Huawei’s Nexus new leaks again, this time showing some metal
Further pictures have emerged of what is claiming to be the as of yet unreleased Huawei Nexus prototype, at least the 5.7-inch version, given Google are expected to release two different sized Nexus devices this year.
The leak comes from @OnLeaks and gives a glimpse of what we could expect to see on such a device, if the 5.7-inch Huawei Nexus is actually a thing. On the rear of the device, you’ll probably instantly notice a fingerprint sensor as well as the elongated camera housing that stretches across the width of the device. There’s also the obligatory Nexus and Huawei branding.
On the front, there’s front-facing speakers, and edge-to-edge display – something that has become accustom in recently released Android flagships. You’ll also notice the metal exterior and frame of the device; again, something many manufacturers have been doing when moving away from plastic materials.
New Nexus devices are inevitable, but whether this is a device that we’ll see as a final release remains to be seen. Stay tuned for more details as they happen.
Source: NoWhereElse.fr
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7 Android facts that you may not have known
As part of its plan to enter the smartphone market, Google acquired a relatively small company named Android Inc. during the summer of 2005. About three years later, the first commercially available Android-powered smartphone went on sale. A bona fide hit, the HTC Dream was an important piece to a massive puzzle that would have a major impact on the software industry as a whole.
Although it’s widely recognized as a mobile operating system, Android is used across a variety of different hardware platforms, including smartwatches, desktops, notebooks, smart TVs and game consoles. With such a robust wheelhouse, Google’s thriving OS has racked up a lot of accomplishments in a very short time. Google recently announced that Android 6.0 will officially be named Marshmallow and as a bit of a high-five to the search giant and its newly flavored operating system, we’ve compiled a list of Android factoids and milestones that you may not know about.
Android hasn’t always been named after sweets
The very first public release of Android was version 1.5 Cupcake. After its success, Google went on to continue naming its mobile operating system after dessert treats. However, during the platform’s early development days, pre-commercial software versions carried internal robot-themed codenames like “Astro Boy,” “Bender,” and even “R2-D2.” After Android’s first public release in 2008, Google decided to retain its dessert-themed branding scheme, and has since named its software sweet foods in alphabetical order. In addition to commercial releases, an early software update for Android carried a snack inspired moniker. Initially released as software update for the HTC Dream, a patch internally referred to as “Petit Four” was named after a small French dessert.
Honeycomb is the only Android version never officially released for smartphones
In early 2011, Google launched Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Designed specifically for tablets, this large screen-focused operating system’s inaugural device was the Motorola Xoom. Unfortunately, Honeycomb received mostly negative reviews from critics and users. Google quickly replaced its ill-received software with Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. Instead of working on another tablet-centric operating system, the company elected to add large display support to all Android releases going forward.
Over one billion devices activated
Ever gone for a night out on the town and notice that a lot of people are using Android devices? Don’t worry, it’s not just your favorite pub or eatery being flooded by smartphones and tablets running Mountain View’s flexible software. Just shy of two years ago, newly crowned Google CEO Sundar Pichai announced that there have been over 1 billion Android activations. To help put this figure in perspective, it’s estimated that the world’s current population is around 7.3 billion people.
Android has more apps than its competitors
Google’s Android Market went live back in 2008, just a few months after Apple’s App Store. But despite launching in such close proximity, the search company’s digital storefront just recently overtook its main competitor. Rebranded in 2012 as Google Play, Android’s software depot now offers around 1.5 million applications. If you’re looking to add some new icons to your device’s homescreen, here are a few of our favorites.
Early Android smartphone designs looked very different
The HTC Dream is known for its sliding AZERTY keyboard and 3.2-inch touchscreen, but the device’s ancestors offered something very different. Pictured above is a shot of the HTC EXCA 300 aka the “Sooner.” This “Android reference device” appeared to draw inspiration from earlier BlackBerry and Palm OS handsets. Equipped with an OMAP 850 processor and a whopping 64MB of RAM, this unreleased gadget helped pave the way for some of the Android smartphones that people enjoy today.
Who designed the Android logo and what is its name?
Just like its software, the Android platform’s mascot is also open source. This is why we’ve seen it dressed up and restyled so many times over without any type of real backlash from Google. The company’s little green robot was designed with a unisex-like tin can shaped body that takes cues from the male and female icons found hanging outside of restroom doors. It was created to be simple and easily recognized. But who designed it?
A graphic designer by the name of Irina Blok is responsible for the Android logo’s likeness. When developing the popular pictogram she and her design team studied sci-fi toys and movies about space for inspiration. As for the robot’s name, it actually doesn’t have one. Although it’s often referred to as “Andy the Android,” the Android brand’s mascot doesn’t have an official name. However, Google internally refers to its green machine as “Bugdroid.”
