Android Authority |
- Google opens live stream page for its I/O conference
- Google TV to receive a big update at Google I/O
- Best fashion and style apps for Android
- Place Book: Organizing, searching, and managing saved places and locations
- ITC: Google vs Apple preliminary win reviewed, iPhone and iPad import bans on the table?
- Skype reaches 70 million downloads milestone, now works on over 1,300 Android devices [Infographic]
- Is Google changing the Play Store interface for JellyBean?
- Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE coming to stores on July 5 for $199.99
- CoinKeeper: Tracking cash flow and expenses in a fun and intuitive way
- DARPA pays $21m to address Android security risks
| Google opens live stream page for its I/O conference Posted: 26 Jun 2012 03:15 AM PDT
The Google I/O conference is the time of year when Google razzles and dazzles the world with the latest software and hardware announcements. Last year, we were spoiled with the introduction of Google Music and Ice Cream Sandwich, as well as the debut of Chromebooks. This year should be no different in terms of the level of excitement, with Google expected to make some major announcements regarding Android 4.1 Jellybean and the Nexus 7 tablet, among other things that Google still keeps under wraps. If you want to experience Google I/O conference first hand, albeit virtually, you can do so by pointing your browser to Google's I/O Live website, where the highly anticipated keynote presentation will be streamed live on June 27 at 9.30 AM Pacific time. The second keynote presentation will start at 10 AM the next day. Aside from the two highlights, Google said they plan to stream over 40 sessions of discussion on all things Google and Android. Because all the talks will be recorded and be made available online, you don't have to worry about showing up on time in front of your computer, phone, or tablet. Other things to look forward to include exclusive backstage interviews and cool demos. Don't forget to bookmark the website if you want to experience all the action and excitement of the Google I/O conference as it unfolds, or you can simply tune into Android Authority's coverage of the event. This article, Google opens live stream page for its I/O conference , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Google TV to receive a big update at Google I/O Posted: 26 Jun 2012 03:02 AM PDT
Google hasn’t forgotten about its Google TV smart TV platform, although Eric Schmidt’s prediction that most TVs would come with Google TV software by mid year didn’t come true. Google is purportedly planing to release a big update for Google TV at I/O this week. The last update was based on Honeycomb 3.1, which arrived last fall, so we might see a version based on Android 4.0 or even Android 4.1 this time (it would be nice if they synced them). The rumored features for this new update include the unification of live TV listings with Netflix and DVR content, so when you want to watch a certain show, you can just search for it and watch it, either from a local cable source or from the Internet. This is one of the main features that Google promised a long time ago, but they didn’t get enough content deals at the time to implement it. Other features include the ability to stream from your Android 4.0 devices to your Google TV and an improved way for developers to make apps for Google TV. Google has been trying to push Google TV for two years now, without much success so far. Granted, trying to revolutionize the TV market is a very hard task, and one that many have tried to tackle over the past decade or so, only to fail miserably. But Google does share some of the fault, making some big mistakes that are explainable when you consider its lack of experience in the consumer electronics market. The initial pricing of $300 was one of the major reasons why the platform failed to gain momentum in the beginning, and why Logitech lost a lot of money on the Revue set top box. At a time when the most expensive set top boxes, like the Boxee Box, cost $200, and the mid-range cost around $100, the Revue started at $300. Moreover, the first Google TVs offered little value for the money in terms of hardware, and, even worse, the initial content offering wasn’t that great either. The fact is you can’t just price a set top box like a gaming console, not that Google TV actually had access to the Android Market at the time. In fact, it didn’t have access to Google’s Play Store until very recently, and I can only assume that was because they used Intel hardware initially, which made Android apps incompatible. This of course was another major mistake on Google’s part — using Intel hardware, which made them waste two years of momentum. ARM hardware is finally coming in the latest iterations of Google TV and the latest hardware from Sony (available July 22nd for $199) and others, so hopefully there will be more apps coming to the platform, soon. But Google needs to avoid the blunder it did with Android tablets, by not pushing developers to make apps for the platform. If the rumors about encouraging developers to make Google TV apps are true, maybe they’ve learned their lesson well. This article, Google TV to receive a big update at Google I/O , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Best fashion and style apps for Android Posted: 25 Jun 2012 09:00 PM PDT
