A Song of Ice & Fire: Is Amazon Back in the Smartphone Game?
Winter is coming for Amazon. It looks like the company is having another go at the smartphone world with its release of new smartphones branded as "Ice".
Google News Search Results
How To: Fix Play Services Battery Drain by Forcing It to Use Doze Mode
Google Play Services has been near the top of every Android user's list of battery-sucking apps for years now. It's a core system app, so you'd expect some battery drain, but for many folks, it runs rampant.
SafetyNet Explained: Why SafetyNet Shows That Google Actually Cares About Android Root
Put yourself in Google's shoes: You know that business is becoming increasingly mobile, but the mobile operating system you maintain is wide open by design, and it's garnered legions of loyal fans that love to explore and exploit every aspect of it. There's a clear conflict of interest developing.
News You Can Use: Map Shows Where Dogs & Humans Are at High Risk of Lyme Disease This Summer
Lyme is a growing threat as we move into warmer weather in the US. Researchers have said this year could be one of the worst for this tick-borne disease, as a skyrocketing mouse population and warmer temperatures increase the risk.
News: Microbe That Causes Sepsis & Meningitis Has Mutated into a New Sexually Transmitted Disease
The ability of one microbe to adapt is giving it a whole new career as a sexually transmitted disease. Usually content with the back of the throat and nose of those who carry it, the dangerous pathogen Neisseria meningitidis has adapted to cause an illness that looks a lot like gonorrhea.
News: The Latest in HIV Prevention — Syringe Vending Machines in Vegas & On-Site Testing at Walgreens
It's about time people acknowledged that judging drug users would do nothing productive to help them. In the US this week, two new programs are launching that should help addicts be a little safer: Walgreens Healthcare Clinic will begin offering to test for HIV and hepatitis C next week, and Las Vegas is set to introduce clean syringe vending machines to stop infections from dirty needles.
News: Project Zero Finds iPhone & Android Open to Bugs in Broadcom's Wi-Fi Chips
No one is safe anymore, it seems. Google's Project Zero has just uncovered how easy it is for attackers to target your phone's Wi-Fi chip, which is essentially a mini processor for Wi-Fi that detects and processes networks.
News: Scientists Discover How to Track Down HIV's Hiding Spots—A Potential Pathway to a Cure
Tremendous strides have been made in the treatment and outlook for patients infected with HIV, the human immunodeficiency virus. Treatment with a combination of antiretroviral drugs can keep patients with HIV alive for decades, without symptoms of the infection. The trouble is, if HIV-infected people stop taking their medications, the virus takes over in full force again—because the virus hides out quietly in cells of the immune system, kept in check, but not killed by the treatment.
News: Google Maps V9.49 Beta Gets a Manual Parking Location Tracker & Weather Indicator
Google Maps beta version 9.49 now allows users to manually save their parking location, and includes weather forecasts in mass transit, according to Android Police. There's also a notification toggle for mass transit station notifications.
News: Crayola Color Blaster Brings New AR Adventures to Tango-Powered Android Devices
Legacy Games, developer of mobile games for children, has just updated Crayola Color Blaster, an augmented reality Android adventure for Google Tango devices, with new content.
News: Research Published in mBio Shows How Gut Bacteria Can Help Chubby Dogs Live a Better—& Longer—Life
As fun as it is to see Fido's face light up when you feed him table scraps, American dogs are getting fat. The good news is that research is homing in on nutritional strategies to boost canine capabilities to maintain a healthy weight.
How To: Get the iPhone's Emoji on Your Google Pixel or Pixel XL
Emoji, emojis, smilies, or smileys—whatever you want to call them, those little yellow icons have firmly implanted themselves in the human lexicon. However, just like with localized languages and dialects, emoji can be very different from one another depending on the device or operating system you're using.
News: Nougat Update Brings Samsung Pass, Note & Much More to Galaxy S7 & S7 Edge
Samsung began offering Android 7.0 Nougat to users in its beta program on November 10, 2016. The beta came to a close last month after the fifth and final version was pushed out to users under the build number ending in 1ZPLN. This update was released a couple of days after Christmas and fixed a couple of bugs, including a fairly annoying one that caused your device to randomly reboot.
How To: Automatically Launch Two Apps at the Same Time in Android's Multi-Window Mode
Android 7.0 Nougat brought a lot of multitasking improvements along with it, but the most notable addition is a unified multi-window mode (which shines bright in Google's Pixel phones). This means that every Android device can now use the same split-screen interface, and the days of software fragmentation caused by differing multi-window implementations by LG and Samsung are now over.
