20 May 12 How to make Android faster, more productive and more secure than iPhone
May 19, 2012, 7:50 AM — IPhone users love to brag about their phones. They line up around the block and stand in line for hours when a new one is released. Yet, for many users, Android is clearly the superior platform. Yes, its Achilles’ heel is a big one: security. Android’s openness and large market share mean that it’s a juicy target for attackers.
iOS vs. Android in the enterprise
[ Free download: The mobile security survival guide ]
Yet, Android’s openness also provides serious benefits. It allows for more customization; its apps are usually cheaper and various handset manufacturers are able to offer significantly different form factors, such as the smartphone-tablet hybrid, the Samsung Galaxy Note.
With a little tweaking, you can speed up and optimize Android in ways that will make iPhone users’ heads spin. Here are 10 ways to make Android faster, more productive and more secure than iPhone:
Make your Android faster
1. Get a better browser.
One of the major benefits of using the popular browser Opera Mini is that its cloud engine compresses data by as much as 90%. It features tabbed browsing, support for widgets and the ability to set advanced privacy features, such as the ability to automatically clear passwords, cookies and browsing history.
The advantage for Android users: the ability to use Opera Mobile instead of Opera Mini. Opera Mobile supports Flash and 3D graphics, has an HTML 5 engine and has a device-side web rendering engine for higher fidelity browsing. You can set up the rendering engine to work locally when on a Wi-Fi network and default to the cloud-based rendering engine when on a 3G or 4G network to minimize expensive data usage (if you’re not on an all-you-can-eat data plan). It also allows you to access your camera from your browser. Expect cool new widgets to start using this feature soon.
2. Install an Android optimizer.
Apps like Android Booster and Android Assistant give you the power to automatically kill apps that run in the background, gobbling up battery life and draining CPU. You can set a monthly data limit and monitor exactly how much data you’ve downloaded over 3G and 4G networks, and you can purge your cache, history, etc.
3. Conserve your battery.
Nothing slows you down more than a dead battery. One advantage Android phones have over iPhones is that you can swap out your battery. But proper power management can save you from that trouble. Apps like JuiceDefender and Battery Stretch help you regulate your power use.
With more than 7 million downloads, JuiceDefender is the most popular of these apps. It offers three different profiles: “Balanced,” “Aggressive” or “Extreme.”
The Balanced setting is the default and requires no configuration on your part. If you bump it up to “Aggressive,” the app will automatically disable data connections when the battery is low. If you’re really worried about a dead battery, the “Extreme” setting disables data connections by default. You can turn them back on manually, and you are able to whitelist apps that you want to have connectivity.
Make your Android more productive
4. Dig deeper into which apps hog data.
If you constantly go over your data limits, an app like Android Assistant may not be enough. Sure, you will be alerted when you are nearing your limit, but what exactly is causing the problem?
Is it Facebook, podcasting software, the MLB Gameday app? Who knows?
Article source: http://www.itworld.com/software/276921/how-make-android-faster-more-productive-and-more-secure-iphone
Tags: Android Assistant, Battery Stretch, CPU, HTML, Opera Mini, Opera Mobile
20 May 12 Samsung’s S Voice available for Android 4.0 devices through leaked Galaxy S …
The firmware for Samsung’s Galaxy S III has leaked just over a week ahead of the device’s release. While you can’t flash the ROM to another phone just yet, developers are able to poke around inside and could be bringing elements of the TouchWiz Nature UX experience to a wider audience at some point. The first major finding to come out of the leak, however, is an APK for S Voice, Samsung’s Siri-style voice control application. It seems to work on any device running Android 4.0 — we tested the app on a Galaxy Nexus and a Sharp Aquos Phone, and got it up and running largely without issue barring a couple of crashes.
It’s clear that S Voice has been modeled very much in Siri’s image
Obviously, we don’t want to pass anything resembling a final judgement on leaked software that was designed for different hardware. It’s clear, though, that S Voice has been modeled very much in Siri’s image, right down to the near-identical microphone icon at the bottom. The software hooks into Android and lets you set calendar events, send messages to contacts, get Wolfram Alpha-powered answers to questions, find out weather forecasts, and so on. Voice recognition was mostly solid, but we had a few problems getting it to parse various names, and “The Verge” remains a common stumbling block for this kind of software. S Voice’s voice itself is a coldly mechanical female affair, some way away from Siri’s personable and slightly coquettish mannerisms (or indeed the dulcet male tones found in the British version).
