t limited to just Facebook. Share your poll with friends on Twitter as well. If you’d like to see all the polls you’ve ever made using Ovoto, tap on the My Polls tab. Check out the polls your friends with Ovoto have made through the Friends’ Polls tab and cast your own vote. Tap on a poll to see how many votes it’s gotten so far, if you’re getting impatient. Tapping on the Menu reveals options such as extending the poll time, sharing the poll via e-mail, copying the link to the clipboard or responding to the poll yourself. You have the option to inform your friends on a poll’s final verdict once the poll expires.
Ovoto is simple and gets the job done. Unfortunately it doesn’t allow photos to auto-rotate, but it shouldn’t be a deal breaker. Based on user feedback, Ovoto integrates well with Facebook and Twitter. If you’d like to have some poll fun with your friends helping you decide on things, download Ovoto for free from the Google Play Store today. It requires Android 2.2 or higher to run. This article, Ovoto: Sharing photos and polling your Facebook and Twitter friends , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| HTC Media Link HD showcased, makes connecting to HDMI displays a breeze Posted: 21 Apr 2012 10:40 AM PDT
Developments in smartphone technology have provided us with a way to easily access streaming and downloadable content over the internet, ranging from pictures and music to full HD movies. While most high-end devices feature 720p or even 1080p video playback capabilities, it is certainly a joy to watch high-quality videos and movies on the small screen (Remember when “small screen” meant the TV?). But our phones boast a lot of other uses as opposed to just watching Youtube videos and movies, i.e. making and receiving phone calls, email, or just surfing the net. As such, it is sometimes difficult to commit to a 90 minute long movie without a lot of interruptions. What if there was a way to watch that movie “on your phone,” while also accessing all the other features, without any disruptions? Now, there is a way, at least if you own the HTC One X/S, with the HTC Media Link HD.
Granted, this is not a breakthrough, with HTC itself releasing a Media Link back in 2010, and with the availability of similar devices from Apple (Airplay) and Western Digital. What makes the Media Link HD stand out from its competition is its incredibly quick setup time, said to be less than a minute, and the ease of accessing digital media, which only requires a three-finger swipe across the screen, feeling almost like “flinging” the video across to the TV. First seen fleetingly at MWC 2012, the unassuming “black box” features a micro-USB port for power and an HDMI port for output, both connections found on most TVs nowadays. The connection with the handheld device is completely wireless. It basically employs a dual-screen mode, allowing you to view media on your TV or any other HDMI-capable device, while giving you full access to your handheld device, for true multitasking.
HTC showcased the Media Link HD, which is compatible with any Sense 4.0 device, at an event in Seattle today. Unfortunately, that means the HTC One series smartphones, for now. Some of its features include (Courtesy of HTC):
You can also watch a video of the demo here, Courtesy of AnandTech. No official information on the release date or pricing of the HTC Media Link HD is available. But Expansys-USA has the device priced at $109.99, which I’m assuming is tentative. What are your thoughts? Is the Media Link HD going to change the way you share and view content? Is it a must-have or just another unnecessary accessory? Let us know in the comments section below. No related posts. This article, HTC Media Link HD showcased, makes connecting to HDMI displays a breeze , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Video: Google dev accidentally shows Google Drive on phone Posted: 21 Apr 2012 10:22 AM PDT
If leaked pictures of Google Drive have failed to convince you that Google's cloud storage service will make its debut soon, how about we throw in some blurry video into the mix as well? In one of those "oops" moments, a Google employee has probably shared more than he planned about Google’s upcoming service. It happened during an Android Developers' Hangout session, a social networking initiative that lets you "meet, share and connect with the people behind the Android developer experience". Said employee was showing off the sharing features of an app on his Galaxy Nexus, when a logo that looks a lot like Google Drive’s supposed icon popped up on the phone. The slip was first noticed by an eagle-eyed fellow from The Verge. With the video making its way to the blogosphere, Google decided to spoil the party by making the video private. Luckily, a copy of the video was made and uploaded, so you can see it for yourself below. While this proves that Google Drive is at least not a figment of our imagination, we can't really tell how soon the service will go live due to a lack of official confirmation from Google. We've recently reported that Google Drive is expected to come next week, with Tuesday being a high possibility. More than just an online storage solution, Google Drive will also offer free online syncing of your files (all 5GB of them). According to past leaks, the service will be compatible with Android and iOS devices, as well as PCs and Macs. In a couple of days, we'll find out if Dropbox and the gang will have one more reason to be anxious about competition. We’ll keep you posted. No related posts. This article, Video: Google dev accidentally shows Google Drive on phone , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Tegra 3 + LTE devices coming in Q3 2012, says Nvidia Posted: 21 Apr 2012 09:58 AM PDT
