Android’s future is with us, not Google, according to Cyanogen CEO
Many things in our world splinter into a variety of subsects. Some of which are political parties, Protestant denominations, and Linux distributions, which includes Android. They all have something in common with that from which they derive, but all claim superiority in some fashion.
Kirt McMaster (CEO of Cyanogen Inc.) recently spoke to a crowd gathered at The Information’s Next Phase of Android event, to say that a new dawn is coming to the Android distribution and the daybreak will show Cid standing triumphant over Andy.
McMaster is no stranger to saying outlandish things. He’s called Google tyrannical and he’s gone on record stating that Samsung doesn’t have a clue when it comes to designing a mobile operating system.
To be clear, McMaster doesn’t want to get rid of Android. The Seattle-based company’s CyanogenMod is nearly entirely based off of Google’s Linux distro. Rather, he wants his company to be Android’s new overlord. McMaster feels that he would be a more magnanimous ruler than Google has been.
During the time of Android’s inception, Google set out to create a free mobile operating system that was open-sourced and available to all. This is the reason why we see it on so many different smart devices created by a variety of OEMs like Samsung, Sony, HTC, etc. This is also why we see its presence in such a huge range of third party ROMs, which is in fact where Cyanogen got its start.
Over time, Google has been more than aware that it has lost a great source of revenue by making Android free. During the past few years, in an attempt to rein in some control and profits, Google has tightened its clutches around the Android kernel and has forced OEMs to include the next best thing Google has to garner some income: its suite of Google apps must be included on every Android device.
McMaster offers a different vision for Android’s future. He gives Google Now as an example of what an app can truly do if given complete access to the very core of Android, and wants to offer the same ability to third-party app developers.
He goes on to state: “We’re making a version of Android that is more open so we can integrate with more partners so their servicers can be tier one services, so startups working on [artificial intelligence] or other problems don’t get stuck having you have to launch a stupid little application that inevitably gets acquired by Google or Apple. These companies can thrive on non-Google Android.”
While his statements with regard to third-party apps being acquired by Google are profoundly naïve, it would be interesting to see what app developers could do if they were able to offer a program as integrated as Google Now currently is.
McMaster further delved into the possibility of opening up many more app stores to consumers. Among those stores, he hopes to see a Cyanogen app store setting up shop in the next couple of years.
Cyanogen has also been busy lately creating partnerships with a variety of app services and companies. Most noteworthy is its relations with OnePlus, which runs CyanogenMod straight out of the box.
Additionally, and also appearing at the same conference, is its work with Nextbit’s Baton, a cloud-based service desiring to bring a more unified experience to consumers who use multiple smart devices. Its CEO, Tom Moss, was also candid with reporters about Android.
Further reading: Early Android employee says that Android and iOS likely to maintain status quo
Google and Cyanogen have had a peculiar relationship. Just last year, it was rumored that Google attempted to purchase Cyanogen, but both companies were unable to reach a final agreement. Also, Google removed Cyanogen’s CyanogenMod Installer application from the Play Store back in 2013.
Could McMaster be serious about wanting to remove Google from the Android picture? Or is this all smoke and mirrors in some secret attempt to get Google, Microsoft, or Yahoo to want them again?
Source: Android Authority via The Information
Come comment on this article: Android’s future is with us, not Google, according to Cyanogen CEO
Early Android employee says that Android and iOS likely to maintain status quo
If you’re an Android owner, you’ve probably experienced an iPhone-owning friend or family member asking you about whether or not they should switch to Android. For me, this question has increased in frequency over the years as the youthful Android devices have matured and planted themselves more clearly in the limelight.
Interestingly enough, I used to have more to say software-wise about the differences between the fruits and the robots, but as Apple has done a decent job lately of catching up to Android, a lot of the convergence has eliminated some of my old arguments. Notifications in iOS are handled better and there are now quick settings. The interface is still a glorified app drawer, though.
At a recent event held to discuss the future of Android, Tom Moss echoed this sentiment and focused on the business sector.
During The Information’s Next Phase of Android event, Moss stated, “I think, right now, Android doesn’t solve any different problems for users than Apple does and Apple has a better brand. As long as the platforms don’t solve any new and different problems, I don’t think anything will change the status quo.”
Moss went on to talk about Google’s upcoming Android for Work, but claimed that while it was nice that Google was finally addressing its absence from the enterprise environment, it’s just Google playing catch-up to Microsoft and Apple. Android for Work brings nothing new to the table, to paraphrase Moss’ laments.
The former Google employee wrapped up his statements nicely by tying it all back to his original comments, “It’s a second-order problem. If you give an employee the option to have an iPhone or Android phone, the first-order problem is that most of them are going to select iPhones.”
As I often say when discussing comparisons, it’s always a matter of if all things being equal. It applies to candidates for employment, it applies to holiday travel plans, and it definitely applies to business technology solutions.
