Saturday, April 13, 2013

Android Authority

Android Authority

Samsung’s Galaxy S3 gets a battery boost with a massive 7000 mAh battery

Posted: 13 Apr 2013 03:13 AM PDT

galaxy-s3-batterySamsung’s Galaxy S3 has a 2100 mAh battery, which is more than often barely enough to get you through the day. If you want to give your Galaxy S3 a little boost in the power department, a Redditor has found an off-brand 7000 mAh extended battery to does just that.

As you would expect with any extended battery, it adds quite a bit of bulk to the Galaxy S3, and shockingly, that’s really the only trade-off compared to the standard battery. ZeroLemon’s 7000 mAh battery has NFC built into it, so you won’t have to worry about giving that up when switching out the Galaxy S3′s standard 2100 milliamp battery.

It’s not very costly either. At the time of this writing, the 7000 mAh battery costs a mere $33.99, and Amazon Prime members will, of course, get free two-day shipping. That isn’t a whole lot of money when you consider that Hyperion’s 4200 mAh battery isn’t much cheaper at $24.99.

ZeroLemon’s 7000 mAh comes in three different colors: black, white and blue. So, if you’re interested in giving your Galaxy S3 a boost when it comes to battery life, you may want to head to the source link below and check out this powerhouse.

Google beats Bing in malware test

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 07:58 PM PDT

google-search

It's funny how Microsoft's 'Scroogled' campaign seems to do more harm than good for them. First, their campaign to get users to complain about Google via twitter blew up in their face, and now there's news regarding just what a Bing search will get you. The one thing you don't want when doing a search is what Bing will bring you more of… and that's malware.

In an 18-month study, German security company AV-Test tried out four different search engines. Out of those four (Google, Bing, Yandex, and Blekko), Google was the champion. With over 10 million sites tested, Google returned only 272 malicious results. The full results can be found HERE, but since we're more worried about the Google vs. Bing comparison, we'll concentrate there. With about the same number of websites tested, Bing returned 1,285 malicious hits. That's right, you're five times more likely to get malware via Bing than Google.

None of those numbers are really worthy of alarm, and really serve to illustrate just how great Google is at security. As a huge part of their business, and what got them to the position they reside in, Google is right to be so diligent about search. Microsoft really brings this attention upon themselves, with such a heavy-handed campaign aimed squarely at Google.

Now which results do you think the people in those commercials would prefer?

 

Verizon announces upgrade availability changes for wireless customers

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 06:40 PM PDT

Verizon Wireless
Verizon has just announced that it will be making a few changes concerning upgrade eligibility for customers under two-year wireless contracts. It also announced changes that affect the discontinued New Every Two program and the shared upgrade option that is available for all its customers.

Currently, Verizon customers may take advantage of early upgrade eligibility and switch up their devices at only 20 months, meaning it isn’t necessary to wait out until the full 24 months is up before moving to change or upgrade a contract tablet or smartphone. However, with today’s announcement, customers may only upgrade their devices after their contracts expire. The first ones that will be affected by this are those with contracts that end on January 2014. However, Verizon notes that customers still have the option to simply purchase devices at full price separately.

Meanwhile, Verizon customers who still have credits from the New Every Two program, which was ended in January 2011, are now being advised that their unused credits will expire on April 15. And as for those who wish to share an upgrade with another person on a single account, they will no longer be able to do so unless it’s for upgrading to devices in the same category (i.e. upgrading a phone to another phone, instead of a tablet or a Jetpack to a phone).

Cut the Rope: Time Travel announced, making its way to Android in the near future

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:19 PM PDT

cut-the-ropeZeptolabs hasn’t developed a Cut the Rope game in two years, but the company announced it is returning to the series with a new game from the Cut the Rope series called Time Travel.

Details are scarce, as the developer hasn’t announced release date or pricing information just yet. Even the minute long teaser trailer had little to no hints on a launch date. If previous Cut the Rope games are anything to go by, we can expect to see the game in two formats: a free version and a $0.99 version.

Cut the Rope: Time Travel will be launching on both iOS and Android, just like the previous Cut the Rope games. Gameplay footage wasn’t shown, but as the name implies, the game will be focus on time travel.

We’ll let you know when Zeptolabs reveals more information on the game.