It also seems that S Voice isn’t quite as attuned towards natural speech as Siri. For example, whereas Apple’s service will helpfully respond to vague statements like “I’m in the mood for Italian food,” S Voice won’t offer any advice beyond suggesting a web search. Even a more direct question like “Where’s a good Italian restaurant?” sends you to Google, and the tutorial advises using much less fluent syntax such as “Text Katie message are you free tonight for dinner.” S Voice doesn’t make much effort to indulge more esoteric queries, either, though it does at least tell you that the meaning of life is 42.
Overall, S Voice is the closest approximation of Siri we’ve seen (in English, at least), but it’s not quite as fluid — at least in its current form. We’re looking forward to giving it, and the rest of Samsung’s Nature UX, a fuller workout when we review the Galaxy S III itself.
Article source: http://www.theverge.com/2012/5/19/3031621/samsung-galaxy-s-iii-rom-leak-s-voice-available-android-4-0
Tags: APK, Galaxy Nexus, ROM, Samsung Siri, Text Katie, Wolfram Alpha
20 May 12 China to Google: Android must remain open
In giving the thumbs-up to Google’s acquisition of Motorola, regulators in China stipulated that Google must make
Android free and open for five years, a source with knowledge of the situation confirmed with CNET today.
The stipulation would seem to be designed to keep Google from denying Motorola’s handset competitors access to the mobile operating system, or from giving Motorola an advantage of some sort — such as integration between its handsets and Android that’s tighter than connections between rival phones and the OS.
From the beginning, Google has taken an open approach with Android, making it free and available to any hardware manufacturer — a strategy that’s helped to quickly make Android the No. 1 mobile OS globally.
“Many hardware partners have contributed to Android’s success and we look forward to continuing our work with all of them on an equal basis to deliver outstanding user experiences,” Google CEO Larry Page said during a conference call last August, at the time the intended acquisition was announced. “We built Android as an open-source platform and it will stay that way.”
Still, despite the offering of such olive branches, and despite Android’s great success as an open OS, Motorola rivals may well have been nervous. “Any way (Google) tries to couch this, there’s no doubt Motorola is the most favored player,” Gartner analyst Michael Gartenberg told CNET’s Roger Cheng in August. “If I’m a third-party vendor, I have some real concerns here.”
That’s in part because it could have at least crossed Google’s mind to integrate its software and services more tightly with the Motorola hardware, following Apple’s end-to-end approach with its own hardware and services.
Apple uses the sale of its iPhones and iPads to drive sales of iTunes, the App store, iCloud, and other offerings. Google, of course, has its own services — Google Drive, Google+, and so on — and a Google-focused Android device could further push subscribers to them. Ultimately, it’s these services that are the money-makers for Google. Fragmentation of Android is another concern, and a dominant, tightly integrated Android handset might help to address that.
What, then, would rival phone makers do? There aren’t many alternatives to Android. Windows Phone might become a more attractive option, but then, Microsoft has a cozy relationship with Nokia, so it could be deja vu all over again. Here’s what CNET’s Maggie Reardon had to say back in August, in a discussion of the merger’s possible impact on consumers:
What is likely to happen is that HTC, LG, Sony Ericsson, and Samsung will remain Android partners, but they may have to find new ways to differentiate their products from Motorola’s more Google-centric hardware. This may mean that HTC offers more advancements for its Sense software, which rides on top of the Android software. And Samsung may develop more TouchWiz customizations.
For consumers this could either be a good thing or a bad thing. If executed well, it will offer consumers more variety in device capabilities as well as look and feel. But if it’s not executed well, it could just mean more fragmentation in the Android ecosystem.
Reardon also wrote that the merger would probably lead to more-advanced devices from Google, a good thing for consumers.
With the stipulation from China’s regulators (which was reported earlier today by several media outlets), all this may have become moot. And if Google is to be believed, it may not have been an issue anyway.
A company representative told CNET today that Google’s “stance since we agreed to acquire Motorola has not changed and we look forward to closing the deal.”
So, had it crossed Google’s mind to tie Android tightly to Motorola handsets? We might have to wait five years to find out. And who knows what the landscape will look like then?
We have an e-mail out to Motorola for comment and will update this post if we hear back.