The Google Play Store hosts hundreds of thousands of apps for almost everything–from games, productivity, to fashion. You heard it right–your Android device can be used to help you stay up-to-date on the trends and fads in fashion. Besides owning the hottest Android device, we should also look as pleasing as possible to other people, because what we wear may portray who we really are. In this post, we feature some of the best fashion and style apps for Android available on the Google Play Store. Mobo Fashion Trends and Deals The Mobo Fashion Trends and Deals app is your head-to-toe fashion guide featuring the latest hairstyles down to the latest in shoes. The app provides one-stop access to the latest fashion news and updates from the world's popular fashion sources such as Elle, Vogue, WWD, GQ, Marie Claire, the Sartorialist, Style.com, and other popular fashion blogs on the Web. Mobo Fashion Trends and Deals comes with the ability to easily search and locate high quality images and breaking news. For easy access, the app also comes with a homescreen widget. Apart from that, the features "My Celebs," which is your personal tracker for the latest news about your favorite designers or Hollywood stars. The app also features an easy way to share fashion-related stuff with your fashionista friends via Twitter. Check out Mobo Fashion Trends and Deals for free and enjoy the best fashion diary right on your mobile device. TrendStop Fashion TrendTracker The Trendstop Fashion TrendTracker app develped by Amoja allows you to take a peek at the latest fashion news, trends, and catwalk photo galleries right on your Android phone. The app also lets you grab the hottest news and fashion trends from trendstop.com and even allows you to share and submit your own personal fashion trend photos. You can easily hold on to an inspiring look by adding it to your favorites. When you’re in the mood to get stylish, simply access any of your favorite images. The Trendstop Fashion TrendTracker app also includes over 80 high-resolution videos of the latest fashion shows and backstage video clips. Also included are over 3,500 fashion pictures and city store guides that track fashion stores offering the latest fashion. Share trends with your friends via Facebook, Twitter, or e-mail without having to leave the app. Download Trendstop Fashion TrendTracker app for free and keep track of the latest fashion styles. Fashion Ladies If you’ve watched award ceremonies, you’ll have no doubt fawned over the gorgeous outfits and looks celebrities wore on the red carpet. The Fashion Ladies app developed by Tonee is the perfect fashion guide for all the ladies out there who wished that they looked like the stars. This app features nail styles, hairstyles, jewelry, shoes, and makeup styles of famous celebrities such as Nelly Furtado, Rihanna, Jessica Alba, Jennifer Lopez, and many more. Fashion Ladies also allows you to share your personal style via the same app or share it through social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, or by email. Take note that the app will install a search shortcut icon to your homescreen and a search shortcut to your bookmarks. The developer claims that these can easily be deleted; just drag and drop them into the trash bin. Download Fashion Ladies for free and get to wear accessories and clothing that would make you feel and look like a star. Fashion Style Now that you’re done admiring celebrity outfits, it’s time to check out the source of their stylish looks. The Fashion Style app lets you enjoy the designs of world-famous designers featured on the catwalks at the New York, Paris, London, and Milan Fashion Weeks. The app supports offline storage, so you can collect and download pictures of your favorite fashion designs. View them any time of the day, whether you’re thinking of what to wear for the next big event or when you’re organizing your closet. If you’re a fashion designer and you’ve been struggling with a creative lull, browse through the pictures Fashion Style has to offer you. That should get your creative mojo flowing. Fashion Style also includes the works and products of nearly 600 designers and famous brands such as Gucci, Chloé, Celine, and Dolce & Gabbana for viewing right on your Android phone. Check out the Fashion Style app for free and be prepared to showcase your favorite fashion style. Coupon Closet – Fashion Deals With a variety of offers and discounts, Coupon Closet – Fashion Deals just had to make it on our list. This app doesn't post photos of fashion trends or videos of hot models walking on the catwalk. Rather, it is an app that helps you find the best deals from your favorite fashion brands. Every deal is manually updated to bring you the best offers from your favorite brands such as Ultra, Forever 21, GAP, H&M, Children's Place, Banana Republic, Chili's, Dickies, ESPRIT, Steve Madden, and many more. You can also subscribe to the app's emailed deals to get the latest offers straight to your inbox. You can also opt to receive a notification alert for deals that are nearing their expiration dates. Get Coupon Closet – Fashion Deals for free and get to showcase the