Android’s arrival resulted in Eric Schmidt’s departure from Apple’s board of directors
Google and Apple haven’t always been locked a nasty blood feud. In fact, prior to the release of Android, the search giant’s former CEO, Eric Schmidt was a member of Apple’s board of directors. However, less than a year after Android’s launch, the Google executive and the Cupertino firm mutually agreed to part ways. Here’s a statement from Apple co-founder Steve Jobs discussing the matter:
Eric has been an excellent Board member for Apple, investing his valuable time, talent, passion and wisdom to help make Apple successful. Unfortunately, as Google enters more of Apple’s core businesses, with Android and now Chrome OS, Eric’s effectiveness as an Apple Board member will be significantly diminished, since he will have to recuse himself from even larger portions of our meetings due to potential conflicts of interest. Therefore, we have mutually decided that now is the right time for Eric to resign his position on Apple’s Board.
Android has been available to consumers for almost seven years and boy has it accomplished a lot in such a short period. The platform currently has the largest number of global smartphone shipments and it’s making tech affordable in emerging markets. What started out as an operating system for smartphones has stretched to multiple platforms and doesn’t appear to be slowing down.
Did this selection of statistics test your Android IQ or do you have a few tidbits that you’d like to share? Be sure to share your favorite Android factoids in the comments below.
Micromax is planning its own Android based OS for future products
Micromax’s range of affordable Android handsets have managed to help the company secure a substantial share of the Indian smartphone market and the company is planning to use a forked Android operating system in the future, to further differentiate itself from its competitors.
Ashish Agrawal, CTO of Micromax, states that the company is developing its own Android based operating system, which is designed to work across a range of products, including smartphones, tablets, wearables and TVs. However, Micromax doesn’t seem to want to completely reinvent the familiar Android experience, rather the company wants to tailor its software to suite the particular needs of the Indian market.
“Our (Indian) use cases are much different from a US or Chinese customer,” – Ashish Agrawal
Micromax states that it has a strong understanding of what Indian consumers are after in terms of software and believes that it can use this to differentiate itself from its competitors. However, the company is reliant on compatibility with Android apps to remain competitive and so as not to alienate its existing customers, so is building some of its own software into Android rather than creating an OS from the ground up.
Micromax has already experimented with the use of Cyanogen OS, an Android spin-off, in its Yu sub-brand of smartphones, but perhaps feels that it can achieve better results by bringing software development in house.
Micromax’s Yu range of smartphones already run the forked Android Cyanogen OS.
Other smartphone companies in China are already selling devices with their own operating systems based on Android onboard. Samsung released its first Tizen powered smartphone in the country and China’s Xiaomi has been making big gains with its range of MIUI powered devices.
As well as providing region specific features to consumers, additional services should help Micromax increase its revenue from the Indian market, where smartphone hardware profit margins are thin. The company is also likely looking to grow a larger ecosystem, which could help it retain customers in the longer term.
See also: Alibaba reportedly in talks to buy $1.2 billion stake in Micromax
The forked OS is being developed by Micromax’s software team in Bengaluru. The first smartphones to use Micromax’s custom Android OS are expected to launch at the end of this financial year.
Lock patterns are more predictable than we thought
We have been using traditional passwords for a very long time, but Google only introduced lock patterns in 2008. It’s hard to perform thorough studies on such new methods, but this authentication technique is finally becoming more mature. Fast forward to 2015 and good research begins showing up, the latest (and likely biggest) one comes from Marte Løge from the Norwegain University of Science and Technology.
What this research shows us is quite worrisome, as it seems to entail we can be just as predictable with these handy lock figures as we are with our passwords. Løge collected about 4000 lock patterns by asking participants to create unlock gestures for supposed shopping apps, banking software and smartphone access.
“Humans are predictable. We’re seeing the same aspects used when creating a pattern lock [as are used in] pin codes and alphanumeric passwords.” -Marte Løge
There’s a reason why passwords like “password” and “123456789” exist. Splash Data recently gave us a list of the worst (and most popular) passwords, and seeing those will really open your eyes to this issue. As tech consumers, we look for the simplest route possible. It’s probably a main reason why lock patterns were even created. It’s an easier way to keep your phone protected, but we probably do have to sacrifice some level of security in order to obtain simpler unlock methods.
Even if this method was more effective, we must keep in mind a system is only strong when we know how to use it, and it seems many of us are making our lock patters way to simple. This will prove to be a danger once attackers learn more about our collective pattern choices.
Here are some of the most common lock pattern habits
- 44% of people usually start their patterns from the top-left corner dot.
