Foursquare Updated to Include NFC Beam and A Few Other Cool Features

We have seen quite a bit of updated and new apps in the last 24 or so hours, including Chrome Beta and Microsoft’s OneNote launching in the Android Market, and Seesmic, Google

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Google+ gets Updated with What’s Hot, Who +1′ed, and Other Performance Tweaks

It seems like all the developers of the major social apps decided to update their app around the same time. Yesterday Seesmic got it’s first update in a very long time. Foursquare just got updated not to long ago, and now here is Google

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Android Authority Asks: What is your Favorite Android Browser?

Chrome Beta

Tonight we are asking, what is your favorite Android browser? Yesterday afternoon the long awaited release of the Google Chrome browser for Android finally released. But the sad thing is, it’s only compatible with ICS, so I have not been able to play around with it.

Most people I know use Dolphin for its’ speed and ability to turn off flash when it’s not needed, because we know flash can slow down your device as well as eat up some precious battery. I actually still use the stock browser on my Droid Bionic, there isn’t a whole lot of stuff I use the browser for since every site I go to has an app now.

Favorite Android Browser is...

Stock Browser Dolphin HD/Mini Opera Mini Firefox Chrome Beta Other (Explain in the comments)

View Results

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Verizon LTE Xoom Getting An Update (HLK75H), But It’s Not Ice Cream Sandwich

All I gotta say is damn Motorola has been busy lately. In the past 4 weeks (maybe less) we have seen soak tests for the Motorola Atrix 4G, Motorola Photon 4G, Motorola Droid Razr/Maxx, and the Droid Bionic, now it looks like a soak test for the Motorola Xoom is coming or it might have already started since Verizon has posted the Software Update PDF on their support site already.

We are a little dissappointed that it is not Android 4.0, especially since the Wi-Fi Xoom already has Ice Cream Sandwich (I bet Verizon is holding that one up). According to the PDF it doesn’t look like there is to much to this update as far as changes go. Your tablet will now support dual International Mobile Subscriber Identities (IMSI), as well as a bugfix for restoring data connectivity after exiting Airplane Mode. I’m not a Xoom owner, but I think these changes could of waited for ICS, don’t you think?

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Using an Android Smartphone as Your PC

I don’t remember exactly when I first thought of this idea (your phone being the only computer you need), but I know it was many years ago, probably before Android was on the market. Imagine using your phone/mobile computer everywhere, because it’s always with you, and coming home, putting it on the desk, and boom – it connects to your desk’s monitor, and then you start using it as a PC. This future seems increasingly more likely thanks to Android.

I knew this is getting closer to reality when dual core ARM processors started appearing and when Motorola launched their laptop dock thing, where you can put your phone inside and the “laptop” (well more like a shell in Motorola’s case) would run on the phone’s hardware. It was the start of something interesting, but far from an ideal implementation.

One of the wrong things with it, is that it ran two operating systems in the same time, and a dual core Cortex A9 at 1 Ghz is barely enough to run a full OS at reasonable performance, let alone two. It would’ve made a lot more sense to continue to run the OS on the laptop display. Honeycomb was out around the same time, and Motorola was the first to use it. So I wondered why couldn’t they just use Honeycomb for the laptop, not as a separate OS, but just as the UI for the laptop?

Perhaps Motorola preferred to just sell another device instead of making the phone work with everything, or perhaps Google wasn’t ready for that kind of movement, but I do believe Google made Honeycomb (and now ICS) the way it is because they envisioned some kind of future of hybrid devices, where Android might even end up on laptops or similar devices.

My ideal vision of the future is to have Android use 3 different UI add-ons, so when you have it on your phone it automatically uses the phone UI, but when you connect it to a PC monitor or such, you should be able to select the tablet UI for it, and when you connect it to the TV, you should be able to pick the Google TV UI for it.

The codebase is the same, just the UI needs to change, depending on the form factor of the device. Ideally, you’d have one UI for everything, and while I’m sure Google will continue to try and make them as similar possible, I don’t think that’s ultimately possible. You can’t have the exact same UI for everything, because each form factor’s UI can be optimized to work much better for that specific form factor, so instead of having a mediocre UI for everything, you’re better off having the best possible UI for each scenario.