latest fashion trends without sacrificing much on your monthly budget. H&M Always be one step ahead with the official H&M application on your Android phone. Give your phone a shake and get the the latest promotions and offers. You can see all the latest arrivals, campaigns, news, and videos from H&M. The app even gives you instant push notifications about offers and events at your local H&M store. If you’ve been dying to get certain items, the app allows you to make a wish list. Every time you add an item to your wish list, you’ll see the total of all the item prices so you have an idea of how much you need to save. If you have gift cards, the H&M app will let you check your gift card balance. See something you like? Share it with your friends and family through Facebook, Twitter, e-mail, or any social network of your choice. You can use the application to locate the nearest H&M store, wherever you are in the world. If there isn’t any H&M store in your area, then shop online through the app. Pose: Fashion, Beauty, & Style Pose: Fashion, Beauty, & Style makes sure that you get your daily fashion inspiration by giving you access to over thousands of styles and looks uploaded daily. You can follow trendsetters that you admire, brands you love, or celebrities you emulate. You can share your favorite outfits and any great shopping finds in real time. Logging into Pose is easy. You can either create an account or log in using your Facebook credentials. The Feed tab lets you view the photos of the people you follow, as well as your own poses. Tap on any picture to view details of the image, such as the uploader’s description. You can also like it and discuss the look with your friends. Tapping the Discover tab lets you view the Posers, Popular and Featured images. Under Posers, you can see a hand-selected group of fashion influencers while Popular shows you what’s trending today, this month, or all the time. Take a shot of your new bag using Pose and upload it together with details such as the item’s brand, store, and price. Not only can you share it with Pose but also with Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Stylish Girl – Fashion Closet Stylish Girl – Fashion Coset is your all-in-one wardrobe, style planner, and fashion buddy. Stylish Girl for your Android phone helps you virtualize your whole wardrobe so that you can easily mix and match outfits without having to dig through your clothes. That makes shopping for an item much easier. Launch the app, browse your virtual wardrobe, and check if you already have a clothing item just like what you’re looking at before you commit to purchasing it. You can also catalog your wish items so you can slowly purchase them one by one. Inspire yourself with the latest looks, celebrity fashion styles, and news from selected fashion blogs and magazines. Now that you’re sufficiently inspired, put together an outfit using your phone anywhere, anytime. Once you’re done, share your outfits and clothes with friends through e-mail, Facebook, or Twitter. Stylish Girl also lets you shop online through Shopstyle.com and lets you mix and match online items against your clothes and outfits. EXPRESS Here’s another fashion app that’ll help you keep on top of emerging trends. EXPRESS gives you access to special offers, updates and the hottest news in fashion and beauty from the convenience of your Android app. A lot of people may say that fashion is a woman’s realm, but EXPRESS reaches out to the men who like looking good as well. Both men and women have their own sections in the EXPRESS app. The app goes beyond just providing you the latest fashion styles; you also keep up-to-date on what’s hot in the music scene and you can view videos. If you’re planning to expand your wardrobe, look around the EXPRESS app and check out some of the clothes featured. EXPRESS users can leave star ratings on clothing items to let others know what they think about the items. Tap on a clothing item to view the item’s price tag so you can plan your budget without even stepping into the store. Save the clothing item to your device, share it with your friends, or buy it. The app requires at least Android 1.6 to run, but some users report having some compatibility issues with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Fashion freax Street Styles Sometimes the best fashion isn’t found in magazines but on the streets. Sit down somewhere in your local mall and take a few minutes to watch people. You’ll see that everyone has her or his own unique style of dressing, ranging from conservative and boring to really out there. Some outfits are embarrassing while others are put together so well that you wish you’d thought of it. If street fashion gets your fashion mojo flowing more than magazine-featured shots, then Fashion freax Street Styles is the app for you. If you see someone rocking an amazing look, snap a shot and post it through the app. That’ll get other people inspired. If you’re feeling a bit hesitant about what you’ve put together for yourself, snap a shot of your outfit and get feedback from other Fashion freax Street Styles users. Start by “selecting connect with Facebook” and you’re on your way to sharing and discovering the newest and hottest street fashion looks. Street Fashion