Feeling the pinch from Qualcomm's Snapdragon S4, Samsung's Exynos 4412, and other SoC debutants, Nvidia plans to follow up its quad-core Tegra 3 processor with a Tegra 3+ this year. The news was revealed by Nvidia general manager Mike Rayfield during a tech conference in Seattle. Speaking to PC World, Rayfield stated that the Tegra 3+ will be "a pretty significant bump" from its predecessor and "it'll be high performance." But that's not all that Nvidia has up its sleeve. An updated version of Tegra 3 will come with an integrated LTE modem, which would open the lucrative North American mobile market to Nvidia. Rayfield said that the current Tegra 3 could actually play nice with an LTE modem; it's just that "the guy who has LTE isn’t all that excited about working with me.” This is, of course, a dig at Qualcomm, one the world's biggest LTE modems producers, which happens to be Nvidia's competitor in the mobile chip front. Phones and tablets sporting the new Tegra 3 chip with built-in LTE, according to Rayfield, will come in Q3 2012. The LTE incompatibility issue of Nvidia's Tegra 3 has been one of the major stumbling blocks for the 4-plus-1 CPU in the US. This, however, didn't stop phone and tablet makers from utilizing the chip, as it can be seen powering the Asus Transformer Prime, the upcoming Asus Transformer Pad 300, Acer Iconia Tab A510, the international version of HTC OneX, and others. Since Rayfield didn't mention a timeline for the release of the Tegra 3+ chip, which won't really be its final name, we wonder where it will fit in with Nvidia's "Wayne" and "Grey" series. The two were revealed back in 2011 in Nvidia's Tegra roadmap, with an expected release date of Q1 and Q3 2013. This article, Tegra 3 + LTE devices coming in Q3 2012, says Nvidia , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| HTC One X now available in Canada, exclusive to Rogers Wireless Posted: 21 Apr 2012 09:42 AM PDT
While the HTC One XL has been slated for a May 6 release with AT&T in the US, Canadians have reasons to celebrate earlier because HTC’s flagship device is available in their country from yesterday, exclusively through Rogers Wireless. In a press release, Raj Doshi, Rogers’ Senior VP Products, stated that the carrier is excited to bring the HTC One X exclusively for its customers. Operating on Canada’s fastest and largest LTE network will allow customers to upload images, download albums and stream HD music videos, with virtually no delays and buffering. If you are unsure about the specifications, this release is the LTE version of the device and features:
Since it is the LTE version, we do see the some differences from the international release such as reduced internal storage from 32GB to 16GB and the processor swapping from the quad-core Nvidia Tegra 3 to the dual-core Qualcomm SnapDragon S4. The HTC One X is available for pre-order for CAD $169.99 with a 3 year contract here, or for CAD $624.99 if you want to buy it outright with no contract, here. If you live in Canada, will you be picking up the HTC One X? Let us know in the comments section below. This article, HTC One X now available in Canada, exclusive to Rogers Wireless , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Unlocked US Samsung Galaxy S2 now receiving official Ice Cream Sandwich update Posted: 21 Apr 2012 09:37 AM PDT
If you needed additional proof that the Galaxy S3 unveiling and launch are, in fact, just around the corner, the latest "strategic" moves from Samsung should once and for all confirm the flagship's upcoming release. Sammy is currently tying up pretty much all loose ends they had with the Galaxy S2, preparing to release the HD LTE version of the smartphone in Canada and now releasing a much awaited Ice Cream Sandwich update for the unlocked version in the United States. If you happen to own a non-carrier branded Galaxy S2 in the US of A these days, you should head on to your "Settings" menu right away and check for an update. You will most likely get a sweet, sweet message with an ice cream sandwich flavor and, Just click the "Download" button, and you should have your device refreshed and upgraded in no time. The 216 MB upgrade package should improve your phone's performance considerably and will add some cool new features, like Face Unlock, but the TouchWiz experience you are used to should remain pretty much the same.
If the download prompt message is not there when checking the settings menu of your phone, you might need to reboot your Galaxy S2 or try to find a better Internet connection (the update does come over-the-air). Unfortunately, we have no details about any Ice Cream Sandwich updates for the carrier branded Galaxy S2s in the US, but I personally think you should be on the lookout for some similar news before the S3's unveiling in two weeks. Stay tuned on our website to find out when will your Galaxy S2 be officially updated to ICS, or, if you just can't wait anymore, hit this, this, this or this link to find out how to take your phone to the next OS level, using unofficial ROMs released by generous (and brilliant) developers. This article, Unlocked US Samsung Galaxy S2 now receiving official Ice Cream Sandwich update , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| InvisiBright: Automated brightness levels without touching your phone Posted: 21 Apr 2012 08:00 AM PDT
With the development of touchscreen devices, using gestures to control certain functions on our Android smartphones has become second nature to us. One of the earliest uses of gesture can be found in many early devices that allowed users to control their car-racing game using their phone's accelerometer. The iPhone's iconic lock screen gesture has garnered universal acclaim for its simplicity that allowed users to lock or unlock their device. At the same time, it also caused a lot of commotion in the patent department. Aside from iOS devices, Android devices also have their own clever tricks with their own gesture-based motion controls. There is even an application that lets you configure gesture-based controls. Introducing InvisiBright, developed by Dan Girshovich. This app is a simple and unique application that lets users adjust their phone's brightness from inside any application. Simply activate the app by pressing and holding down the Search key for a few seconds and you're good to go. To adjust your phone's brightness all you need to do is either swipe or tilt your phone. On the right side of the screen, swipe upwards to increase the brightness and swipe downwards to decrease it. Tap the left side of the screen to quit the application. This is certainly good news as there are certain applications that tends to sway away from the phone's usual default brightness settings.