Quick Tip: Speed Up Gboard Performance on Android by Disabling These Two Settings
Ever since the update that turned Google Keyboard into Gboard rolled out, a lot of people have been noticing that word suggestions and auto-correct features are downright slow. The issue seems to affect users with multiple languages installed more than anyone, though it can also happen if you have a midrange phone or older device with only one language installed.
News: Honda Is Breaking an Unspoken Automaker Rule by Partnering with Waymo
Google's former Self-Driving Car project, now graduated from Alphabet's X division as Waymo, has found a collaborator and potential new partner in Honda. This is an interesting turn of events given traditional automakers' reluctance to work with driverless-car startups over the years.
News: 'Google's' Self-Driving Car Just Graduated—Welcome to Waymo
Earlier today, Alphabet announced that the Self-Driving Car Project has officially graduated from their innovation factory (X) and will now operate as an independent company called Waymo.
How To: Replace Your Android Browser with This Enhanced Version of CyanogenMod Gello
No matter which smartphone you buy, it will come with an internet browser preinstalled. Depending on your OEM, the default browser might be called Samsung Internet, HTC Internet, Silk Browser by Amazon, ASUS Browser, or Google Chrome—there's just so many stock browsers available.
How To: Get 'Night Light' & 'Moves' to Turn Your Nexus 6P into a Pixel
Now that Android 7.1.1 has been released, several features that were previously exclusive to Google's new Pixel phones are now available on the Nexus 6P. However, Google seems to be holding back on the Pixel's best features, as things like the "Night Light" red screen filter, "Moves" gestures, Google Assistant, blue accent color, and the new solid navigation buttons are still only officially available on the Pixel.
How To: Take Partial Screenshots on Android
Being able to take screenshots on Android isn't something we were always able to do. It was added to stock Android in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0 (Gingerbread 2.3, if you were a Samsung TouchWiz user) as a simple full screen screenshot, and that's the way it's remained ever since—until now.
News: You Can Now Turn Pixel's 'App Shortcuts' into Their Own Home Screen Icons
One of our favorite features on the Pixel Launcher is its App Shortcuts, which work a lot like Apple's 3D Touch for iOS or Huawei's Force Touch. Instead of using pressure sensitivity to call up static and dynamic shortcut menus for apps, Launcher Shortcuts relied on a simple long-press. Now, in the Android 7.1 update for Pixels, there's an update to App Shortcuts that let's you pin shortcut options directly to your home screen for even quicker access.
How To: Get the Pixel's 'Zero Shutter Lag' Camera with HDR+ Features on Your Nexus
Everyone's been raving about the Pixel's top-notch camera, and the acclaim is well-deserved. The main difference between Google's new camera software on their Pixel phones and the older software on their Nexus devices is that the Pixel has almost no perceptible lag between tapping the shutter button and the image being captured—even with HDR+ mode enabled.
How To: This Snapdragon-Optimized Chrome Is Faster Than the Official Build & Adds Gesture Support
The Google Chrome browser for Android is packed with many great features, but it definitely has a bad rep for being slow and laggy on low-end or midrange devices. Without a top-notch processor, you'll likely notice some stutter with choppy scrolling, and pages can take too long to load in general.
Hands-on: Google's Daydream View Feels Like a Hot & Stiff Pair of Sweatpants on Your Face
While visiting the Made by Google pop-up shop in New York City this morning, I had a chance to try out the new Daydream View virtual reality headset. First impressions are important, and Google's new mobile VR product makes a good one. The headset is made of a soft fabric that most evokes a beloved old college sweater that's well worn but properly cared for. The demo only featured the Slate (darker gray) model, though customers will ultimately be able to choose from either Slate, Snow, and Cr...
News: The Incredible VR Painting Experience Tilt Brush Adds Greater Control, 3D Models & a Word Game
Google's Tilt Brush has proven to be one of the most compelling VR experiences for the HTC Vive, letting you paint with crazy materials like electricity and duct tape. It is clearly an experiment in bringing the joy of imagination to life—or creating some form of virtual LSD—and the app's latest update brings a variety of features that only continue to support that theme. There are few to no rules in virtual reality app development, and that can both be freeing or absolutely paralyzing when t...
News: Huge iPhone Security Flaw Reveals One Big Benefit iOS Has Over Android
A human rights activist from the United Arab Emirates recently stumbled upon three gaping security loopholes in iOS that work by enticing you to tap a link sent to your iPhone. Ahmed Mansoor received a text message from an unknown number roughly two weeks ago, but instead of following the link it included, he sent the message over to a security researcher at Citizen Lab.