Gallery Can’t get enough of peoples’ unique fashion styles? Hankering for even more street fashion pictures? We certainly don’t blame you. Magazine fashion shots are often hard to emulate for everyday use, not to mention it may involve having to purchase items from particular brands. Get Street Fashion Gallery on your Android today so you have even more ideas for your next great look. Browse the app’s collection of photos and draw inspiration for your next look. If you’re a professional or aspiring designer, Street Fashion Gallery can certainly get your creative juices flowing for your next design. You can access styles from all over the world so you’re bound to get some ideas on how to throw your clothes together for your own unique look. Unfortunately, this app doesn’t support tagging sites as your favorites and it seems to be lacking a “back” button. Otherwise, Street Fashion Gallery is a great way to get your mind started up on ideas. Get Street Fashion Gallery for free from the Google Play Store today. K-Fashion Tips If you spend enough time on the Internet, you’ll know that Korean fashion is popular with the younger generation and who can fault them? Take a look at some of the most popular Korean celebrities and you can see that these guys really have their own solid and unique concepts of fashion. If you’re falling in love with Korean fashion, K-Fashion Tips is just the app for you. Use this app to search for your favorite Korean celebrity, such as Kwon Ji Yong, Gong Hyo-jin, and Yoo Ah In, to draw more inspiration from their style. On the app’s homescreen, you can find Magazines, separate sections for Men and Women, and User Lists. Magazines lets you access publications like Vogue, Elle, InStyle, Cosmopolitan, and more. K-Fashion Tips also has a Search function so you can look up a specific look you want. Get in touch with the latest in Korean fashion today. Download K-Fashion Tips for free for your Android device. triMirror Fashion Closet How do you know if what you’re wearing is right for an occasion? Should you get that shirt in this color or that? Do these shoes match your bag? Fashion may have rules, but they’re constantly changing, and there’s no telling if you’re committing a fashion faux pas. Thankfully, there’s a fashion and shopping community that you can rely on to call you out on your fashion faux pas. Introducing triMirror Fashion Closet, a mobile platform for fashionistas on the go. Share photos of clothing and fashion ideas the next time you’re at a clothing store with other triMirror users. If you’re feeling nervous about stepping out of the house with your latest ensemble, get fashion advice and styling tips from fellow fashion lovers. When you’re confident and you love your look, share it with the triMirror community. Make friends with fellow fashionistas and discuss street fashion, fashion news, fashion trends, fashion shows, and fashion designers. StyleTag: Fashion SocialAPP Here’s another app that’ll help you not only build your own looks but also inspire others with your sense of style. You’ll be able to keep up with your favorite brands, designers, styles, and trends with StyleTag: Fashion SocialAPP. If you’re confident about your look and you want to flaunt it, snap a photo of it and tag your looks so you can easily share them on Facebook, Twitter, and Tumblr. Other StyleTag users will be able to give you comments and advice on your outfits. This app not only lets you share your favorite looks with fellow fashionistas and trendsetters but alsol keep you updated with real-time photos of street fashion. Who knows? Maybe you’ll find some looks that’ll inspire you enough to make you the trendsetter that everyone wants to emulate. Make sure that you’re getting the updates that matter to you by subscribing to your favorite brands, designers, styles, trends, and users sporting the brands you like. TodayCody If you can’t get enough of Korean street fashion, we’re giving you another source of K-Fashion inspiration with this app. TodayCody is slightly different from all the other apps we’ve already mentioned on the list. The app was specifically designed for Koreans, which means that the homescreen onwards is in the Korean language. If you’re familiar with the language, then you can easily use the app. If you aren’t familiar, then you’ll need to fiddle with it a little to familiarize yourself with how to navigate the app Just like the apps we’ve mentioned, TodayCody lets you draw inspiration from other fashionistas as well a share your own looks. Cody Up lets you upload and share pictures of your clothes from your Android device and even register your outfit style. Check out what other people are wearing in Today Cody. If you’ve got something to say, “Talk” to discuss and share your ideas about peoples’ styles, recommend a look by clicking “Cool,” and bookmark a style that’s caught your eye with “Pick.” You can view all of your favorite looks in My Pick when you’re putting an outfit together. If you can’t trust your sense of fashion, look through styles recommended by professional stylists. Like technology, fashion has been also been rapidly changing, but thanks to these apps, you can now get in touch with the latest changes in the fashion arena through your mobile device. So, if you are into fashion or are looking to improve your clothing style, you can check out these fashion and style apps for Android. Do you use any of these apps? This article, Best fashion and style apps for Android , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Place Book: Organizing, searching, and managing saved places and locations Posted: 25 Jun 2012 06:30 PM PDT