Perhaps just as important as having these UI’s is being able to do all this wirelessly. Needing separate cables, sometimes different cables for every device, is just way too cumbersome for something like this to become mainstream. It needs a wireless technology can can seamlessly connect all these devices on the spot. Bluetooth can’t be it, because it’s way too slow. Wi-Fi is also a bit cumbersome to use like this, but something like Wi-Fi Direct/Wi-Fi Display should be the future, and I think very soon we’ll start having access to that kind of technology.

So the only other part of this is for Google to enable Android to change UI’s based on what’s connected to. The sooner they forget the idea that ChromeOS is  their

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The Carriers Hate the iPhone (And Love Android)

That carriers love Android is not really a surprise. Go to any carrier, anywhere in the world, and you’ll notice that most of their smartphones are now based on Android. They even have their best promotions and marketing campaigns around Android smartphones. Android phones are a great way for carriers to also hook customers that have never used a smartphone before and never needed data, on their data plans, and get them to sign more expensive contracts. The conclusion: carriers make more money with Android.

But is the same true about the iPhone? Do carriers love the iPhone, too, and are they making money from it? Apparently not, and this is why it’s a nightmare for them. The iPhone can bring them some extra customers, but at what costs? Some carriers are even forced to subsidize the most of iPhone’s price, as we’ve seen with the Sprint deal, where they’re paying $650 to Apple for every iPhone. That would be $450 subsidized by the carrier.

Considering other manufacturers charge the carriers from $400 to $500 for their high-end phones, that means the carriers are giving Apple an extra $150-$250 for every single phone. That also means that for every 1 million extra customers, it costs them an extra $200 million. That’s a lot of money, and it really puts a dent in the carrier’s profitability.

This also explains why Apple is able to make so much profit compared to everyone else in the industry. Apple can make several times the profit on their phones compared to other manufacturers because the carriers are still willing to pay Apple a lot of money. If only they would realize that Apple is at a point where losing a big carrier would not be acceptable to them anymore, which means the carriers could  have the power to bring Apple down a notch in their negotiations.

I don’t think anyone should watch out for the “poor” carriers. They can take care of themselves. But these negotiations that are heavily favoring Apple are also hurting all the other manufacturers. If the other manufacturers would be able to charge the carriers more because Apple is doing it, then it would be fine, but I think the opposite is happening. The carriers are giving in to Apple, and then try to recover their losses by squeezing all the profit from all the other manufacturers, which is bad for all of us, because our favorite manufacturers get less money to work with for future devices.

SOURCES CNN

RELATED carriersiPhoneSprint

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Best Gangster Games On Android

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Gangsters are popular fodder in pop culture. The romanticized life of hoodlums are pretty much stock and trade for Hollywood. So it’s no surprise that we see a glut of games that are supposed to simulate the gangster culture. They can range from the sublime Grand Theft Auto series to the rather simple trading game Drug Wars. With Android fast becoming a popular platform for portable gaming, it is no surprise that we see games of this type start appearing. The major problem for any fan of the genre is to separate the wheat from the chaff. Here’s three games that managed to catch my eye and should please the aficionado.

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Amazon Ad: Three Kindles Still Cost Less than an iPad

Amazon has had some pretty good commercials for the Kindle, and they’re usually very good at pointing out the Kindle’s big advantages as an e-reader. This new ad is no different and it points out not only to the Kindle and Kindle Fire’s main advantages, but also pokes fun at the iPad for costing more than “three Kindles”. I really enjoyed this ad, and I hope to see more of them. They remind me of Apple’s Mac vs PC ads, which were always funny.

The Kindle Fire has a clear advantage over the iPad thanks to its $200 price point. This doesn’t mean Apple’s sales will necessarily fall because of it, because Apple can still try to sell the iPad in many countries and to many people who don’t really care about the price difference. The market potential is much bigger, so Apple can grow alongside many other competitors (for now).

The problem for Apple is that their sales won’t be as big as they would’ve been otherwise (hard to measure this), and also that at this price point, the Kindle Fire and other Android tablets in general could take the market leadership from Apple (again), and grow much faster than Apple. This poses a problem for Apple because at the point of market saturation (a few years from now), Apple won’t be the dominating platform. And of course they would like to be the dominating platform (who wouldn’t?).