Article source: http://news.cnet.com/8301-32969_3-57437774-300/china-to-google-android-must-remain-open/
Tags: China, CNET, Google Drive, HTC, Michael Gartenberg, OS
20 May 12 Microsoft Looks Back At The Path Of Windows, Waves Goodbye To Aero
Windows 8 is coming this year. At this point, it’s accepted. It’s almost taken for granted. But building an entire operating system is an insane job, and doing it time and time again is even crazier. Microsoft has been pounding away at desktop OSes for years, and with Win8 on the horizon, the company recently took a step back to show where it’s at, where it’s going and how we got here. In a new MSDN post entitled ‘Creating the Windows 8 user experience,’ the company lays out some of the vital UI changes from Windows 1 to Windows 7, and what its engineers learned along the way. A lot of evolution has happened over the years, and it’s obvious just looking back at the home screens from each system.
Focusing more on the here and now, the company admits that it is “moving beyond Aero, flattening surfaces, removing reflections, and scaling back distracting gradients.” So, largely, Aero won’t be a part of Windows 8. The company says that while that was en vogue in the past, we’re beyond it now. And while much of the Metro style UI uses white text on a colorful saturated background, the desktop in Windows 8 will continue to use black text on light-colored chrome, as in Windows 7. This choice was made, according to Microsoft, to help preserve maximum compatibility with existing programs. Interesting in hearing more from the brains that designed Win8?
Listen up:
“We applied the principles of “clean and crisp” when updating window and taskbar chrome. Gone are the glass and reflections. We squared off the edges of windows and the taskbar. We removed all the glows and gradients found on buttons within the chrome. We made the appearance of windows crisper by removing unnecessary shadows and transparency. The default window chrome is white, creating an airy and premium look. The taskbar continues to blend into the desktop wallpaper, but appears less complicated overall.To complete the story, we updated the appearance of most common controls, such as buttons, check boxes, sliders, and the Ribbon. We squared off the rounded edges, cleaned away gradients, and flattened the control backgrounds to align with our chrome changes. We also tweaked the colors to make them feel more modern and neutral. While a few of these visual changes are hinted at in the upcoming Release Preview, most of them will not yet be publicly available. You’ll see them all in the final release of Windows 8!”
One thing strikes us here: Microsoft is clearly listening to consumers. We live in a social world, and input is easier to give and easier to receive than ever before. Windows 8 is going to be a tough one, bridging the gap between a “traditional” desktop OS and a Metro universe, but it’s clear that the company is eager to listen and eager to deliver something compelling. Just a few more months, and it’ll be out in the wide open.
Article source: http://hothardware.com/News/Microsoft-Looks-Back-At-The-Path-Of-Windows-Waves-Goodbye-To-Aero/
Tags: MSDN, OS, Release Preview, UI
20 May 12 Red, white, blue and chrome
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HOPKINSVILLE, KY. — Riders representing Rolling Thunder, The Patriot Guard, Crusaders Set Free Church and other organizations made a 101-mile Freedom Ride from Evansville, Ind., to Western Kentucky Veterans Cemetery on Armed Forces Day. The purpose was to raise money on behalf of the 101st Airborne Division Association and its soldier support programs.
The National Armed Forces Freedom Rides take place in 32 states, with each state organization using proceeds to benefit different military charities. The organizer of Saturday’s event, Rodney Bond, said that the Indiana and Kentucky Freedom Ride organizations chose the 101st Airborne Division Association, which over the years has given out over one million dollars in scholarships, grants, programs and help for individual soldiers in need, according to Association Executive Secretary Wayne St. Louis.
“The 101st Airborne took a big hit last year,” said Bond, “and there are a lot of kids without parents. We want to take care of them and that’s what (the 101st Airborne Division Association) does.”
Greeting the riders was a prepared ceremony featuring a combined Marine Corps League/101st Airborne Division color guard and a firing party from Alpha Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team.
The sound of their engines arrived just ahead of the riders a few minutes after it was announced they were coming off the Pennyrile Parkway exit. Right behind the engine roar, a long line of red, white, blue and chrome came into view as bikers flying American flags rolled up to the ceremony site.
Sgt. Michael Avant sang a powerful rendition of the National Anthem to start the proceedings, followed by a speech by Pastor Marty Owens of the Crusaders Set Free church in Owensboro, Ky.
Owens spoke of the over two million American men and women who have died of wounds and disease in wars, of their sacrifice for the nation and of the sacrifice of Christ for the world.