With the wide range of things that our Android devices are capable of doing, it is best to get things organized and to keep our tasks running smooth and easy. That’s why our devices have pre-installed applications that help us keep things organized such as the calendar, contacts, call logs, and many more. Such apps are used to keep things neat and tidy on your Android device. In fact, one app allows you to keep information of places on your map. The Place Book app is your portable organizer of locations on your Android device. This app lets you save information of places and keep them on your Android device. The app also integrates online services such as Yelp, Foursquare, and Google Places to keep all your saved locations in one neat location organizer. Although the app’s main interface is not total eye candy, you can still enjoy all the features upon launching the app. You don’t have to sign up for a monthly subscription, create a user account, or explore complicated features. Just launch the app and have yourself a simple location organizer on your Android device. The app’s main interface is composed of three tabs: My Places, Map, and Search.
All your saved locations and lists are found on the My Places tab. Here you can view your saved locations. You can also organize your bookmarked locations by grouping them into lists. You can make a list of your favorite restaurants in the neighborhood, or create a list of places you want to go to. Tapping a location reveals the information window about that place. Here you can check the address, contact number, location on the map, and its directions. You can also activate the services of Yelp and Foursquare to view more information such as tips, star ratings, user reviews, and many more. You can activate or deactivate Yelp and Foursquare by going to Menu > Preferences. The Map tab lets you view the map and view your saved location. You can also search for a new location on the map. All your bookmarked locations are marked with red placemarks whereas your search results are marked with yellow placemarks. Get information of a new place by using this app. All you have to do is long tap the selected location and Place Book will do the rest. The app will show you the information of the selected place such as the address and contact information. If you don’t know the telephone number of your favorite coffee shop, just open the Place Book app and let it do its thing. For manual searches, just tap the Search tab and type the location you want to look for. You can also customize the app’s navigation options, map type, zoom capacity, units for the distance, and enable online services on the Preferences section. You can download the Place Book app for free from the Google Play Store. What are you waiting for? Use the Place Book app and make your Android device your location organizer. This article, Place Book: Organizing, searching, and managing saved places and locations , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| ITC: Google vs Apple preliminary win reviewed, iPhone and iPad import bans on the table? Posted: 25 Jun 2012 04:50 PM PDT
The Apple vs Android legal war is so complex that unless you follow it closely, you're prone to get lost in translation and soon give up trying to keep up with who is suing who and why, and who's scoring more wins and where. Essentially, Apple sued the main players in the Android business so far including Samsung, Motorola and HTC for alleged patent infringement, but it didn't go directly after Google. In turn, the three Android makers countersued Apple individually, bringing their own patents to the fight, and Google watched from the sidelines, deciding not to sue Apple directly – it did try to provide some ammunition to HTC, but the patents it shared with the Taiwanese company were shot down in court recently. Since Google completed its extraordinarily expensive $12.5 billion Motorola purchase back in May, it found itself involved in a plethora of legal battles, with Apple but also with Microsoft. When Google announced its plans to acquire Motorola last year, analysts and members of the media speculated on the fact that the Search giant is willing to pay $12.5 billion for the company in order to arm itself with a huge collection of patents, many of them essential for the cell phone business. At the time the purchase offer was made, the Apple vs Android legal war was raging on, so it seemed logical to see Motorola's patents as important defensive and offensive weapons against Apple, and anyone else that would attack Android. But now that Google has inherited all of Motorola's legal predicaments, the Search giant is far from putting that impressive patent collection to good use. We're certainly interested to see whether the conflict with Apple will further escalate, or whether the two companies will find a common ground in the near future and reach a settlement.