The Friday Debate: Is Google Glass really the future of computing?

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 03:06 PM PDT

The-Friday-Debate aa Image: Evan Forester/Flickr

We are all mobile geeks, here at Android Authority. We love everything with a power button. We like to comment the latest news and endlessly argue over which phone is better. On the Friday Debate, we pick a hot issue and proceed to discuss it. Join us!

This week, Google announced the setup of a special venture fund dedicated to kick starting startups that want to develop applications for the futuristic Glass head-mounted computer. But the most exciting Glass-related news that came this week was the revelation that the first units will ship within a month to Google Glass Explorers.

With new and disruptive technologies, controversy is never far away. Some hail Google Glass as the next paradigm shift in computing. Others bemoan the potential privacy issues, or even call it an overhyped gimmick.

Today, at the Friday Debate, we discuss Google Glass – is it the future of computing or just a storm in the teacup?

Darcy LaCouvee (G+): 

Initially, I believe Google Glass will be limited to the confines of advanced information hubs, like all the major metropolitan areas. From studying our Analytics at Android Authority, it’s clear that people in places like Singapore, New York, London, Seoul, California, and Texas are likely to be the types of people most interested in this. Ardent Google evangelists and mobile technology early adopters could care less about privacy.

In terms of development, we’re seeing a lot of heavy hitters with endless budgets that are quite keen to adopt this new platform quickly.

How many times did smartphones and tablets come out before they gained mainstream adoption? Many. I think it will be a slow start initially, and the experience will be sub-par But it will only get better.

Passive interaction, information-at-a-glance, and super-computing assisted learning and interaction with our environment and networks characterize platforms of the future. Google Glass is ahead of the curve. Makes Facebook look like a fax machine.

Google Glass Press (4)

Robert Triggs (G+)

Perhaps it's the slightly cyber-punk look, but I've always had the feeling that Google Glass is going to be a game changer. Darcy LaCouvée is spot on when he says it's ahead of the curve, and the techie in me certainly sees the potential.

But I do have my reservations; Google Glass further cements the idea that we should always be "plugged in". After all, you can't use it when you're not wearing it, and to put Google Glass on the nightstand is to essentially declare yourself offline. Which is a pro and a con.

You can check your smartphone at will, but beaming social updates directly into your eye is far more intrusive and won't be to everyone's liking.

I expect it to be popular, but perhaps it won't replace the smartphone as some expect it to. As for privacy, I think that businesses' declaring where it can and cannot be used is a perfect compromise. In public it's not an issue, even in the days of pen and paper you'd be subject to ridicule for drinking too much, or be called out in the local paper for spouting political nonsense in the town square.

Sergey Brin demonstrates Google Glass

Sergey Brin demonstrates Google Glass

David Gonzales (G+):

Honestly, I find it quite strange that wearable tech is still not the norm considering all the possibilities available to us in this day and age. But there’s very little doubt in my mind that Google Glass will be enough to kick start an entire industry of wearable computers.

As for privacy concerns and whatnot, you have to remember that Google Glass will ultimately be offered to people who were born digital. To paraphrase one of the more famous lines from The Dark Knight by Christopher Nolan, we merely adopted the Internet — and with it, accompanying issues concerning freedom and privacy. Many people out there were born and raised with the kind of Internet that we have today — the kind that didn’t exist back when the Internet was first made available to the public. To these people, I think privacy will be but a minor concern.

Eventually, I believe Google Glass will spread far and wide but not because of the groundbreaking tech that it brings or the insane number of great things that it makes possible. Instead, people will line up for it just because it’s neat, much like cigarettes. People won’t care much about the primary concerns being raised by some cautious tech-savvy observers now. They just want to feel really cool.

google glass girl Credit: DVF

Derek Ross (G+)

Wearable computing is the future. Google is jumping in head first into this completely new market space. As with anything new and unknown there’s bound to be consumer apprehension.

When it comes to privacy and Glass, it’s quite simple. All of these arguments have happened before. They happened 10 years ago when camera phones were being introduced to the world. Various organizations, places of business and even municipalities tried to ban camera phones. How did that work out? After everyone owned one, the majority of concerns went away.

Those that are forming negative opinions on a product they have never used themselves, let alone even seen or touched really need to reevaluate their outlook on the world. Crying wolf when the wolf hasn’t even stepped out of his den yet seems a bit premature.