- 77% of users started their patterns in one of the corners.
- Most users used only 5 nodes, and a significant amount only used 4.
- Over 10% of lock patters were made in the shape of a letter (often representing the first initial of the person, or a loved one).
Choosing better lock patterns
Let’s stop giving researchers data to analyze, guys. Remember these devices hold your whole digital life; we shouldn’t protect something like that with a lackluster pattern. I’ll give you some of my favorite tips for making Android lock patterns more complex.
- Don’t use your first initial as a pattern. Seriously, that is like making your debit card PIN your birth date. That’s a huge no!
- We simplify our security and forget Android lock pattern lines can go over each other. If you have more crossovers, it’s harder for an attacker to predict your pattern.
- Try to make your patterns longer! You can use up to 9 nodes, guys! Why are we sticking with 4-5? In fact, you can get away with using 8 nodes and have the same amount of possible combinations as if you were using 9.
- Of course, try to take the common pattern habits mentioned above and do the opposite. Try to start your pattern from a node that is not in a corner and avoid the common top-left period.
It’s this type of information that makes me more of a biometrics advocate. Creating our own security authentication has proven to be a weak solution (in a greater scale, of course). Fingerprint readers, retina scanners and face recognition are very secure methods that can be harder to spoof.
But what do you guys think? Are you a fan of lock patterns? Mostly for convenience, or for security?
Latest Android Marshmallow Developer Preview intros new volume animation
There was much discussion around the changes Google introduced in Android Lollipop to the volume system, and more specifically the volume slider, but putting the confusing system aside, the slider animation itself wasn’t a great experience.
It appears that Google has changed the way things work in the latest Android Marshmallow Developer Preview and now when users hit a volume key, the panel slides into view. The expand icon now does just that and has a full transition from up to down with the rest of the slider folding out.
It seems Google is taking their own guidance, finally.
Just as the shape of an object indicates how it might behave, watching an object move demonstrates whether it’s light, heavy, flexible, rigid, small or large. In the world of material design, motion describes spatial relationships, functionality, and intention with beauty and fluidity.
It’s the small things that please us, hey Google.
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No more unknown callers, solve contact sync with Sync.me (App Review)
Overview
Multiple email accounts, phone number changes, and the plethora of social media accounts to keep up with can become overwhelming. Since smartphones have become so important to our daily existence and most people can barely go minutes without looking at or touching their device, there becomes a few key components essential to our device such as seeing who is calling, adding contacts, sending emails and staying connected with contacts in our social media accounts.
Sounds simple, right? Unfortunately once you plug in the contacts information to your address book it is not constant, Email addresses become irrelevant and phone numbers get disconnected and replaced. So this process is continuous and needs a way to be updated efficiently and effortlessly.
Sync.me, available for download on the Google Play Store, allows you to block unwanted callers, identify incoming calls (including full names) and a photo of the caller, along with syncing with your Facebook and Google+ profile.
Setup
After installation, you are greeted with a handy splash screen that highlights Sync.me core features. To get started, you will simply select your country and type in your phone number. From there it is pretty straight forward as you now are able to customize settings, activate caller ID, and sync your contacts.
Function
Sync.me’s user interface is professional and clean, decked out in a white background accented by a gorgeous baby blue. Upon first use Sync.me is categorized into 3 features: caller ID activation, sync contacts, and call blocker.
Caller ID– allows you to identify unknown phone calls and texts that you receive. What’s great about this is that if it is a number that you don’t already have saved into your phone, your device will display the name of the individual or business along with a contact photo if available (if the number has already been saved to Sync.me’s server). I know a pet peeve of mine is unknown callers and the lack of an incoming photo. The caller ID menu is customizable, as I was able to control an array of options on how the caller ID appeared and for how long it could be displayed.
Sync Contacts– updates your contacts with their latest profile pictures and information such as job, birthdays, and social media highlights. With contact sync you are able to control the frequency that you sync your contact’s data, and you can toggle on or off if you want to overwrite photos that you might have added previously to the contact to use their current Facebook or Google+ profile image. Beware: depending on the number of contacts you have, contact sync can take a while. Minus the fact that syncing took an extended period of time it did a great job syncing contacts. Although, my experience with the sync is you really have to babysit it. What I mean is if you press the “sync now” button, you better be prepared that if you have multiple contacts with the same name they might (and probably will) get clumped together as one user. Unfortunately I had to go back behind the sync and physically unlink names and social media profiles, which I didn’t enjoy at all.