Meanwhile, Apple and Google are basically suing each other in various courts, both in the U.S. and in Europe, and this fight may become one of the most important battles yet in the mobile environment now that Google is directly involved. Earlier this week, a Federal Judge decided to dismiss an Apple case against Motorola (and therefore Google) with prejudice, meaning that neither party can refile the suit in a Federal court. Both companies asked for an injunction against the other's products, with Apple having four patents left in the fight against one of Motorola's. At the time, Judge Posner revealed his opposition to awarding injunctions to any company based on FRAND patents, or standards-essential patents. And that Motorola patent used in the trial is a FRAND patent. Why is this important to know? Well, Motorola scored a victory against Apple back in April at the International Trade Commission before being purchased by Google. Administrative Law Judge (ALJ) Thomas Pender found in his initial determination that Apple was infringing a 3G patent owned by Motorola. The patent, one of the four Motorola attacked with in this complaint with the ITC, targeted Apple's iOS devices including the iPhone and the iPad. This patent is a FRAND patent as well, but not the same one Motorola used in Federal Court against Apple. The ALJ's initial finding was not a final decision, and the final ruling of the Commission can overturn it. In fact, Bloomberg on Monday reported that the ITC decided to review the ALJ's initial determination and issue a final ruling on August 24.
In theory, in case Google will win this battle, the ITC can award an import ban against iPhones and iPads, which would mean that Apple would not be able to bring the devices that are manufactured in China to the U.S. anymore. In case that sounds familiar, that's what happened with HTC in one of its legal fights with Apple. The iPhone maker won an import ban with that "data tapping" patent – a patent it also uses against Motorola and Samsung in other suits. Also worth mentioning is that Apple and HTC are still arguing on the matter, as Apple claims that more HTC devices continue to infringe that patent, and therefore the product ban should cover 29 more devices including the HTC EVO 4G LTE and the HTC One X. That only goes to show how complicated these ITC trials are, and how product import bans affect the companies involved in these lawsuits. But Google's ITC complaint is slightly different as it's based on a single patent, and that one is a standards-essential patent. Motorola is already investigated in the European Union for its FRAND patent use in such patent-based trials, right alongside Samsung, and it's probably unlikely to see major injunctions and/or import bans on FRAND patents alone. Moreover, various third parties formally voiced their support for Apple and Microsoft in their defending ITC cases against FRAND patents owned by Motorola including U.S. senators and Congressmen, the United States Federal Trade Commission, HP, Nokia, Intel, AT&T, Verizon, IBM, Activision Blizzard, Cisco and others. With all that in mind, we can't but wonder what the ITC ruling will be, but considering what's at play and the fact that Google is only relying on one FRAND patent in this fight, an iPhone and iPad import ban seems highly unlikely. And, for the sake of the argument, the same goes for Microsoft products including the Xbox gaming console, which is targeted by Google in a different ITC case. But the two companies may end up licensing the technology from Google, or enter other settlements with the Search giant. We'll be back with more details about this ITC Google vs Apple case, as the two companies will have to answer to various questions from the Commission in the following months (see PDF file at the Source link below), many of them referring specifically to FRAND patents and whether they're suitable for such import ban requests. This article, ITC: Google vs Apple preliminary win reviewed, iPhone and iPad import bans on the table? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Skype reaches 70 million downloads milestone, now works on over 1,300 Android devices [Infographic] Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:37 PM PDT
Ever wonder how big of an impact Skype has made since it first touched down on the Android platform two years ago? Wonder no more, because the company has laid down all the essential information on the following Infographic. Skype for Android — now the most popular video calling app on the platform — has been downloaded over 70 million times from Google Play Store. With 23.36%, the US is the top country on the list, while Japan is a distant second with 6.96%. Samsung devices seem to dominate the top list with the Galaxy S2 coming on top with 8.92%. Even though the app now works on more than 1,300 Android devices, we don't think the list is going to change anytime soon. Check out the Skype Infographic below for more interesting information.
