Monday, August 6, 2012

Android Phone Fans

Android Phone Fans

Nexus 7 ads more “effective” than Apple Genius ads, says study

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 11:33 AM PDT

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Athletes from around the world aren’t the only people locking horns at the Olympics. Google’s advert for the Nexus 7 (the father and son camping ad) and Apple’s series of commercials revolving around their “Geniuses” have been taking significant amount of TV time. And according to an advertisements analytics company Ace Matrix, the Nexus 7 ad has been far more effective.

The Nexus commercial scored 662 out of a possible 950 points, while only one of the three Genius ads scored in the upper half of the effectiveness scale. Having seen all the advertisements, it’s hardly surprising. The Nexus ad is similar to what we’ve become used to from Google: combining emotions brilliantly with a product’s features. Apple’s commercials on the other hand seem to say that the Mac is tough to use, so just to be safe we’ll make sure to have a lot of Geniuses around.

Hit the source link to catch all the four commercials in one place.

[Droid Dog]

Those of you with a Sony Xperia cellphone with the LED strip: give this app a shot

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 11:17 AM PDT

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A couple of days back a friend of mine who bought his first Android device asked me to give him a list of apps that he should try out. As I was putting together a bunch of links, I came across this app called the Illumination Bar Notificaiton for Sony Xperia devices that have an LED strip along the bottom. I forwarded it to him since he’s got the Xperia S, and felt it was worth sharing with our readers. Since I don’t have an Xperia, I haven’t been able to test it out. So do give us your feedback in the comments since I’d love to know whether or not it’s as cool as it sounds.

Uniquely Android: Llama

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 10:55 AM PDT

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Uniquely Android is a series we started last month to shine the spotlight on those apps that take advantage of the unique capabilities of the platform and provide an experience that you wouldn’t find in most other phones. So far, we have featured Plug In Launcher, AirDroid and Shush.

Ever since I first started the Uniquely Android series, the two apps that were recommended the most to me in the comments were Tasker and Llama. I had heard of Tasker, and had planned to feature it some day when I got a chance to put through its paces (I’ve been working from home recently, and felt my lack of moving out for long periods wouldn’t allow an ideal test). Another thing holding me back was the $6.50 price. While a novel app that does a great job demonstrating the power of Android, looking through the features I never found an exceptional use case for me. Plus, very soon I’d have an HTC One X (yes, I’m still on a T-Mobile myTouch 4G) and a bunch of NFC tags.

Enter Llama. There’s absolutely no excuse for not giving this app a shot since it’s free. And while the UI can certainly be a little confusing at first, you should soon be able to get the hang of it. I haven’t set it up to do a lot of things. I’ve got only two locations set up: my home and the gym. The tasks to perform aren’t much either: when I leave my house, I’ve made it switch of my WiFi, switch on mobile data and increase my screen brightness. When I return, I’ve set it up to do the reverse. At the gym, I’ve set it up to launch my weight tracking app when I reach, and switch of mobile data so I don’t get notifications when I’m there. When I leave, it switches on data again.

I’m quite thrilled to say that whatever I asked Llama to do, it did so with perfection. And best part is, unlike most location-contextual apps, Llama doesn’t hit your battery life. After a week of usage, not once did I see it even turn up in the battery details section of system settings, meaning that, at worst, it was using up lesser charge than Beautiful Widgets or Google+ or Facebook, etc. It’s so good, I feel awful not paying for the app and will probably make a donation once I see all the various combinations possible.

You can download Llama over here.

Samsung escapes any further rap regarding leaking of info in case against Apple

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 08:47 AM PDT

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I’ve got to be honest with you: when I first heard Apple’s demands regarding the evidence Samsung leaked to the media in the case the two are fighting out over the Korean company’s “copying of Apple products”, I was worried. While the request to pretty much have the Judge rule in their favor as a punishment to Samsung felt outlandish, I can’t deny that I wouldn’t have been shocked if Judge Lucy Koh agreed with them.

Fortunately enough, that hasn’t happened. The reason? Only four jurors saw the leaked evidence, and they told the judge it didn’t influence them in any way. The other jurors have been told not to read anything about it. Judge Koh had this to say about her decision to reject Apple’s demands:

"Those remedies are not warranted by the current record. I will not let any theatrics or sideshow distract us from what we are here to do."

[via Talk Android]

Sense 4.1 on international HTC One X said to blaze through Quadrant, scores nearly 6000

Posted: 05 Aug 2012 07:44 AM PDT

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HTC hasn’t had the greatest year if one were to look by the financials, but if I were to pick an Android OEM that made the greatest strides in 2012, I would undoubtedly give it to them. They have made several right steps, including cutting their losses with the disaster that was Beats and refocusing their products along the One line.

However, what stands out for me is the rethink on what Sense is meant to do. While Samsung was busy adding ripple-effect lockscreens to their own custom skin, HTC decided to reduce the bloat and focus on speed with their Sense 4.0. And, if this post on Geeksaber is to be believed, they have doubled down yet again on Sense 4.1. A ROM based on their yet-to-be-released skin for the international version of the HTC One X has made it’s way to XDA-Developers, and having given it a shot, Geeksaber has a lot of good things to say about it. The highlight? A 5900+ score on Quadrant.

Here’s their summary on the changes Sense 4.1 brings:

Sense 4.1 RUU has been leaked (version number 2.15.401.5) , and after some testing, we found the following fixes:

  1. Live wallpaper lag has been fixed
  2. There’s a dedicated button in the Camera app to switch between Front/Backward facing cameras. (earlier you’d have to go into the menu for that.)
  3. A dedicated button to switch tabs in the browser. (You’d have to go into the menu for that, too)
  4. Complete removal of all 3D-Effects in the launcher leading to a completely lag-free experience.
  5. Probably the most important- Rebased on Android 4.0.4
  6. Added ability to remap the recent apps button/ Long-press recent apps/ Long-press Home as Menu. (yes, it removes the Virtual menu bar) under Settings->Display, Gestures and Buttons
  7. New, blazing fast kernel. We mean it. It scored a pretty impressive 59oo+ in Quadrant benchmark (compared to 5100+ on Sense 4)
  8. Wifi-dropping/ Icon showing weak signal Fixes.
  9. Better Battery life- 5 Hour+ Screen-on time as compared to a measly 3 Hour+ on Sense 4.

If anyone else has tried the ROM, do share your experience with us in the comments.
Posted by at 8:09 AM

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