Near Field Communication, or NFC for short, is a feature that allows our smartphones to wirelessly communicate with other devices over a short distance while using almost no power at all. Think of it like a slimmed-down version of Wi-Fi or Bluetooth that can send a small burst of data two inches away without having any measurable impact on your battery life.
We knew it was coming eventually, but this is a bit out of left field—early builds of the next version of Android have been released almost two months ahead of schedule. Android N, as it's being called for now, is already available for the last two generations of Nexus devices, though it's just an early preview build for now.
Google's YouTube Red is an awesome service, particularly in the United States where it comes bundled with a subscription to Google Play Music. You don't have to worry about ever seeing ads again on any videos, you can continue playback after you exit the YouTube app or even when you turn your screen off, you can download videos for offline playback, and you'll have access to YouTube Music.
An accelerometer/gyro goes onto an Arduino board and transmits the angular motion of the skateboard via Bluetooth to a virtual reality game I made for Android phones and Google Cardboard.
Cellular carriers like to nickel-and-dime us out of every bit of money they can feasibly justify, so as consumers, we owe it to ourselves to make sure that we're getting our money's worth.
HoloLens users will have a handful of ways to interact with the mixed-reality, holographic world. Gaze Input lets the user control a cursor in their field of vision. In other words, it's essentially a mouse that you control by looking around.
Whatever you want to call it for now—Android Nutella, Android Nougat, or Android 7.0—the upcoming "N" release of Android will surely bring in tons of new features and functionality. We know it will be named after a dessert, and we know that Google uses an alphabetical naming system, so something starting with "N" is next in line after Android 6.0 Marshmallow.
I've been doing tutorials on Rasberry Pi and I would like to thank everyone that have both read the tutorials and gave me feedback on how well I'm doing. But now I've decided to take a small break and start a mini series that I'm hoping to be at least five tutorials. This doesn't mean I'm gonna stop posting Raspberry Pi tutorials, but since I'm learning so much at the same time I've decided to share some of that knowledge. Hence this tutorial. Please sit back, relax and read on.
The Google Cast feature that serves as the primary interface for the Chromecast and comes bundled with Android TV devices like the Nexus Player is a marvel of modern technology. But as these things go, troubleshooting issues can be difficult with something so groundbreaking, especially when you consider that there are two parts to the equation—the casting device (your phone, tablet, or computer) and the receiver.
There's no iMessage app on Android, so unlike the folks who own both an iPhone and a Mac, we have to rely on third-party solutions to send and receive SMS messages from our computers. But on the bright side, this means we don't have to buy an exorbitantly expensive desktop or laptop to respond to texts when our phones are out of reach, because Android is all about cross-platform compatibility instead of chaining you to an ecosystem.
Smartphones have been a hot button issue around school campuses for several years now—some schools allow them, others confiscate them on sight. But the fact of the matter is, when used correctly, a smartphone can be just as much of a learning tool as a textbook or school-issued laptop.
UPDATE: This post is outdated, the latest version with the correct links and updated instructions can be found UPDATE: This post is outdated, the latest version with the correct links and updated instructions can be found at my blog, here - at my blog, here - https://techkernel.org/2015/12/11/embed-metasploit-payload-in-apk-easily/
3D Touch on the iPhone 6S and 6S Plus is a pretty cool feature, and will only get better as more developers begin to roll its functionality into their apps.
The 2015 LA Auto Show showcases the best of the auto industry—well, at least according to car companies. Increases in horsepower, better fuel economy, and most importantly—the latest tech—is all on display during the 10-day event in Southern California. Once of my first missions at the show was to figure out who is putting the most care and thought into in-cabin electronics, mainly the ones that guide us around and play our music, affectionately known as "infotainment."
Samsung's Galaxy series of devices have one common design theme that ties them all together—the physical home button at the bottom of the phone. This button can wake the phone, take you to your home screen, and even scan your fingerprint to securely unlock your device.
After a few months, I get so fed up with hearing the same ringtone go off alongside each new notification that I'm forced to switch things up—only to end up repeating this whole process when the new one gets played out. And I'm sure people around me are equally sick of listening to that tired old tone towards the end as well. I mean, a decade later, I'm convinced that Nokia tone is permanently implanted in my brain.
Roughly four years ago, Adobe decided to abandon development of the mobile version of their popular Flash Player browser plugin. Their excuse at the time was that this move would enable them to focus more on HTML5 development for mobile devices and allow them to put more effort into maintaining the fluidity and security of their desktop Flash plugin.
Instead of wasting time asking where your friends and family are at a given moment, then having them waste time by describing their location, there are several Android apps you can use that will automate this whole process. To top it off, it doesn't have to be about invading privacy or spying on someone, since most of these apps are offer two-way location sharing, or at least let you share locations only when you feel comfortable with it.