This article, Skype reaches 70 million downloads milestone, now works on over 1,300 Android devices [Infographic] , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Is Google changing the Play Store interface for JellyBean? Posted: 25 Jun 2012 01:03 PM PDT
The app store wasn’t Google’s focus until 2011 or so. In the beginning they were focused more on how to get more manufacturers to release more phones with Android, the core features, and overall performance of Android. But not focusing on the app store led to a poor browsing experience, for both users and developers, because their apps were harder to discover. Google have tried their hand at a few different iterations of the mobile market app, and it looks like they will try again with the release of JellyBean at I/O. Personally, I’ve never been much of a fan of the latest 3.xx iteration of the market, for 2 main reasons.
It’s been made “graphics heavy” which meant it needs more processing power to load it fast, and things were worse before ICS, because the CPU had to render those images instead of the GPU. In ICS, the situation got a little better thanks to hardware acceleration, but I still don’t understand why it needs to even burden the GPU so much with the home page of the app store. Low-end phones could barely handle it. Plus, if you were using it on 3G, it was eating more data, because of the image-heavy interface. Second, I thought it made the interface really cluttered. All the complex designs for each app logo and being so many of them next to each other make it kind of hard to look at them. Some even wasted space by doubling the same image and putting it upside down, supposedly because if it’s bigger it means it attracts more attention. But again, it made things look even more cluttered.
If this leak is real (and not just a mock-up), the new interface seems to get rid of all of that, and it goes back to how Android’s market used to look like before the latest 3.xx version. There’s little to find out from this image alone about all the store’s changes, but it seems that they’ve made it easier to access Movies, Music, Apps, or Books at the bottom of the screen. There was one thing that I liked about the 3.xx interface, though, and that’s the ability to swipe between pages of Top Paid, Top Free, and so on. I found that quite nice, so I hope they are keeping it, unless they found a better way to discover new and top apps. What do you think of this possible new iteration of Google Play? Drop us a note in the comments below! This article, Is Google changing the Play Store interface for JellyBean? , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE coming to stores on July 5 for $199.99 Posted: 25 Jun 2012 12:26 PM PDT
The pocket-friendly HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE was first announced by Verizon at the International CTIA Wireless 2012 on May 7, but the phone seems to have disappeared from everyone's radar until a couple of days ago – where it was hinted that it would finally land on July 5. It looks like the date is set and Verizon is ready to roll the red carpet out for fans of the series that led to the cashiers. While the product page isn't up yet on Verizon website, Droid Life has shared a leaked screenshot of the HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE that confirms July 5 as the launch date of the phone. Unfortunately, the expected $149.99 price that we reported a while back isn’t quite right. Verizon appears to be confident enough to sell the phone for $199.99 on a two-year contract, though there's always the possibility of a mail-in rebate.
With Samsung Galaxy S3's launch date being pushed back to July 11, this gives the HTC Droid 4G LTE but a week’s time of breathing space. We think for some people, the toss up between the two flagship phones will ultimately boil down to their screen sizes: Galaxy S3 with its monstrous 4.8-inch display and the Droid Incredible 4G LTE with its admittedly more manageable 4-inch display. Here are the specs of the Droid Incredible 4G LTE for those who like to do a little bit of comparing and contrasting:
Are you having second thoughts about getting the Samsung Galaxy S3? Or is it the Galaxy S3 all the way for you? No related posts. This article, Verizon HTC Droid Incredible 4G LTE coming to stores on July 5 for $199.99 , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| CoinKeeper: Tracking cash flow and expenses in a fun and intuitive way Posted: 25 Jun 2012 12:00 PM PDT
Money is an important aspect of human life. We use money to transact business by exchanging it for goods and services. We use our money to pay our rent, fill our tummies, buy our clothes, pay our monthly plan, fill the fridge with groceries, pay our medical bills, and a lot more things crucial to daily living. Aside from fulfilling our human needs, we also use our money to reward ourselves by fulfilling our wants such as buying a new Android smartphone or having a massage. That is why we need to keep track and monitor the flow of our money. We don’t want to end up fulfilling all our wants while having to cut off our budget for meals or daily rent. There are a variety of money managing apps on the Google Play Store, but the CoinKeeper app allured me with its simple to use and fun user interface. CoinKeeper: Expense Tracking helps you monitor and control the flow of money. What makes this app special is that it features a unique user interface that makes managing your money fun and easy. Using this app lets you drag and drop coins to monitor and keep track