So while Apple will be doing just fine sales wise for now, it’s not exactly an ideal scenario for them that Android-based tablets are quickly catching up to its market share.

 

RELATED AmazonAndroidiPadKindleKindle Fire

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Droid Xyboard 10.1 and 8.2 And the Droid Razr and Razr Maxx Get Updated

Wow, Motorola has really been pushing out updates lately. Last night we saw that the Xoom LTE was getting a very minor update, and now it looks as if the Droid Xyboard, Droid Razr, and Droid Razr Maxx are now getting updated. Let’s start off with the Droid Xyboard.

The Droid Xyboard will soon be recieving build 1.6.0M_279 which will include a slightly longer changelog then what we saw on the XOOM LTE.

Enhanced Browser performance to improve scrollingimproved touch response that includes Stylus enhancementsMaintain data connection when switching between Wi-Fi and the Verizon 3G and 4G LTE networksSuccessfully connect to 4G LTE network and see the 4G LTE indicatorThe Daily application now comes preloadedSuccessfully open links in email messages without device needing to rebootKeyboard function supported in docking station

Both the 8.2 and 10.1 are getting the exact same build and it’s 83.8MB in size. Let us know how the update goes for you.

Now the Droid Razr and Droid Razr Maxx changelog is quite lengthy. The new firmware is 6.12.173.XT912.Verizon.en.US, and it should fix a lot of bugs we have heard about. Also both the Razr and the Razr Maxx are getting the exact same build, which makes sense since it’s basically the same device. Check the image below for the full changelog, and let us know in the comments when you get the update and how it goes for you.

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DHE Drive Info: Portable Tool To View Detailed Hard Drive Statistics

By Fawad on Feb 08 2012 Leave a comment

Preventing hard drives from failures and crashes can avert the loss of important data, but assessing the health of your hard disk manually can be time consuming. When a hard disk is working, temperatures increase during processing and read/write operations. Heavy applications, such as virtual machines, put a lot of stress on the hard disk. DHE Drive Info is a portable application for Windows that lets you view the detailed information about connected hard disks according to their partitions. The application has options to view the basic information, S.M.A.R.T. data, S.M.A.R.T. Logs, Control different settings of the hard disk, view Hidden Areas and access the Sector Browser. Moreover, the system tray of DHE Drive Info shows the current temperature of the hard disk. Read on to find out more about DHE Drive Info.

The application has basic hard disk information, including size, number of partitions, Windows version, CPU name and clock speed etc, at the top. The Name, Type, Size, Serial Number and Status appear in the middle, while 6 tabs for accessing different types of extensive information and hard drive settings are available at the bottom.

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ClipX: Clipboard Manager That Saves Up T0 500 Clips In A Session [Mac]

By Fatima on Feb 08 2012 Leave a comment

We’ve covered many clipboard managers recently, and they all have a single purpose; to extend the functionality of the default clipboard. ClipX is a Mac app that is somewhat similar, in that it is like a safety net for anything you copy to your clipboard. The app sits unobtrusively in the System Menu Bar and records any and all text that you copy to your Mac’s clipboard. You can copy and paste the text normally, and in the event you need to reuse a previously copied snippet, you can visit the app and browse for it. The app saves up to 500 clips in the order they were copied in.

The app doesn’t have any special functionality that you need to be aware of; you can continue to use the clipboard with the Command

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TapShot: Gesture Controlled Camera Replacement App For iPhone

Official Microsoft OneNote Mobile Client Released For Android » By Hamza on Feb 08 2012 Leave a comment

As soon as you hear of a new camera replacement app for iOS, you might be tempted to think that it can’t be anything new, as there are so many of them already in the App Store. TapShot, however, is one camera app for iPhone which is sure to change this perception. TapShot relies completely on gestures to function, and using it, taking photos becomes so easy that you don’t have to do anything more than pointing your iDevice towards your target. The gestures are highly customizable, and you can learn all about them by heading past the break.

