Androidifying

As with most things in life, once something proves popular, it seems that everyone wants to join in and Samsung have certainly not been a company willing to be left out. When the first leaks of the iPhone 5S started to hit the Internet, the gold version of the device was certainly something people were skeptical about. However, Apple went ahead and did just that; announce a gold version of the iPhone 5S. Of course, it’s not for everyone but, Samsung might well just be about to release their own flagship coated in gold. Figuratively, of course. A  recent tweet  from Samsung Mobile Arabia suggests that Samsung is about to launch a golden Galaxy S4. Of course, when that is is unclear. While the idea of Samsung releasing a gold version of their flagship soon after released the iPhone 5S in gold sounds a little fishy, this is probably a more regional affair. Just like the pink versions of the Galaxy S and the Galaxy Note do very well in South Korea, we have a feeling that a gold version of

Amazon’s Kindle Fire line of tablets are an interesting breed.  While they run Android, it’s a forked version of the operating system we all know and love, which means that Amazon has stripped all Google services out of the OS and replaced them with their own versions.  Because of this it’s difficult to compare the Kindle Fire to any other tablet out there, simply because it offers services that no other tablet line does.  While this is usually a good thing, and it is for the most part with the Kindle Fire series, Amazon’s own App Store isn’t anywhere near as robust as Google Play is in many areas, but especially when it comes to the sheer number of apps that Google has in its Play Store.  This drawback is being remedied with time though as more developers publish their apps in Amazon’s App Store, and the Kindle Fire platform itself is continuing to evolve with Amazon’s announcement of the Kindle Fire HDX, a brand new 3rd generation Kindle Fire tablet that brings along some serious hor

Wireless charging has no real standard. Many might think Qi is a standard, but it’s simply one method of wireless charging among many others. I own a wireless charger, but it’s a Palm Touchstone and won’t work with any Qi devices. A few big companies have been supporting various methods, but we’re getting closer and closer to having a single standard and putting an end to fragmentation. Qualcomm is the founder of A4WP, or the Alliance for Wireless Power. However, it has joined the Wireless Power Consortium, creator of the Qi wireless standard. With such a big player on board, we’re getting very close to Qi becoming the true standard. This comes after the news that Mercedes has joined WPC. With Qi technology spreading so fast (it’s been integrated into some Toyotas for a while now), we might see it go truly mainstream. More devices will come with it built-in, and more charging solutions will become available. Who wouldn’t like a desk with a built-in, invisible Qi charging pad on the

Many of us power users on Android like to have a file manager installed, so we can see what’s on our device and delete it or move it some where else, etc. File Managers are just that, file managers. But which ones are the best? Well that’s what we are here for today. Let’s find out which file manager in the Play Store is the best. 10. File Manager This file manager has the plainest name ever. But it’s a pretty powerful app with a simple and clean UI. Some of the features include the ability to browse files by categories, browse by directory, supports all basic operations for files and folders. Can mark a particular file or folder as a favorite and so much more. 9. File Explorer Here’s another app with a pretty plain name. But it is simple, fast and free. Which are all good qualities in a file manager. It is using the Holo theme, so many of us power users will like that. There area actually two versions of the App. One for pre-Android 4.0 and one for Android 4.0 and above. Which is kind

Today,  Paranoid Android took to Google+  (as most companies and others do for ‘blog posts’ nowadays) to explain some upcoming projects and changes to one of the most popular custom ROMs. Paranoid Android talked about their plans for the KitKat release. They also let everyone know that their newest addition to the team is none other than kernel extraordinaire Francisco Franco, the guy that makes Franco kernel. They also listed their core development team as well as the port guys. Then Paranoid Android went on to explain their roadmap for KitKat. They are going to focus on fewer devices, combining everyone’s skills will make for a truly awesome experience and a mega stable ROM. So it looks like they are doing the opposite of CyanogenMod. CyanogenMod supports every device under the sun, while Paranoid Android is only supporting a few. They are also going to re-do Paranoid Android from scratch. What that means is that all the knowledge they’ve accumulated since creating Paranoid Android w

Samsung and LG have long copied or even outright stolen technologies from each other, and they’ve been involved in lawsuits over this issue several times already. I think it’s usually LG the one that does that to Samsung, since they seem to be the ones copying all of Samsung’s ideas, whether good or bad. For some reason they can’t really look outside at other competition except Samsung. I actually find that very annoying, not because they “stole” the technology, but because LG has the potential to be better than Samsung, and surpass them. But as long as they keep wanting to copy Samsung, and that’s their main strategy, then they’ll never be ahead of Samsung, or not for long. On the other hand, I’m sure Samsung has stolen or at least copied whatever idea LG had, that they thought it’s worth copying. LG doesn’t seem to be taking that lightly, though, which is why they sued Samsung for infringing on their OLED patents. That seems a little surprising, considering Samsung pretty much own

Android Device Manager is a feature Android needed for quite a while. It allows for a lost device to be wiped remotely if enabled, and if lost nearby, you can make it ring even if it’s on silent. It’s a great feature set to protect your private files and information on your valuable smartphone. However, Google has now added a new feature to the app. There is now a new “Lock” button on the site, which will immediately lock your device with a password of your choosing. It will even turn off the screen to complete the lock. And if you already have a password, it will override it and enable the new one you have chosen. If the device happens to not be connected to the internet, these commands will be sent as soon as the device is connected. Combined with the other features, this is sure to improve the security of your device. It may not be perfect, but nothing is when you lose your phone. At least your private data will be safe from all but the most professional of thieves. Head over to