As Apple rises from the ashes, what will Google do to further differentiate Android from iOS? For power-users, rooters, Google-lovers, and consumers who enjoy a better experience with apps on an open environment, Android will always trump Apple, but for the layman and woman? You get the idea…
On the flip-side of the coin, if all things are equal, Android does have one thing going for it: the hardware behind the operating system in its OEMs’ flagship devices cannot be matched.
Source: Business Insider
Come comment on this article: Early Android employee says that Android and iOS likely to maintain status quo
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Nexus 6 international giveaway!
Welcome to the Sunday Giveaway, the place where we giveaway a new Android phone or tablet each and every Sunday.
A big congratulations to last week’s winner of the OnePlus One giveaway: Raymond T. (Phillipines).
Ilay – Winner of our first Nexus 6 giveaway!
This week we are giving away a crowd favorite, the Nexus 6!
Illay from India just received his new Nexus 6 from our very first Nexus 6 giveaway. Maybe this week you will be the lucky winner of a Nexus 6.
You can earn entry tickets into the giveaway by completing the following tasks in the RaffleCopter widget located below.
- [1 Ticket] 1 Free entry!
- [1 Ticket] Follow AA on Google+.
- [1 Ticket] Follow AA on Twitter.
- [1 Ticket] Download the AA App.
- [1 Ticket] Subscribe to the AA weekly newsletter.
- [10 Tickets] Refer friends to the giveaway. You will be given a unique URL to share with your friends or social networks. You will receive 1 bonus entry (up to 10 max) for every person who you refer to the giveaway using your unique URL.
Join Now!
In case you haven’t heard, we have a new Android Authority podcast called the Friday debate. This week Josh talked with Joe, Andrew, and Jonathan about the HTC One M9 design rumours. You can find the AA podcast on iTunes, stitcher, pocket cast and RSS, we hope you tune in.
Related links
- Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5
- Nexus 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus
- Nexus 6 most common problems
- Is the Nexus 6 too large?
- Is the Nexus 6 really too expensive?
- Download Android 5.0 Lollipop wallpapers and sounds
- Nexus 6 vs the competition
- A history of the Nexus smartphone line
Nexus 6 forums | Nexus 9 cases
Terms & Conditions
- The giveaway is an international giveaway (Except when we can not ship to your Country.)
- If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.
- We are not responsible for lost shipments.
- You must be age of majority in your Country of residence.
- We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
- Only 1 entry per person, do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.
- We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
- The prize will ship when it is available to purchase.
Full terms & conditions and FAQ | Past giveaway winners [Gallery]
Nexus 6 international giveaway!
Welcome to the Sunday Giveaway, the place where we giveaway a new Android phone or tablet each and every Sunday.
A big congratulations to last week’s winner of the OnePlus One giveaway: Raymond T. (Phillipines).
Ilay – Winner of our first Nexus 6 giveaway!
This week we are giving away a crowd favorite, the Nexus 6!
Illay from India just received his new Nexus 6 from our very first Nexus 6 giveaway. Maybe this week you will be the lucky winner of a Nexus 6.
You can earn entry tickets into the giveaway by completing the following tasks in the RaffleCopter widget located below.
- [1 Ticket] 1 Free entry!
- [1 Ticket] Follow AA on Google+.
- [1 Ticket] Follow AA on Twitter.
- [1 Ticket] Download the AA App.
- [1 Ticket] Subscribe to the AA weekly newsletter.
- [10 Tickets] Refer friends to the giveaway. You will be given a unique URL to share with your friends or social networks. You will receive 1 bonus entry (up to 10 max) for every person who you refer to the giveaway using your unique URL.
Join Now!
In case you haven’t heard, we have a new Android Authority podcast called the Friday debate. This week Josh talked with Joe, Andrew, and Jonathan about the HTC One M9 design rumours. You can find the AA podcast on iTunes, stitcher, pocket cast and RSS, we hope you tune in.
Related links
- Nexus 6 vs Nexus 5
- Nexus 6 vs iPhone 6 Plus
- Nexus 6 most common problems
- Is the Nexus 6 too large?
- Is the Nexus 6 really too expensive?
- Download Android 5.0 Lollipop wallpapers and sounds
- Nexus 6 vs the competition
- A history of the Nexus smartphone line
Nexus 6 forums | Nexus 9 cases
Terms & Conditions
- The giveaway is an international giveaway (Except when we can not ship to your Country.)
- If we can not ship to your country, you will be compensated with an online gift card of equal MSRP value to the prize.
- We are not responsible for lost shipments.
- You must be age of majority in your Country of residence.
- We are not responsible for any duties, import taxes that you may incur.
- Only 1 entry per person, do not enter multiple email addresses. We will verify all winners and if we detect multiple email addresses by the same person you will not be eligible to win.
- We reserve all rights to make any changes to this giveaway.
- The prize will ship when it is available to purchase.