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Official Microsoft OneNote Mobile Client Released For Android

Today seems to be a good day for Android fans with a couple of big announcements coming from tech giants. First, it was news of the release of Google’s Chrome browser for Android, and now it’s Microsoft bringing its trusted note-taking and sharing tool, OneNote, to the Android Market. Initially released as an iOS-exclusive app, and then released for Windows Phone 7, Microsoft’s official OneNote client is now available to Android users with all the note management features it is known for, including remote access to your SkyDrive account for syncing notes and notebooks in real-time (with support for offline access), enhanced text formatting (with built-in spell check tool), in-app photo capturing and attachment, option to add hyperlinks, images and bullets to notes and plenty more.

To access all aforementioned features, you must log in to the app using your Windows Live ID. New users can easily sign up for a fresh account from within the app for free.

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How To Backup Files To BitLocker-Enabled Virtual Hard Disk [Beginner's Guide]

By Usman on Feb 08 2012 Leave a comment

Microsoft’s VHD (Virtual Hard Disk) format is widely used to contain and run guest operating systems using Microsoft virtualization software, MS Virtual PC. Unlike previous versions of Windows, Windows 7 natively supports creating and mounting virtual hard disk using Disk Management utility. Not only does it create MBR partitions, it also allow creating GUID partition on VHD to store large amount of data. With Windows 7, you no longer need an additional tool to attach VHD files for accessing virtual hard disk data and backing up files and folders to virtual hard disk file. When you attach a virtual hard disk file, you can access and modify its content just like the way you use physical hard drive’s volumes. Since Windows 7 provides all disk-related features with attached virtual hard drive, you can use it as a secured backup storage. In this post, we will guide you through the process of creating a virtual hard disk and encrypting it with BitLocker to securely backup files and folders.

Performing disk management tasks require you to login to Windows as administrator. So, make sure that you have required administrative privileges for creating a new hard disk volume. First off, open Computer Management console from Computer right-click context menu, and navigate to Storage

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MultiFirefox: Run Multiple Versions Of Firefox At Once [Mac]

By Fatima on Feb 08 2012 Leave a comment

Around the mid of 2010, we reviewed Utilu Mozilla Firefox Collection, a windows application that allowed you to run multiple versions of Firefox at the same time. Normally, it isn’t possible to install and use more than one version unless you are on the Nightly or Beta channel. MultiFirefox is a Mac app that functions similarly on Mac; it allows you to create profiles and run any number of different Firefox versions at the same time. The app has both a Dutch and an English version, and occasionally, the Dutch bits leak over and show up on the English version, but other than that, the app works without a glitch.

When you first launch MultiFirefox, it will ask you to create a profile. The app will automatically exit and launch its own profile manager. During the tests, it was observed that the profile manager, when launched for the first time, is all in Dutch. Pay close attention to the following screenshots to use the profile manager if it shows up in the Dutch language. The placement of the buttons doesn’t change, just the language does, so you should still be able to use it. Of the three buttons on the left, the first one will allow you to create a profile, the second one will let you rename it, and the third one will allow you to delete a profile. Once you’ve created profiles, click Exit, or the first of the two buttons given at the bottom.

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Hands-On With Google Chrome Beta For Android [Review]

If you’re among those few lucky Android users running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich or higher on their devices, you’ve now got a sound reason to dump whatever browser you are currently using. Google has just released a beta build of Chrome for Android with several innovations that are bound to set new benchmarks for contemporary mobile browsers across all platforms, let alone Android. Ranging from an ultra-swift web browsing experience to real-time syncing of tabs opened on your desktop browser (or any other device running Chrome with your account in sync), this new wonder product from Google is here to redefine the way you surf the web on the go. The highlights of the browser include tabbed browsing, ability to sign in with Google account to access your Chrome bookmarks, accelerometer-based tilt scrolling, easy swipe-across-the-edge switching between tabs, good-looking 3D transition effects between tabs, incognito browsing, facility to jump to most frequently opened and recently closed pages from the browser’s homescreen, auto-zooming on content/URL-laden areas of a webpage, and smoother rendering of webpages. More after the break.