One of the most common problems with brightness comes from applications such as games and media players. Every time a user plays his or her favorite game, the application automatically switches to its brightest default level regardless of the phone's configured brightness settings. According to Girshovich, the application is a great way to save on battery life, and it is absolutely true. While there are some applications that require that much needed glow, there are others that need to have theirs trimmed down a bit. Here's a short video demonstration how the InvisiBright app works in the background: InvisiBright features status bar shortcuts, tilt and touch modes, as well as many customizable preferences that lets users toggle down the settings for their own pleasure.
InvisiBright also comes with a Pro version that adds an array of features not found in the normal version. These include:
Since its release on the Google Play Store, the application has been well received by many users praising its usefulness. Not only that, compatibility is relatively high among many Android users. InvisiBright has been tested with various Android devices ranging from the Droid to the Nook Color.
Overall, InvisiBright is a great application, especially if you have some rogue applications that do not follow the default brightness configuration set on your phone. Battery saving couldn't get much easier to handle with the InvisiBright application. If you're planning on saving your phone's battery, then this application is definitely worth your time. Download the InvisiBright application for free from the Google Play Store. This article, InvisiBright: Automated brightness levels without touching your phone , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Samsung S-Cloud to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S3 on May 3? Posted: 21 Apr 2012 06:58 AM PDT
While a few Android manufacturers have established partnerships to take their devices into the cloud era (like HTC did with Dropbox), others, such as ASUS and Apple, decided to build their own cloud storage services from scratch. It has long been suggested that Samsung would follow the latter path, and new information suggests that Sammy’s cloud storage service might finally be ready for launch. We already know that the Samsung Galaxy S3, or at least “the next Galaxy”, will be launched on May 3 at a press event in London. But the rumor mill hasn’t stopped churning for a second. According to a leak from Korean website Maeil Business, Samsung might unveil its answer to the iCloud, the S-Cloud, at the same event. Maeil Business’ sources go on to suggest that the S-Cloud won’t have any limitations or restrictions, like those found on Apple’s service. It will allow users to store any content they desire on Sammy’s cloud servers. The storage service is expected to be available on all Samsung devices including tablets, laptops, TVs, and, of course, smartphones. Samsung has been reported to collaborate with Microsoft to create the S-Cloud infrastructure. This is not entirely surprising, considering that Microsoft’s SkyDrive storage is available on Samsung’s range of Wifi-enabled digital cameras. Apart from supposedly offering more than “just” 5GB of storage, the S-Cloud service is expected to feature streaming of HD quality movies and TV shows, along with music content. No information of how much of this will be free or a paid service is available as of now. We will likely have to wait till May 3 to get the full picture on Samsung’s S-Cloud, but if the service does work as promised, it will help make the Samsung Galaxy S3 that much more attractive. Like it wasn’t already. What are your thoughts? Is the S-Cloud a big step forward for Samsung or just a case of the me-too syndrome? This article, Samsung S-Cloud to be unveiled alongside the Galaxy S3 on May 3? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Mobile GPUs to be on-par with consoles in a couple of years? NVIDIA says it’s possible Posted: 21 Apr 2012 04:57 AM PDT
Once upon a time, mobile phones used to weigh a couple of pounds (literally), feature large antennas, and very basic designs, and were used primarily to make and receive voice calls. Today's smartphones are as much gaming machines and music players as they are devices for managing calls. However, mobile gaming is still far off from the quality of console or PC games and you might think that things will stay that way for a long, long time. If we are to believe NVIDIA's claims, though, this situation could well change in the (very) near future, with mobile GPU (graphics processing unit) performance set to be on-par or even surpass console power by 2014. As you can see from the nice slide below, coming straight from NVIDIA, mobile GPU performance is currently way behind the performance of PCs and consoles. The chart is not very easy to read and might get a tad confusing, but, as far as I can tell, console performance equals nowadays mobile GPU power multiplied with four or five.
In other words, consoles are a solid four or five times faster than smartphones or tablets these days. But the race might get a lot tighter as soon as next year, and, if NVIDIA's projections prove accurate, mobile GPUs might be as fast as console processing units by 2014. On the other hand, mobile processors are likely to remain significantly slower than PC chips over the next years, so the number one gaming platform should remain the same, at least for the near future. If you’re confused by the graph, the solid lines are the estimated performance levels for each platform, while the dotted lines represent trends. The console line features two plateaus, representing the performance of the Xbox 1 and Xbox 360, while the mobile graph starts with Apple's first iPhone and continue with NVIDIA's Tegra 2 and Tegra 3 platforms. This graph should be taken more like a marketing material than an accurate technical representation of the evolution of hardware. Then again, NVIDIA is not the only one predicting an important leap in performance for mobile GPUs. What do you guys think? Will the console of tomorrow fit snugly in your pocket? This article, Mobile GPUs to be on-par with consoles in a couple of years? NVIDIA says it’s possible , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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