At the conclusion of his speech, well-known local bagpiper Lou Farkas stirred the crowd with “Amazing Grace,” followed by the multi-talented Avant playing a flawless rendition of “Taps” to conclude the ceremony.
Article source: http://www.theleafchronicle.com/article/20120519/NEWS01/305190026/Red-white-blue-chrome?odyssey=nav%7Chead
Tags: Amazing Grace, HOPKINSVILLE, KY, Lou Farkas, Michael Avant, National Anthem
20 May 12 Chrome sparkles on sunny, scenic Ride for the Cure
A miles-long ribbon of colors and chrome snaked along U.S. Route 150 and toward the head of it was a 16-year breast cancer survivor.
Diane Miles, 58, of Leroy joined about 100 other survivors of the disease at the head of a pack of more than 1,000 two- and three-wheeled vehicles Saturday.
The open road and the knowledge of helping a good cause brought the motorcyclists to The Shoppes at Grande Prairie for the 16th annual Ride for the Cure.
All profits from the event – which last year totaled about $35,000 – go to benefit the Susan G. Komen for the Cure fight against breast cancer.
“I’ve been riding since before it was cool for girls to ride motorcycles,” Miles said before the pack departed Peoria. Their destination was the Avanti’s Dome in Pekin.
Miles’ motorcycle, which was converted to a trike in 2008, is named after her grandmother.
“When I was a kid I wanted a mule, and I wanted to name her after my grandma Janetta. She was just as stubborn as one of them,” Miles said.
Most little girls like ponies. Why a mule?
“They’re just cool,” she said. “They’re stubborn as hell, and you can ride them forever.”
Miles never got her mule. She’s perfectly fine, though, settling for a Honda Valkyrie 1500. The black and chrome trike looks like a car engine was shoved into a motorcycle.
A six-cylinder engine sits between the tires.
“If you (combined all six exhaust pipes into one) it sounds like a stock car, but he won’t let me do that,” Miles said of her husband, Herb, who joined her and their 12-year-old granddaughter, Kea, on the 26-mile ride.
The couple have been participating in the ride for four years. This was the first year they brought along a grandchild.
The riders rolled through Kickapoo and turned south on Taylor Road. At that road’s intersection with Illinois Route 116, two women in pink shirts and hats held a sign that read “Thank You.”
After a short, westerly jaunt on 116, the riders reached Cameron Lane.
The meandering two-lane blacktop provided for the longest, and most scenic, leg of the trip. It was there that the ribbon stretched. Throttles were rolled back, carburetors inhaled a mixture of gasoline and oxygen and exhaust pipes roared.
The collection of riders and survivors had found some room to ride.
Justin Glawe can be reached at 686-3196 or jglawe@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @JustinGlawe.
Article source: http://www.pjstar.com/news/x1040012074/Chrome-sparkles-on-sunny-scenic-Ride-for-the-Cure
Tags: Cameron Lane, Diane Miles, Honda Valkyrie, Illinois Route, Justin Glawe, Taylor Road
20 May 12 Full Galaxy S III Android 4.0.4 ROM Leaked, S-Voice And All The Other Goodies …
Hey kids! Looking for an early taste of the new Touchwiz? Well you’re in luck! A leaked Galaxy S III rom is out in all it’s bandwidth crushing glory! A whopping 800MB download awaits those eager to get their hands on Samsung’s latest.
The Galaxy S III and its new version of Touchwiz will make about a million additions to Android. Somewhere in this download are things like S-Voice (A Siri-style virtual assistant), Pop-up Play (a floating video window), and Smart Stay (which uses the front facing camera to refresh the screen timeout), just to name a few. Developers (and eager bloggers) should start ripping into it immediately.
The full rom, if you’ve got about 40 minutes of download time to spend, is available right here.
S-Voice is available as a separate download here, but Samsung’s cloud compute server is very picky about who it responds to. The general theory going around is that is only listens to Samsung devices, but you’re welcome to try.
I just so happen to have S-Voice up and running on my Galaxy Nexus, I’ll have a full hands-on article posted shortly. Stay tuned!
Source: XDA via SamMobile | Android.hdblog
Article source: http://www.androidpolice.com/2012/05/19/full-galaxy-s-iii-android-4-0-4-rom-leaked-s-voice-and-all-the-other-goodies-up-for-grabs/
Tags: Galaxy Nexus, Smart Stay, XDA
20 May 12 This Tiny PC Runs Linux and Android 4.0–and Costs Just $74
Over the past few months there have been no fewer than three tiny, cheap Linux PCs making headlines, and now there’s a fourth to add to the list.