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ContactPrivacy: Get Notified When Apps Try To Access Contacts [Cydia]

« Download Google Chrome 17, With Omnibox Prerendering & Increased SecurityWorkFlowy Helps You Organize Thoughts & Collaborate With Others

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Type2Phone: Type To A Paired iOS Device From Your Mac Keyboard [Paid]

By Fatima on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

When it comes to mobile devices, or more specifically, smart phones, on-screen keyboards are now the norm. Although Samsung did recently debut the Samsung Galaxy Note featuring a stylus in an Apple mocking super bowl ad, the fact is, people are now accustomed to using their fingers to operate on-screen keyboards. As such, these on-screen keyboards are easy to use; few of us will ever lose our finger and turn to a stylus (in the event that you do lose your finger, a stylus is the last thing you need to worry about). While the iPhone keyboard is super responsive and easy to use, it might, at one point, become an annoyance to type from your device. Type2Phone is a Mac app available for $4.99 that allows you to use the keyboard attached to your Mac to type on the iPhone. This app requires no iOS client whatsoever, and simply pairs and connects with the device over Bluetooth.

Pair your iPhone and Mac and launch the app. This app will function in just about any app on your iPhone. It can’t be used to launch apps or to select text input fields, and will simply turn your Mac keyboard into an input device for your iPhone. As you type, the app will show you which keys you are pressing on the screen.

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Log In To Multiple Skype Accounts On PC Startup With Skype Launcher

By Fawad on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

Skype provides its users with one of the best audio call, video call and instant messaging services. Skype’s usefulness is not limited only to communication but also offers a host of other functions. You can also use Skype for screen sharing and sending files to your contacts (even though I myself hate to use the Skype file transfer service). Apart from these built-in features, plugins and third party applications also extend the utility of Skype to greater levels by providing users with tools and extensions that integrate with Skype and perform various functions. Do check out some of the awesome features and tools to supercharge your Skype experience. These extended capabilities make Skype a utility not only for using in homes and personal interaction, but also for educational and professional purposes. Skype Launcher is an application for Windows that allows you to log in with multiple Skype accounts at a time on one PC.

The application’s usage is pretty simple. Just download the application and add the Skype addresses that you require to login on system startup. In the Skype Launcher Configuration window (accessible from the start menu folder of Skype Launcher), you may add multiple accounts and specify settings, such as Delay Launch on Boot, Disable Notice Autologin, Use Alternative Login, Wait For Login Complete, Force Workaround For Skype, Double Timeouts etc.

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Lock Tab Prevents Accidentally Closing Important Tabs [Chrome]

By Zainab on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

Lock Tab, a Chrome extension, gives you the ability to lock pages as you browse the web. The extension prevents accidentally closing important tabs, when you’re browsing the web. Users can lock tabs by clicking the button in the address bar, or by using the Ctrl

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RSS Feed Reader: Access Your Favorite RSS Feeds Through A Compact Pop-up [Chrome]

By Zainab on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

Recently we covered Foxish Live RSS, an extension that mimics Firefox’s live bookmarks feature in Google Chrome. RSS Feed Reader is a similar Chrome extension which has the same functionality, but comes with more options and settings. RSS Feed Reader conveniently lets you keep track of your latest RSS feeds from your favorite websites. With it, you will be able to instantly see new items that are added to these feeds/websites. Simply subscribe to RSS feeds by clicking the button in the toolbar, or by adding its URL to the options page. You can also export feeds for backup, or import them to another computer. Moreover, customize feeds by changing the title, number of posts displayed and enable Force update option. You may also organize feeds in folders and sort them by drag & drop. The extension offers users with three different themes, Dark, Light and Mint.

Once you’ve added feeds, you will be able to view all of them in a compact pop-up by clicking the button in the toolbar. A count for the total number of unread feeds is displayed on the button, and an individual count for each feed is also displayed to the right of the title, in a tiny green box. You can right-click feeds for Go to page, Mark all as read, Open all unread or Organize.

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Scup: Cross-Platform Batch Audio Track Uploader For SoundCloud

By Aatif Khan on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

Established in 2007, SoundCloud is arguably the most popular online audio distribution platform for collaboration, promotion and distribution of audio content by artists and music promoters. While the web version of the platform is a no brainer for anyone who is familiar with the service, we don’t usually come across a lot of desktop applications catering to SoundCloud. For that reason, when we stumbled across Scup (short for SoundCloud Uploader), we considered it worthy of being taken for a spin. In its essence, Scup is an Adobe AIR-based, cross-platform application that lets you upload multiple tracks to your SoundCloud account and create a set on the fly. The application supports specifying all necessary parameters, such as genre, set and track types, license, record label etc, making your sets ready for publishing in every sense.