Call Blocker– block unwanted calls from telemarketers, scams, and those you no longer want to communicate with. Sync.me did a great job with their block calls feature. Blocking calls can be done by a quick press when a particular number calls, or you can access the block call menu and add the number you want to block. Call block also gives you the option to automatically block numbers that their database has been informed is spam.
I also like that the numbers that you blocked are conveniently listed, allowing you to revisit what numbers you blocked. If there is a number you want to unblock just simply long press the number and select unblock.
Sync.me is not new or revolutionary, but it’s simple to use and does what it says. I was amazed that it was able to sync Facebook photos because Facebook had previously restricted this feature to apps. I have found myself to become giddy at times when I meet someone new and exchange numbers. As I input their phone number Sync.me automatically populated the new contact’s name, and displays their contact photo which is awesome.
Who will find Sync.me useful
Sync.me is useful for professionals and individuals with a large number of contacts. Sync.me features are spot on and come in handy. Sync.me removes the fear of “who is this calling me?” With Sync.me installed you know who is calling you and can now decide if you want to answer it without missing a call that you probably should have answered.
What We Like
- Sync photos of contacts with Google+ and Facebook profiles
- Easily block unwanted calls
- Caller identification of incoming calls that aren’t saved to contacts
What We didn’t Like
- Birthday alerts seem to be a day premature
- Have to babysit contact sync to make sure its done properly
- Takes a long time for contacts to sync
Summary
Being an on and off again user of Sync.me for the past 2 years due to addition and subtraction of features, Sync.me is a solid application to have on your device whether it be you want to easily block unwanted calls, get birthday notifications, or have the current photos for your contacts.
Editor’s Note
There have been some concerns over the permissions of this app, specifically regarding the publishing of contact information. This reddit post discusses a bit more of what this might look like.
However, the reviewer of this app did not have the same issues communicated in the above post. This is simply for your information so that you are aware before using this app.
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Google changes the way we will interact with watchfaces on Android Wear
Android Wear is a constantly evolving platform, with Google constantly adding more and more useful features. Today, Google has announced an update to Android Wear that may completely change how we interact with our Android Wear watches.
BITS
As displayed above, tapping on various parts of a watchface can now do more than just activate voice actions. Based on how the developer implements it, tapping on a part of the watchface can now bring interactions with various features. So instead of a voice action or opening an app on the watch, the user can just interact with a watch face that has the features they’re looking for. Anything from weather, notifications, activity goals, and more.
In order to take advantage of these features on various watchfaces, you’ll need Android Wear version 1.3, which will start rolling out over the next few weeks. Once you have it, you can use any of the watch faces in this collection.
Further, Google has now added Google Translate to this update, allowing you to translate from your wrist. It will start with support for 44 languages, including with offline support. It will work similarly to the phone app, where two people just talk, and the translation will appear on the screen.
Keep a look out for more information on the update to specific Android Wear devices.
SOURCE: Official Android Blog, Google Translate Blog
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7 ways to reduce data consumption on your Android smartphone
Cellular data used to be something we took for granted, until carriers switched to tiered plans. Even the so-called unlimited options throttle you after using a certain amount of gigabytes, making data a resource we hold very dear. Are you trying to make the best out of your precious megabytes? Let us show you some of the best tips for conserving data consumption and making your limited internet last longer, all without murdering your experience!
1. Turn on data compression on Chrome!
Most of you are probably Android supporters. And hence, you are also likely Chrome users. Did you know Google’s popular browser has a feature that can reduce data consumption significantly? Google states this option should save you about 50% in data. All without you even feeling a difference. In fact, you may feel some changes – browsing will get faster!
What Chrome’s data compression option does is route all your web browsing through Google’s servers. The Search Giant then takes the website’s data, compresses it, optimizes it for the smaller screen and sends it back to your device.
All you have to do is open Chrome, tap on the 3-dot menu button and select Settings. Click on Data Saver and then toggle the option in the top-right corner. You are done!
2. Download Opera Max
Google’s data compression feature is awesome and all, but it only works within Chrome. What about all the other apps? They sure are spending a lot of precious internet juice. Those who want system-wide compression can have it with Opera Max, a data management app which comes from a major Chrome competitor – Opera (duh).
This application is pretty awesome, as it essentially does the same as Chrome’s data compression, but for every single app in your smartphone. As a result, the user can save about 50% data on everything they do with their devices.
It is also possible to micro manage consumption by blocking specific apps from accessing data through mobile access (or WiFi, though I don’t see the point in that). The Opera Max home page will then show you a detailed description of how much data you have been saving. Those megabytes sure add up quickly!
Download Opera Max from the Google Play Store!