First we saw the Raspberry Pi and the Cotton Candy devices emerge; then, almost exactly a month ago I wrote about the Mele A1000, a small ARM device that sells with Android but can be configured to run Ubuntu Linux as well.
The latest to appear? None other than the MK802 micro-PC, a USB-sized device priced at $74 that runs Android 4.0 and Linux.
This is turning into a veritable smorgasbord of choices, and I believe it’s just the beginning of a real revolution in computing.
1080p HDMI Video Output
Featuring a single-core 1.5GHz AllWinner A10 Cortex A8 ARM processor, Android 4.0, 512MB of DDR3 high-capacity memory, and WiFi connectivity, the MK802 is now available on Aliexpress for $74 including free shipping to the United States via China Post.
The MK802 (Credit: CNXSoft. Click image to enlarge.)With a MALI400 graphics processing unit, the device from Chinese brand rikomagic features 4GB Flash storage, a microSD slot, and two USB ports: one full-sized and one micro, according to CNXSoft. Video output is via 1080p HDMI–an HDMI cable needs to be added separately–and users can tap either an Android virtual keyboard or add a wireless mouse and keyboard.
Perhaps best of all is that users can run Ubuntu, Debian, or another Linux distribution of their choice via microSD card.
A New Category of PCs
It’s true that this device is more expensive than the $35 Raspberry Pi, but it’s also cheaper than the $199 Cotton Candy. It’s very comparable to the $70 Mele 1000.
The bottom line, though, is that this is yet another choice for those seeking a low-cost computing option, and once again it’s powered by ARM and Linux–both the Android variety and more traditional forms, if so desired.
There will surely continue to be a place for the many high-priced computing options in this world, but it’s endlessly exciting to imagine what new innovations these tiny, cheap, Linux PCs will enable.
Article source: http://www.pcworld.com/businesscenter/article/255837/this_tiny_pc_runs_linux_and_android_40and_costs_just_74.html
Tags: ARM, China Post, Cotton Candy, Mele A1000, Raspberry Pi, USB
20 May 12 Open Android the price for China’s Motorola bid approval
Google has secured Chinese approval to complete its acquisition of Motorola Mobility, the search giant has confirmed, though it was reportedly forced to commit to Android openness to sway the decision. Chinese regulators had stood as the final hurdle for Google to complete, with the two companies being given the green-light by both US and European authorities back in February. According to unconfirmed reports, however, China’s price for giving the deal its blessing was a renewed commitment by Google to ensure Android remained freely available for at least five years.
That agreement was described as a “main condition” in order to secure approval, a source not authorized to publicly discuss the deal told Reuters. Android has been adopted by many Chinese OEMs, used in everything from phones to tablets to set-top boxes and more, though often in ways that do not validate the devices for Google’s official suite of apps and official branding. For its part, though not commenting on any allegiance to openness, Google appears to be treating the deal – and its approach to Android – as business as usual. “Our stance since we agreed to acquire Motorola has not changed,” spokesperson Niki Fenwic said in a statement, ”and we look forward to closing the deal.” Google’s announcement last year that it intended to buy Motorola Mobility in a deal worth $12.5bn prompted no shortage of surprise in the Android ecosystem. Until now, Google – and the Open Handset Alliance, officially the ruling body guiding Android development, of which Google is the most significant member – has generally taken a back seat from too much involvement in the device market itself, content only to give manufacturers a gentle shove with its Nexus range of “pure Android” phones. With Motorola brought in-house, however, suspicions were raised that Google might take a more aggressive approach and follow in Apple’s footsteps, marginalizing other Android OEMs such as HTC and Samsung in the process. Google execs promised that would not happen, with talk of a “firewall” between the two companies, but have met with no small amount of skepticism in response. The Chinese drive for openness would seemingly mean that Android will remain available for all who want it, at least for the next half-decade, though without full details of the deal it’s impossible to know under what conditions that will be the case. The acquisition is expected to close early next week, according to a Motorola spokesperson.
Article source: http://www.slashgear.com/open-android-the-price-for-chinas-motorola-bid-approval-19229023/
Tags: China, Motorola Mobility, Niki Fenwic, Open Android, Open Handset Alliance, US
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