When launched for the first time, Scup will present you with an authentication box, requiring connection with your SoundCloud account. Hit the Yes please, move ahead button to launch the authentication page in your default browser. If you are not logged into SoundCloud at present, do so at this point.

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GeoGebra: Plot Algebraic Expressions, Find Geometric Coordinates [Mac]

By Fatima on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

If you hated Math and disliked your Algebra teacher with the force of a thousand Reddit downvotes, then you will envy GeoGebra. In all fairness, no one in their right mind would try and plot algebraic equations unless it were required. You seldom hear people say, “I’m going to chill out with this geometric theorem”, but for those that are still doing sums and plotting lines, this app is heaven sent. GeoGebra is a Mac app that plots algebraic equations for you. It also lets you place any two points on a graph and find out the resulting equation, plot angles & geometric shapes, and find their coordinates. Life would indeed have been easier if this app were allowed in school.

The app has four different views, and all views (called perspectives) are interlinked; that is, the variables entered in one view are remembered and can be referenced when working in another one. The four views are Algebra & Graphics, Basic Geometry, Geometry, and Spreadsheet & Graphics.

The Algebra & Graphics view allows you to enter and get algebraic equations. To enter an equation, type it in the Input field at the very bottom. To plot any two random points, use the buttons at the top. The New Point button allows you to place any number of points on the graph, and the Line through two points button lets you connect two points. As you enter and connect points, the panel on the left displays the coordinates of all points and any equations that are formed.

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Brilliance: A Simple, Elegant Unofficial Android Client For 500px

By A. Rehman on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

Adding to the list of unofficial Android clients for popular photo-sharing service 500px is Brilliance

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TaskBadges: Use A Simple Text Editor As A To-Do List Manager [Mac]

By Fatima on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

If you’re the somewhat traditional type of person when it comes to creating to-do lists, i.e., you will sooner jot something down on paper than take the time to type it out and set a date and pick a sound alert for it, then to-do apps might not be doing you justice. For those that have transitioned one step beyond scribbling on paper, but will nevertheless just open a text editor, save it with a random file name (perhaps the default one) and type in a list of tasks, you need TaskBadges. It is a free Mac app that uses a very simple syntax to record tasks. Tasks are recorded in a text editor and the file is then added to this app. Using the syntax, the app detects how many tasks you’ve added and lists them as a notification on the file itself.

If the thought of using a syntax makes you want to run, you might want to hold up on that thought long enough to read what the syntax actually is. It is nothing more than two square brackets separated by a space or by an X. Each task starts on a new line and is preceded either by

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Star Rover: Augmented Reality App For Star Gazing On Your iPad [Free For Limited Time]

PrintMyFont: List, Print & Compare All Installed Fonts On Your System » By Hamza on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

There are some truly beautiful iPad apps on the iTunes App Store, which keep reminding you why you spent $500 on the tablet. When it comes to beauty, one of the few words that are sure to come to your mind (after Megan Fox, of course) are

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DiskBench: Real-Life Hard Disk Benchmark Tool With Multithread Support

By Aatif Khan on Feb 09 2012 Leave a comment

Disk benchmarking and information tools are a dime a dozen, and you’ll find so many of them out there that it becomes to make the right pick. We at AddictiveTips have ourselves covered a lot of such tools, generic and specific both, such as DHE Drive Info for detailed hard drive statistics, AS SSD Benchmark particularly for SSD drives, and even a guide on performing benchmark testing on your hard disk, USB drive and optical drive. The problem with most of these tools, however, remains the fact that they present you with synthetic benchmarking numbers, figures that you are most unlikely to meet in real life situations.

For a more realistic and accurate measure of how your disks will perform in real time under stress, try DiskBench. It is a portable Windows application that uses your current filesystem to save, read and manipulate data. Details after the break.