3. Restrict background data
Some apps just spend too much data, even when the smartphone is not in use. It’s actually one of the greatest features on Android, as background data allows you to keep everything updated and monitored while you are off doing other things. The deal here is that not every app needs to stay active at all times.
Go into Settings > Data Usage and select the app you want to restrict data for. In the stats you will see two types of data: foreground and background. If you find background data is too high and you don’t need the app to stay active, simple toggle the switch that is labeled as “Restrict app background data”.
4. Update apps only via WiFi
This one is a bit of an obvious one for many of us, but plenty of users out there continue updating their applications over cellular connections. This is OK if you choose to do it, but how many times have you noticed all your apps were auto-updated without your consent, spending all them precious GBs? Hopefully not too often, but if this is an issue, we can show you how to stop it from happening again.
Just open the Google Play Store and tap on the hamburger menu button (three horizontal lines parallel to each other). Hit the Settings option and then select the “Auto-update apps” button. Hit “Auto-update apps over WiFi only”.
5. Keep an eye on your account syncing settings
We love our active syncing and push notifications, but having these also means the phone has to keep checking servers for any new content. You must also realize many apps and services are set to keep sync by default, and often we don’t even use them!
This is why you should keep an eye on your account syncing options. Just go to Settings > Accounts. For the sake of showcasing useless services, let’s just jump into your Google accounts and select your most used one. In my case, all toggles are turned on, so I am syncing app data, Calendar, Chrome, Contacts, Docs, Drive, Gmail, Google Fit, Opinion Rewards, Photos, Play Music, Google+, Keep, Slides and many others. Now, I know for a fact I don’t use about 20% of these, so I can turn them off and save myself some precious data! Do the same for other accounts, as well.
6. Avoid streaming content
As much as we hate it, it is the awesome stuff that uses up the most data. This includes streaming videos and music, as well as looking through high quality images or GIF files. Try to avoid these at all costs if you really want to take care of your internet usage.
Now, we know a smartphone is worthless without your media, but there are ways to stay entertained responsibly. Users can opt for storing music and videos locally. If you absolutely must stream, make sure you jump into the settings and set quality at lower rates. Likewise, you can decrease resolution in YouTube and other video streaming apps.
7. Cache everything you can!
Certain apps allow for storing data locally. These include popular ones like Google Maps and Google Play Music. Make sure you cache as much content as you can while you are on a WiFi network. Then you can go out and enjoy your content without spending any of your precious data.
Wrapping up
So there you have it, guys! These are just some of my favorite tips for reducing data consumption without sacrificing your experience too much. I could give you many other tips, but they would deem your smartphone useless. I wanted to find a good balance. By using these techniques, you can enjoy your phone while also spending data responsibly.
Do you have any other tips you want to share? Are you planning to adopt any of these? Have you been applying them already? Hit the comments and let us know!
82.2% of all new smartphones sold are Android devices
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If you’re still wondering why BlackBerry would need to even consider making an Android-powered phone, let this statistic blow your mind: 82.2% of all new smartphones sold are Android devices, and if you add in iOS as well, 96.8% of all smartphones run either Android or iOS. This latest data is contained in a quarterly sales report by Gartner and really puts into perspective what a futile battle the smartphone market is if you aren’t called Google or Apple. Windows and BlackBerry device sales are slowly but surely dwindling, though we do wonder if the Windows 10 factor will help Microsoft claw some ground back in the future.
While the short term news is good for Android, Gartner also suggests that the smartphone market is reaching its peak with the Chinese market reaching “saturation”. This has caused global growth to slow to 13.5%, the slowest since 2013 which means manufacturers are going to have to really sell their devices to consumers who are looking for replacements, rather than their first devices. And if these reports are anything to go by, it’s a pretty good chance that the replacement is going to be an Android device. Just sayin’.
What do you think about the fact 82.2% of all new smartphones sold are Android devices? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.
The post 82.2% of all new smartphones sold are Android devices appeared first on AndroidSPIN.
BlackPhone 2 available for pre-order; shipping in September
The security-focused Blackphone 2 is now available for pre-order for all the privacy conscious users out there who want a solid phone that offers enterprise-level security.
The company says that the Android-based Silent OS it uses, combined with its own curated apps, ensures encrypted and private communications. With end-to-end encryption for video, audio, and text messaging, the Blackphone 2 can provide up to 100MB of secure file transfers and users can have their own permissions configured.
With a 5.5-inch display, a 64-bit 1.7GHz Octa-Core processor and a generous 3GB RAM, the Blackphone 2 offers a secure solution with top specs.
The Blackphone 2 is being aimed at enterprise customers so as such pricing is yet to be revealed, but the previous model came in at $629.
Would you buy a security focused Android device such as the Blackphone 2?
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