If you've just ditched your Android phone for a new iPhone, you're in luck, because Apple has a way to make your transition as simple as possible with their Move to iOS app for Android. To help make things even easier on you, we've outlined the process of using Move to iOS to transfer images, messages, contacts, mail accounts, calendars, and more over to your iPad or iPhone running iOS 10.
Initially reluctant to port Firefox over to iOS, Mozilla has finally released the first public preview of their famed web browser. While this is great news for all Firefox users, the bad news is that the browser is currently available for download only in New Zealand.
I've been involved in the Android scene for a very long time and have grown to develop a love/hate relationship with CyanogenMod. While I do like the stability they offer in their custom ROMs, they don't always include the flashy features on top of their vanilla Android base.
If you're having a "Netflix and chill" night, the last thing you want to worry about is finding something to watch—after all, you have better things planned for the night.
One of the biggest new features in the soon-to-be-released Android 6.0 Marshmallow is something Google is calling "Now on Tap." Essentially, this service will be able to scan the contents of any screen on your Android device, then after you long-press the home button, it will provide you with relevant information about anything—from movie times to directions or dinner reservations.
It seems like whenever someone sees my phone, they ask me two questions right off the bat; "What phone is that?" and "How did you get your Android to look like that?"
If your Android device wasn't manufactured by Samsung, chances are it uses on-screen navigation buttons. Colloquially referred to as "Soft keys," these have become commonplace due to their flexibility, as well as the fact that manufacturers don't have to include extra hardware buttons with a propensity to fail.
The increased sophistication of smartphones and apps have allowed us the luxury to never leave our homes. Everything from coffee to food to dry cleaning can be delivered straight to your door without ever leaving your couch, which can can be a godsend during the winter months when you'd rather not risk leaving your warm bed. But during the summer, you gotta ditch the comforter and go enjoy outdoors.
Like most people who spend a good deal of time in front of their computer—whether for work, school, or play—I jump back and forth from window to window, working and playing with different things at the same time to get my work done faster or procrastinate harder.
Malware often disguises itself inside of seemingly non-malicious files, such as installer packages, where it can then gain root access to your computer to track activity or steal your information.
Managing files can be time consuming on your Mac, for the simple reason that keyboard shortcuts and right-clicks sometimes lack the effectiveness we need. But with a simple third-part app, you can expedite the process of sharing, moving, deleting, and overall managing files on your computer.
Saying that I was obsessed with Pokémon as a child would be a serious understatement, and even though I'm not the Pokémon fanatic I once was doesn't mean I don't love playing still. However, I do often find myself dumbfounded by all of the new features and characters in each generation.
Apple has once again improved functionality of Siri, their personal voice assistant for iPad and iPhone, in iOS 9—and this update is a big one. You can now use Siri to find photos based on location and date, set up contextual reminders, find your friends and family, and more.
Notes on iOS has never been a particularly great app due to a lack of overall features compared to other note-taking apps like Evernote or Microsoft OneNote.
While a mobile game developer may have built something unique, they still have to go through an arduous process of fixing bugs, smoothing out gameplay, making sure it works on different screen sizes, and following Apple's rules before they can submit their game to the iOS App Store.
Relentless in its fury, the iOS text messaging exploit that exploded onto the scene late last week seems to do more damage than initially reported.
If your iPhone is rebooting or your Messages app is constantly crashing, you might be the victim of an iOS exploit or just a buggy software update. While one problem sounds worse than the other, they both can get annoying real quick when you can't send any messages or even read new ones.
While its hardware may already be a little outdated compared to newer flagship phones, the OnePlus One is still a great value thanks to the dedicated community that continues to develop ROMs for it. Cyanogen 12 and Oxygen OS are the two most popular ones, but neither offers the type of unique experience you get with Xiaomi's MIUI (pronounced "Me You I").
Make no bones about it—Google is an advertisement company first and foremost. Nearly everything they do is geared towards targeting the right people with the right ads.
It's hard to not to like the look of iOS emojis. Sure, Samsung and other Android phones have emojis, but they're all kind of goofy-looking. And since iPhone emojis continue to be viewed as the standard, it comes as no surprise that you can actually get them on Android—and without root!
The shooting of Walter Scott (who was unarmed) has been dominating the news these past few weeks. Scott, who ran away from police officer Michael Slager after a routine traffic stop, was shot in the back and pronounced dead shortly thereafter. Unlike similar cases where a cop shoots an unarmed person, the police officer involved in this particular shooting is currently in jail, facing a potential murder charge.
Android's auto brightness feature was recently updated, and as of version 5.0, a new "Adaptive brightness" feature was added. This allows users to set a preferred overall brightness level, but still have the ambient light sensor adjust the backlight accordingly.