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White Version Of Samsung Galaxy Note Spotted Out In The Wild

Photo Courtesy of Pocket-lint

 

The Samsung Galaxy Note phone/tablet is no doubt a cool device, that’s a gimme. Well Samsung took the device and threw on some white covers, making it even more attractive than it already was. The fine team at Pocket-lint got a chance to go hands-on with the newest color of the Galaxy Note. While the white version is identical to black version (same processor, RAM, camera, etc.), there are some noteworthy differences that were pointed out. For starters the back of the white version is gloss white, while the original black version was matt-mottled. It is suspected that the gloss white was done on purpose in order to make the shinier plastic being easier to clean and prevent it from getting as dirty quickly. They also note, the S Pen pressure-sensitive stylus has a matt finish, and could become grubby with constant use, but is unlikely since most users won’t be using it very much.

Boy the device sure looks great in white. Let’s see how many people will move towards the white version of the phone/tablet, despite it potentially getting dirtier faster than the black version. Which color do you prefer? Let us know in the Comments section below.

source: Pocket-lint

 

» See more articles by Roy Alugbue

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Modern Combat 3 is free today in the Samsung App Store

The title says it all, for those of you with the Samsung App Store on your devices, today’s freebie will make an excellent addition to your app drawer, if you haven’t shelled out for it already. Modern Combat 3 is one of the prettiest games on Android today. Pair this game up with a USB controller and you’ll have a console quality experience.

The game has a robust singleplayer mode as well as online multiplayer. You really don’t want to miss getting this one for free, especially since the game costs $6.99 on Android Market

via: DroidGamers
 

» See more articles by Jim Farmer

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U.S. Justice Department set to approve Google-Motorola deal as early as next week

It seems like ages ago when Google announced it was buying Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. It was actually about 6 months ago, and at that time we figured it was going to be a battle with the U.S. Justice Department as well as the European Commission. The Wall Street Journal is reporting the U.S. Justice Department will clear the deal as early as next week, according to people familiar with the matter. The European Commission will also decide next week on whether to approval the deal as they’ve set Monday, February 13 as a deadline.

Even if both clear the way, it won’t be smooth sailing as both departments are concerned with Google’s commitment to license Motorola patents to competitors under FRAND (fair, reasonable, and non nondiscriminatory) rules. Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have read all about the various lawsuits between Apple, Samsung, Motorola, HTC, Microsoft, and others. The concern is that many of these suits involve patents that are essential to making smartphones, like 3G and WiFi. Some of these patents have become industry standards and companies who own those patents need to agree to issue licenses under FRAND.

Google did promise organizations that it would offer licenses for FRAND patents in Motorola’s portfolio, but didn’t rule out seeking injunctions against those that refuse to license those FRAND patents. On the other hand, Apple and Microsoft also said they would offer licenses, but wouldn’t seek injunctions from those they feel violated those industry standard patents.

I certainly don’t see any of these legal battle slowing down, but I’m excited to see what Google and Motorola are going to do together. Motorola has been behind the shadows of Samsung, but they make the best hardware hands down. Motorola may or may not make the next Nexus device, but I believe we should see some interesting things out of Motorola by the end of the year, assuming this deal is finalized.

source: wall street journal

 

 

» See more articles by Robert Nazarian

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Phoenix Suns Adopt Android Ushering In a New Era for the NBA

Players for the Phoenix Suns will all be getting a Galaxy Tab 10.1 thanks to a joint effort by the team, Verizon Wireless, and Samsung. In doing so, the Suns will be the first in the NBA to have tablets courtside. Each player’s tablet will include a team playbook, video from practice sessions, scouting reports for upcoming opponents, and travel itineraries for road trips. While talking with the Wall Street Journal, head coach Alvin Gentry described the Galaxy Tabs as the best way to display diagrams of plays that he wants to run during a game. 

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Google Wallet PIN Cracked by Brute Force Attack

First, the sky is not falling and chances are you are safe, but if you use Google Wallet, you should know that the PIN security has been cracked. Who is affected? You are vulnerable if:

You have a phone with Google Wallet set upYour phone is rootedYou don’t use lock screen security (PIN, pattern, face unlock, etc)You lose your phone

Basically, you need either a Nexus S or Galaxy Nexus that has been rooted. Everyone else can stop reading now.

What happened?
Google Wallet stores your four-digit PIN number in a database on the phone. It uses SHA256 hex-encoding, which means all that is needed to crack the encryption is to generate at most 10,000 SHA256 hashes…a simple task for any smartphone to accomplish. This is called a brute-force attack.

