Androidifying

Things have been tough for Sony this last decade or so, with their once-towering stock ($150 a share in 2000) bottoming out at $9.75 in 2012. Since then, the Japanese company has been on the move to adopt a new corporate identity and remain competitive in the global market. As of the close of second quarter 2015, things might be looking up. Their stock has risen 35.6% in 2015, and the company has reported a narrow profit of $280 million. In addition to changes in corporate policy that involve extensive restructuring and trimming, this boost is due in part to a recent drop in the value of the Yen (which has made Sony more globally competitive) and the ongoing success of the PS4. Advantageous exchange rates and a profit of $199 million from their game-related subdivision constitute the vast majority of this profitable season. However, these boons don’t quite offset the billions of dollars they’ve lost in the television market against less expensive competitors from Taiwan and South

Against an assumption that has prevailed in scientific communities for over eighty years, researchers at Oregon State University believe that potassium can be used to create a replacement for lithium-ion batteries. Chemist Xiulei Ji says that this possibility hasn’t been revisited since it was originally explored in 1932. “For decades, people have assumed that potassium couldn’t work with graphite or other bulk carbon anodes in a battery,” said chemist Xiulei Ji, elaborating that he was surprised that the concept had been left uninvestigated for so long.  In a paper published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society , Ji lays out his team’s process developing a potassium-graphite cell.   The possibilities that this could open up technologically are huge. Potassium is 880 times more abundant than lithium, which makes it a much cheaper alternative. If it could be successfully implemented as a replacement for lithium, we might see some significant price drops in devices that us

With our focused Tasker variable tutorial out of the way from last week, this week’s Android customization post will be a little bit more exciting. We plan to start a new project that has us building a completely custom control panel on a dedicated and completely custom new screen on your device. Or, if you’d prefer, this is how you build a Scene in Tasker . Tasker has a tool built-in called Scenes, which is a method of building your own custom screens or popups on your device. The builder offers up a no frills  developer’s IDE type design and functionality, where you start with your overall screen or popup layout, then drop buttons, text and more onto it and re-size them to fit your tastes. With near unlimited things you can do with Scenes, including building your own Android apps, we are going to keep it simple with a control panel, just so we can focus on the tools instead of the project. Before we begin Tasker - Google Play Store You know what I’m about to say, don’t you! Y

Even with the advancements we’ve seen in battery technology lately, it can still sometimes be difficult for our smartphones to make it through a full day on a single charge. And that’s especially annoying if you’re out and about and don’t have access to a wall outlet. For those situations, external battery packs can come in handy. And right now, you can pick up a pretty powerful battery pack for cheap if you mosey on over to Amazon. Normally, the Aukey 20,000mAh External Battery Pack would cost you $29.99. That’s a little steep considering the size of the pack. But if you use the coupon code  XWLOGID4 at checkout, the price drops down to a cool $21.99. Sounds pretty great, right? This portable charger comes with Aukey’s AIPower Technology, which intelligently detects the input of the connected device to maximize charging speed. It features two USB ports so you can charge two mobile devices simultaneously. It also has four blue LED indicators that display the remaining power. And m

The CaliCase Ultra slim case as the name suggest is an ultra thin and super lightweight case. Calicase actually claims that this is the world’s thinnest case on the market and at only .35 mm thin I don’t doubt that claim one bit. This case feels extremely paper thin, thinner than any other slim style case that I’ve ever seen or used before. That isn’t necessarily a bad thing and if you like to keep your device slim and sleek, you’ll love how little this adds to your device. Like many other shell type cases, installation is a breeze. Just slide your phone in on one end, snap the corners into place and you’re done. The case utilizes a frosted clear finish which allows your phone to still semi-show itself. It’s also really great at deterring fingerprints and there’s a subtle texture to the case that really helps with the grip and should make it easier for you to keep a hold of your phone. The fitment is generally pretty good and all of the cutouts for the buttons and ports line up

October is coming to a close and we’re about to officially move into 2015’s holiday season. The first full month of autumn saw a ton of huge apps and games releases. As the year gets older, the apps and games releases are only going to get hotter so let’s take a look at the best new Android apps and games from October 2015! Adobe Capture CC and Adobe Illustrator Draw [Price: Free] Adobe started out October by releasing not one, but two new Android apps and they are Adobe Capture CC and Illustrator Draw. Capture CC is a design app that lets you create things like brushes, stamps, shapes, and other similar things for later use. It’s a fairly simple app to use and comes with Adobe Creative Cloud support. Illustrator Draw is a drawing app that lets you use vectors, layers, zoom, and various other tools to create works of art. Both apps have a few issues here and there, but they’re both entirely free to download and use. Get Adobe Capture CC now on Google Play! Get Adobe Illustrator