Vote in our poll and join the discussion!

Note: There is a poll embedded within this post, please visit the site to participate in this post's poll.

Flipboard 2.0 users love their magazines

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 02:19 PM PDT

Flipboard 2.0

In the wake of Google Reader being shuttered, Flipboard announced a new 'create your own magazine' feature. That function, built into their 2.0 update, allows users to basically cobble together stories they find interesting. Due to the interface of Flipboard, it populates like a digital magazine. You can even share it via various social media platforms. Pretty awesome, right?

Clearly, it is. Flipboard has noted, via their blog, that over a half million people have taken advantage of that feature. That's a lot of people playing 'magazine editor' with Flipboard, though only the content can be manicured… not the layout. This was timely for Flipboard, and only promises to get better.

The newest version of Flipboard, and this magazine feature, is not yet available for Android. That means these half million magazine users are all iOS devotees. There is no breakdown of which devices these magazines were accessed or created through, but I'm sure the iPad is our main culprit.

The question for us is how much Android will impact this number. Flipboard has not given a solid release date for Android, and their sharing function for magazines is not yet available on Google+. For Flipboard users, this is a fantastic feature that is sure to renew and increase interest in the service. I'm a big fan of a great service getting better, so Flipboard 2.0 should be a lot of fun. If you're a stat junky, check out the cool infographic on the Flipboard blog!

 

Jelly Bean update on its way to Motorola Droid Bionic, starting Monday

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 02:13 PM PDT

Motorola Droid Bionic

We’ve known for a while now that the Motorola Droid Bionic would eventually be getting an update to Jelly Bean. Now it looks like the time has come. Verizon has now released a detailed page that lists the update as build number 98.72.22.XT875, which brings with it Android 4.1.2.

Unfortunately, you will still have to wait until Monday before the rollout begins. Like most Verizon rollouts, it may take days or even weeks for the update to reach all Droid Bionic users, though.

So what’s new in the update? Quite a bit actually.

First off, there is the usual suspects which include Google Now, improved notifications, Jelly Beans’ smarter keyboard and Project Butter speed improvements.

Next up we have Droid Bionic specific changes. This is includes improvements to voice and data connectivity for Back Up Assistan Plus and Visual Voicemail. There also general improvements for calander settings and mobile hotspot data is also reportedly improved with this update.

So now you just have to wait through the weekend. Come Monday, if you are lucky the 98.72MB download file will be waiting. For those that absolutely want it sooner rather than later, starting Monday you can always navigate to Menu>Settings>About Phone> System to see if you can get the update right away.

How to get Facebook Home working on your Nexus 4 (and other devices)(Updated, no-root method found)

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 01:51 PM PDT

Facebook Home Compatible This is a guide being written up to get around compatibility problems with Facebook Home. Use at your own risk. This method was not discovered by us. It was discovered by Krzysztof Bryk and sent our way by Jaime Lefebvre. All credit for the find goes to them. We’re just publishing it here so people can find it!

So as you may have noticed, Facebook Home was released today. If you want to learn more about it, our review for Facebook Home is here. You may have also noticed that most phones aren’t supported. Yes, it’s silly, but for now the only a few devices can use Facebook Home including the Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy S3, and the HTC First, among others. So many people trying to install it, or even side load it, may be getting errors like the one found in the picture above. No worries, there may be a way to fix it today.

As mentioned above, a Mr Bryk found a method that allows devices to get around this compatibility problem. It should work on any device that sports a 720p or better display. Additionally, you’ll need root access and a file explorer. Of course, there are no guarantees here. Also, this is a build.prop mod, so it should be relatively easy to do. Shall we get started?