Google knows about this issue, but to fix it and make it more secure, they would have to move the PIN security to be maintained by your bank. This would force Google to update their terms of service and would require us to trust in the bank’s security. We’re not sure at the moment if this will happen. The banks may decide to simply take the risk of leaving it as it is rather than take on the responsibility of maintaining the PIN security.

Another possible fix would be to switch from a four-digit PIN to a more secure password that requires at least six digits and a mix of letters and numbers. We’re used to these types of passwords online, but not when you’re trying to check out at a store and there are people in line behind you. Plus, anything more complicated than entering a four-digit PIN would essentially kill the product since it would simply be too inconvenient to use. I doubt this will happen.

How can I protect myself?
The best thing you can do to protect yourself is to configure a passcode on your lock screen. If you are rooted, you could unroot, but I’m sure most people who are rooted want to stay that way. Of course, the most important thing is to not lose your phone.

See the vulnerability in action
The folks at zvelo have posted up a video showing how easy it is to crack the PIN.

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Two Easter Eggs Officially Cracked In Google Chrome For Android

 

It’s only been roughly a few days since we’ve been graced with Chrome’s arrival, but it’s all we needed in order to see the first two (of hopefully many Easter Eggs) cracked. The first one involves the number of tabs opened in the browser. If you’ve noticed, there’s no limit of the number of tabs being opened as there are in other web browsers. So what happens when you have 99 tabs opened and want to open the 100th? The 100th turns into a smiley emoticon. Pretty clever there Google.

The second one is a real doozy too. This involves what happens when you look at the page showing all your tabs. You generally can swipe up and down to flip through the stack of tab windows, but when you’ve flipped to the top, the tabs then poke out to highlight they won’t go any farther. However, if you swipe up five times in a row, the whole stack does a animated flip. This is perhaps one of the specific reasons why Chrome has decided to unleash the beta for Android 4.0

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Sprint Running Early Upgrade Buyout Program

Sprint is planning on initiating a program for customers to buy out their current contract by paying a fee in exchange for an early upgrade. The program effectively resets their early upgrade eligibility and with the applicable Upgrade Now fee, customers will also have to commit to another 2 year contract. The program will run from 2/12/12 to 04/14/12. Details after the break.

Non-eligible customers:

Customers that have upgraded less than eight (8) months agoCorporate AccountsCustomers in collectionsAirave and tablet accountsiDEN devices

The fee will be based upon the remaining term of the customer’s account.

Customers that have upgraded devices between 9-11 months ago would have an early upgrade fee of $165.

Customers that have upgraded between 12-14 months ago will have an early upgrade fee of $125.

Customers that have upgraded between 15-17 months ago will have an early upgrade fee of $95.

Customers that have upgraded between 18-21 months ago will have an early upgrade fee of $55, with anything beyond that period simply incurring the standard $36 upgrade fee.

This is surely good news for Sprint users!

Source: SprintFeed

» See more articles by Josh O’Donnell

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Verizon LTE Xoom Getting Upgraded…No, Not With Ice Cream Sandwich Yet

Feb

9

2012

Verizon LTE Xoom Getting Upgraded…No, Not With Ice Cream Sandwich Yet 0by Ed Caggiani
tagged Android Updates, ice cream sandwich, LTE, motorola xoom, Xoom

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Amazon’s New Kindle Ad Reminds Us Three Kindle’s Cost the Same as One iPad

Feb

9

2012

Amazon’s New Kindle Ad Reminds Us Three Kindle’s Cost the Same as One iPad 0by Stacy Bruce
tagged advertisment, amazon, Kindle, Kindle Fire

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Foursquare Update Gives You New Ways to Discover the World Around You

With the latest update, the popular app foursquare has a lot more to offer than just checking-in. Feeding off features from their recent website, developers have added Explore to their mobile app.  Explore will give you recommendations based on places your friends have been or left tips, places you’ve put on lists to follow, or even new places Foursquare thinks you might want to try.  The app has gathered this information from the 1.5 billion check-ins on foursquare.  Menu and pricing information is also easily accessible in the app.

Checking-in will be even easier if you have a device with Android Beam (like the Galaxy Nexus), since that’s supported now too.  If your friend is already checked in, they can beam the check-in right to your phone.  Nifty, huh? So, check out the links after the break to get your foursquare app and get exploring!

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