How To: Transfer Your Android Contacts to iPhone
When you change smartphone ecosystems, there are a lot of minor hurdles to clear along the way. It's definitely not hard to switch from Android to iOS, but little things like making sure your contacts get transferred over can take a bit of work.
News: Samsung's TouchWiz Updates Aren't as Bad as You Think
Smartphones have been around for nearly a decade now, so we've had plenty of time to develop preconceptions and bias. People that have never owned an iPhone will tell you that Apple devices are restrictive and bland, while others might say that stock Android is boring compared to manufacturer skins like HTC's Sense, despite never having owned a Nexus or Pixel.
How To: This Android App Lets You Cast Unsupported Web Videos to Chromecast
The Google Chrome browser for Android allows you to cast quite a few different videos from the web to your TV, but some sites actively disable this functionality, and others have outdated video players that won't allow for it. For example, Instagram's mobile website won't let you cast any videos, and the official app doesn't support Google Cast.
How To: Stop Tossing Food—Expiration Dates Mean Nothing
I'll admit it: I ignore expiration dates. No matter if it's a sell-by date, "best if used before" date, or even a use-by date, I don't care. I just check for signs of food decay and keep on eating.
How To: Find Out When Your Nexus Will Stop Getting Android Updates
The beauty of Nexus devices is they receive firmware updates faster than any other Android phone, and keep getting updates for years longer than most of the competition. This means that you can always use the great new features that come along with an Android update, and even more importantly, your phone gets monthly security patches to keep hackers and malware at bay.
News: Snapchat Is Quietly Developing Augmented Reality Glasses
In the wake of Google Glass' failure, we can expect other companies to fill the void in due time. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Snapchat may be one of the first.
How To: If You're Seeing Lock Screen 'DU' Malware When Charging, Uninstall These Apps Right Now
There was a somewhat recent outbreak of malware on Android, and it came from an unlikely source—the Google Play Store. Several established apps have received updates a few months ago that contained an unwanted add-on called either DU Quick Charge, DU Battery Boost, DU Boost Charge, DU Speed Charge, DU Speed Booster, or another name starting with DU.
How To: Use Custom Waving Gestures to Unlock Your Phone Like a Crazy Person
A motion-based lock screen app called GestureLock was among the winner's at 2106's Android Experiments I/O Challenge, and it lets you set a specific motion (gesture) that you use to gain access to your locked phone.
How To: Add a Speedometer to Google Maps on Android
Google Maps does a lot of things well, but one feature it's always been lacking is an on-screen speedometer. Well, now you can add one with Velociraptor, and you can even set it to alert you when you're traveling above the speed limit.
News: New Lenovo Phone Augments Reality from the Palm of Your Hand
Lenovo is teaming up with Google to debut the first Project Tango smartphone, which uses 3D sensors to map the world around it. The Tango phone will be able to give directions without the need for GPS, and it can augment reality to bring things like dinosaurs and cars into your environment.
News: 10 Great 99 Cent Apps You Need on Your Android Right Now
These days, there are Android apps for every budget—forgive me if that sounds like a car commercial, but that's just the way things are in the age of the smartphone and tablet. You've got apps that require monthly subscriptions, paid apps that will run you a $30 one-time installation fee, and even games that start at 99 cents, but quickly skyrocket in price with in-app purchases.
Android Keyboard Showdown: SwiftKey vs. Swype vs. Google vs. TouchPal vs. Fleksy
Google Now, Siri, and Cortana aside, the main way you interact with your smartphone is through the keyboard. Every app you use, every search you perform, every message you send—the most fundamental interface between you and your device is that handful of characters and those 26 letters on the bottom half of your screen.
News: Turn Your Android into a Workhorse with These 11 Productivity Apps
When you think of all the fun and games smartphones have to offer, it's easy to forget that they also make a great tool for getting things done. With utilities like document scanners, calendars, to-do lists, office apps, and password managers, that little computer you carry around in your pocket has the potential to increase your productivity levels in all aspects of life.
How To: Save Battery by Navigating Your Walk Without GPS
Modern smartphones are packed to the brim with low-power sensors like accelerometers and gyroscopes, which means they're capable of precisely measuring almost any type of movement. So why is it that when you just want to get walking directions somewhere, your device still uses its battery-sucking GPS connection to track your progress?