Full terms & conditions and FAQ | Past giveaway winners [Gallery]
Upcoming version of 3DMark will include benchmark test for Windows 10 and DirectX 12
Benchmark testing software company Futuremark has revealed it will add a test to its 3DMark product that will demo the graphical improvements in DirectX 12, which will ship as part of Windows 10.
Root achieved for Sony Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact with locked bootloader
Owners of Sony Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact Android handsets that have a locked bootloader, it is your lucky day. At least, it is if you’ve been hoping to root your device.
A clever dev over at the XDA-Forums has scored himself a touch of bounty for working out the xploit. Sorry… exploit. The method is not intended for the international Xperia Z3 and Z3 Compact devices, which come with unlockable bootloaders, and are rather easily tinkered with by the AOSP and ROM enthusiasts. Nor is it for the Verizon variants with modified hardware. Instead, the exploit is for markets like the U.S. where carriers tend to lock things down.
Let’s not beat around the bush here, with Android Lollipop set to release for Sony hardware soon, You are likely better off waiting for the OTA before rooting. Also, this is not an easy process. Right off the bat, up to date firmware is not compatible, so you’ll need to first roll back to version 23.0.1.A.5.77. From there, it is a matter of simply creating a pre-rooted version of the phone’s hardware, flash a recovery image for your model, then apply the root exploit itself.
XDA user zxz0O0 is who you have to thank for bringing root to your locked Sony Xperia Z3 or Xperia Z3 Compact. He’s been known to bring exploit and similar tools to the forums and will take home at least a part of the current $3017 bounty available for breaking the lock on Sony gear.
Head on over to the XDA post on the matter to get all the resources and instructions to root your Sony Xperia Z3 and Xperia Z3 Compact handsets.
Will you go for root on your Xperia Z3 or Xperia Z3 Compact?
DIY: How to make an awesome wall collage using your Instagram photos!
DIY, short for “do it yourself”, is a weekly column where I roll up my sleeves and go over everything and anything from field-stripped and fixing your out-of-warranty iPhone or iPad to fun projects you can do with apps, family, and friends.
Post lots of photos on Instagram? Ever think how cool it would be to turn all of your different photos into an awesome in-real-life collage to hang in your home? I recently decided I wanted to do just that with some of our vacation photos. After a quick web search, however, I realized the selection of free templates to choose from is rather dismal. That’s when I decided to make my own customizable template. Follow along for cool, free downloadable templates and complete step by step instructions to get your Instagram collage up on your wall in no time!
What you need to create a printable Instagram collage
To get started on an Instagram collage you’ll need an image editor. That can be Photoshop if you have it, or one of the less-expensive apps available on the App Store.
For Mac:
- Photoshop Creative Cloud – $9.99/month – Subscribe now
- Pixelmator – $29.99 – Download Now
- GIMP – Free – Download Now
For Windows:
- Photoshop Creative Cloud – $9.99/month – Subscribe now
- GIMP – Free – Download Now
Next you’ll need to pull the photos you want out of Instagram. You might be able to find them scattered around in your Photos app, but you can save time by using an awesome service called Instaport. It lets you easily download photos from your Instagram archive by choosing a date range or specific hashtags.
Lastly, download an Instagram collage template. You can choose from either 12×12 or 11×14:
- Download Instagram 11×14 collage template – Fits 24 photos
- Download Instagram 12×12 collage template – Fits 25 photos
If you’re comfortable enough with an image editor, you can add more rows and duplicate squares to suit any size. Each square inside the template is 2×2 but you can tweak that as well.
How to create a wall collage using Instagram photos
In the steps below I’ll be using Photoshop to make my collage. Other image editors and templates may work differently but the general steps will be the same. Just don’t get too close to the edges of the document so it doesn’t get cut off during printing.
- Open each of your Instagram photos in your image editor of choice and size them to 2 inches by 2 inches as this is the size of each square in the template.
- Repeat this for each photo you want to use and save them in an easy to access place.
- Open one of the Photoshop templates you downloaded above.
- Drag the newly resized photos one by one into the template and replace each blue square with one photo.
- Repeat this process for each photo until all the blue squares have been replaced with your own photos.
- If you ever run into a time where a blue square shows up on top of your photo, just drag the photo layer to the top of the layers panel. Remember that image editors work as a series of layers so anything towards the top will show up on top of anything towards the bottom and so on.
- Save your collage as either a .jpg or .png.
How to print and frame your Instagram wall collage
The best way to print Instagram collages is by submitting them to a photo service. Our local Meijer grocery store has a photo lab that is relatively inexpensive for prints and typically gets the done the same day. Costco or Walgreens are also popular options. If you don’t have a local service, you can use an online one that will mail you back the prints.
Framing comes down to personal preference. I like to choose frames that have a little matting around the edges to give collages more depth. If you’re looking for ideas, Amazon has a decent selection of frames to fit any budget and style.
My collage cost around $30, including printing and the frame I found locally. That’s a great price for something unique and personal that really livens up our walls.
How’d yours turn out?
If you followed the steps above, how did your Instagram masterpiece end up turning out? Let me know!
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