Modding your phone to work with Facebook Home

  1. Download the Facebook Home, Facebook, and Facebook Messenger APKs from here. These are the full and official versions of Facebook, Facebook Home, and Facebook Messenger.
  2. Install all three APK files (you may need to change your settings to allow for installation from Unknown Sources first).
  3. Once everything is installed, go ahead and open up Facebook Home once to make sure you get this error. It’s labeled as “Home” in your app drawer.
  4. Now comes the fun part. Open up your favorite file manager. Navigate to /system where you’ll find the build.prop file. Be sure you make a backup of your build.prop before proceeding. Very, very important.
  5. Not kidding, go make a back up of that build.prop please. Thank you.
  6. Open the build.prop by long clicking and selecting to open in a text editor.
  7. The next part is the hard part as you’ll be editing several of these lines. Edit only the lines we’ve written here and none of the others. One you’re ready, edit the followings lines:
  • Change ro.product.model to GT-N7100. It should look like this: ro.product.model=GT-N7100
  • Change ro.product.brand to samsung. It should look like this: ro.product.brand=samsung
  • Change ro.product.name to t03gxx. It should look like this: ro.product.name=t03gxx
  • Change ro.product.device to t03g.  It should look like this: ro.product.device=t03g
  • Change ro.product.manufacturer to samsung. It should look like this: ro.product.manufacturer=samsung
  • Change ro.com.google.clientbase to android-samsung. It should look like this: ro.com.google.clientbase=android-samsung

Once you’re finished making all of the edits, reboot your device. Once rebooted, open Facebook Home again and it should start working! This has been tested on the Nexus 4 so far. So it will definitely work on there. The list of devices this will work on is practically unknown so the only way right now to find out if it works for you is to give it a try. Once again, it should work on any rooted device with a 720p or better screen.  While Facebook Home isn’t the most wonderful app ever, people should be able to try it without waiting months for compatibility to change. If you’ve given it a try and it works, feel free to leave a comment and let us know what devices are working and which ones aren’t.

Update!

XDA user theos0o has modified the original APK to work with any device (or so the claim goes) without root. You can find more information in this XDA thread. Here’s how it works. You uninstall all Facebook apps from your device, then install the file you can download from the link. Nice and easy with no root required. Except those where Facebook is installed in /system/app (i.e. pre-installed). You folks will still need root. Enjoy!

Carphone Warehouse offering a free Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with the purchase of a Galaxy S3 Mini

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 01:51 PM PDT

samsung-galaxy-tab-2-7.0

Carphone Warehouse is offering a free Samsung Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 with the purchase of a Galaxy S3 Mini on a new two-year contract.

Interested buyers will have to sign-up for a new two-year contract through O2, Orange or Vodafone to get the free Galaxy Tab 2 7.0. Plans begin at £22, £26 and £38, respectively. Additional plan options can be found at the source link below.

Alternatively, if you’re not interested in a new two-year contract and still want a Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, the tablet is running for £122.99 on eBay, which is $189.05 USD at current exchange rates.

The Samsung Galaxy S3 Mini supports a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, a dual-core 1GHz processor, 1GB of RAM, a 5MP rear-facing camera, a VGA front-facing shooter and 8GB of internal storage. It also has a slot for a microSD card allowing up to  32GB of expandable storage. On the software side of things, the device is running Samsung’s TouchWiz atop of Android 4.1.2, which can be upgraded to Android 4.2.

Are you interested in this deal from Carphone Warehouse or are you waiting on the Galaxy S4 Mini’s arrival?

ZTE Director arrives to U.S. Cellular, for one penny on contract

Posted: 12 Apr 2013 01:40 PM PDT

ZTE Director

While most of us will gladly put down a little cash to ensure a great smartphone experience, not everyone feels that way. Some users can’t afford or simply don’t need high-end handsets. For these kind of users there are devices like the newly announced ZTE Director for U.S. Cellular, a single-core smartphone that costs just a penny with two-year-contract.

If the ZTE Director looks familiar to you, that’s because it is both visually and internally similar (though not identical) to the ZTE Fury, which launched way back in March of 2012 on the Sprint network. Like the Fury, the Director sports a 3.5-inch display, a 1GHz single-core processor, 512MB RAM and 4GB storage. There is also a 3MP camera, microSD and Android 4.0 ICS. At least on the OS front, that’s a step up from the Fury’s Gingerbread.

Let’s be honest, the experience certainly isn’t going to be great. There will be apps that just won’t perform well, or even won’t work at all. The phone will also be a little laggy at times. Still, for first time smartphone buyers with modest needs and modest expectations, it could do the trick.

If you do have your heart set on the ZTE Director, it would probably be smarter to skip the contract altogether and buy it outright for $99, though we leave that up to you.
Posted by at 4:19 PM

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