of your money flow. Opening the app for the first time, you will be prompted if you want the app to calculate your monthly budget based on your monthly salary, or if you want to manually make your own budget plan. For automatic calculation, you will first need to type in your monthly income. The app will then formulate a monthly budget for your food, groceries, medical bills, and all the things that you need. You can also do it manually if you want to base your budget on the things that you need most. Once you have selected your budget plan, you will need to create an account. Accounts are where you keep your money such as your wallet or the bank. Just tap the Add Account tab to add a new account. You will need to name an account, the coin icon, the balance, and the currency for that account. Once done, tap the Done button to create the account. With an account created, you can now drag and drop coins from your Salary tab into one of your accounts. For instance, if you received your monthly salary and kept it in your wallet, just drag the respective icon from the Salary tab and drop it to your wallet account. You will also need to identify the amount you transferred to a specific account. You can also add another icon from the Salary tab if you have additional sources of income. From your respective accounts, you can also drag the icon to the expense icons below. For instance, if you bought some groceries, drag the icon from the Account tab and drop it into the expenses icon for groceries. Below each expenses icon, you can find figures such as $0/16. $0 is the total money you have spent on that particular expense icon, while the $16 is the allotted budget for that icon. If you have exceeded the allotted budget, the expense icon will turn red, indicating that you need to slow down with your expenses. Let’s not forget about your wants and desires on your budget plan. The app allows you to create financial goals such as buying a new Android smartphone or buying a new house. To create a goal, just tap the Add Goal button. You will then give a name of that goal, choose an icon, how much it will cost to attain that goal, and the currency. If you have some extra pennies from your monthly budget, put them in your piggy bank to fulfill your goals. The app can also summarize your monthly expenses on a colorful and attractive pie chart. For multiple devices, the app can also backup and sync your budget plan, making them accessible to multiple Android devices. What are you waiting for? Download the CoinKeeper: Expense Tracking app and enjoy a 15-day trial period. Will you use the CoinKeeper: expense tracking app to monitor your monthly expenses? What do you think of its cool and intuitive user interface? This article, CoinKeeper: Tracking cash flow and expenses in a fun and intuitive way , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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| DARPA pays $21m to address Android security risks Posted: 25 Jun 2012 11:35 AM PDT
Here at AndroidAuthority, we've discussed the growing importance of Android in military environments, ranging from tablets that can control UAVs to custom-designed Android smartphones equipped with fingerprint sensors and so forth. But one issue that arises as Android smartphones begin to be widely used by soldiers, is the Android OS isn't exactly the most impenetrable OS out there. As it turns out, DARPA is also preoccupied with this issue and has issued a $21 million grant to a company called Invincea so that these security risks are addressed. But before we start talking about Invincea's projects, let's take the time to learn exactly how the army takes advantage of smartphones, as stated by the DoD Chief Information Officer, Teresa Takai: "Through faster access to information and computing power from any location, field units can maneuver unfamiliar environments with real time mapping and data overlay capabilities; soldiers can identify friendly forces; engineers can take pictures of mechanical parts for immediate identification and replacement ordering; and military health care providers can diagnose injuries and remotely access lab results while away from hospital premises."
The first project developed by Invincea for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA for short) made sure that the loss or theft of an Android smartphone used for military purposes doesn't translate into an immediate security breach for the entire Department of Defense. The way Invincea accomplished this task was by encrypting the OS and filling up the memory with useless data. This project is already used by 3,000 US soldiers stationed in Afghanistan. But the second Invincea project is by far more interesting, as it attempts to create a virtual environment that untrusted applications (Facebook!) can run into without being able to access to sensitive information such as its location, or the contacts it stores. Anup Ghosh, the founder of Invincea stated: "By separating untrusted apps and content we are preventing the compromise of the operating system". Although both projects are obviously of key importance for Android in the military field, it would also be very interesting for such software to become available for the general public as well. Feel free to drop us a comment in the section below and express your thoughts on the matter. This article, DARPA pays $21m to address Android security risks , was originally published at AndroidAuthority.com - Your Android News Source.
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