If you’ve seen the Jolla Sailfish phone at work, you’ve probably noticed its UI interesting navigation. Rather than having set buttons to help you navigate around your phone, as we’ve all probably gotten used to on our Android devices, Sailfish instead has gestures. So, depending how and in which direction you swipe certain parts of the screen, you can go back, home, close the app and more. If you own an Android device and are looking for a navigation method that doesn’t take up screen space, or looking for a unique way of navigating your device, you may want to check out Navigation Layer.
An app developed XDA Forum Member wariat, Navigation Layer actually does more than serve as an alternative way of navigating your phone or tablet. The app allows you to perform all sorts of actions from simply swiping the left, right and bottom sides of your screen in different ways to:
The last five actions require root access granted to Navigation Layer. But other than that, there really aren’t any other requirements. So, taking the aforementioned Sailfish as a template, you can almost emulate all of its navigation structure with just Navigation Layer.
Although only in its beta phase, Navigation Layer is already a well-polished app that can stand on its own as an alternative to the traditional multitasking and navigation experience on Android devices. If you are interested in trying it out yourself, check out the application thread for more information.
The Chromecast is perhaps one of the most innovative $35 devices to come out in the last year. Until recently, you couldn’t do much with it except stream Netflix to your TV. But what about local content? I just want to just select some local media and cast away!
XDA Forum Member awjones offers up a way to show your local media on your Chromecast. In this video, XDA Developer TV Producer TK reviews Castaway. TK shows off the application and gives his thoughts, so check out this app review.
Be sure to check out other great XDA Developer TV Videos
Capitalizing on the growing number of smartphone users, especially those that travel abroad, MasterCard, working together with Syniverse, has announced a new security system that aims to keep travelers from losing their patience and their money. A new security system uses something that almost everyone has with them when traveling to another country: their smartphones.
This new security system isn't exactly new and sounds like a variant of the two-step authentication process. But instead of of using the smartphone to enter a secondary login code, like in some web services, MasterCard's proposed system makes use of the GPS functionality found in most smartphones today. In essence, if the smartphone is located in the same place where the card is used, then the transaction is approved. According to MasterCard, this reduces the instances of both unauthorized attempts and declined but valid transactions.
There is one practical hitch in that ideal system, however. Users are most likely to turn off their device's mobile data when in another country in order to prevent expensive roaming charges. This, however, nullifies MasterCard's premise. In order to encourage users to keep their mobile connections enabled, they will be offered prepaid data packages that they can buy directly from their device the moment they arrive in another country.
MasterCard and Syniverse announced their collaboration earlier this week at MWC 2014. The two plan to bring in carriers. brands, and advertisers into this system, who will be able to use the system to push location-based offers, like promos, discounts, and ads when users use a card or even walk nearby a certain location.
SOURCE: MasterCard
Plex has just announced an update to its media player system that will give users something to enjoy this weekend. While there are new features across the board, bulk of the update revolves around enhancements to its Chromecast support.
More than just flinging videos to watch, users can now also cast other types of media as well, turning Chromecast-enabled TVs into jukeboxes or a giant slideshow to show off those vacation photographs. But of course, videos are still the numero uno use case for a deadly Plex and Chromecast combo, so the developers at Plex hunkered down to make video streaming even better. Videos will now play more reliably and smoothly and even 1080p videos will require less transcoding. And in case you don't want to go solo for your next movie or TV marathon, Plex now offers Chromecast content mirroring. This will let you display things such as artists, episodes, albums, and other information both on your mobile device and on the screen for everyone to see.
Moving away from Chromecast features, the Plex update also brings an interesting new feature. Called Shared Sync, this allows other people to sync from your Plex server, even when they don't have a Plex Pass account, which is perfect for sharing with family members. And speaking of servers, the Plex media server is inching closer to that celebrated 1.0 milestone and is now faster than ever before.
The new Chromecast features, particularly content mirroring and audio and photo streaming require the latest Android app. Other features such as enhanced video streaming and shared sync will need the updated Plex media server as well.
SOURCE: Plex
Given the recent developer conference announcement, we realized Google is quite intent on turning Project Ara into an actual product for sale. What we didn't know was how close it actually is to doing that. Now the Project Ara lead, Paul Eremenko, has revealed that a functional prototype will be ready within weeks and that a finished commercial product could be out in the market by the first quarter next year.
It seems that Google has really thought of everything in making a retail product. It all starts with an endoskeleton or endo, the only part of the modular smartphone that will bear Google's name. This is an aluminum frame that, as the name suggests, holds everything in place. Front modules, like LCDs, speakers, and buttons, are held down by latches. The ones on the back will stick to the endo using electropermanent magnets. Modules communicate via networking circuitry on the endo. With each module measuring only 4 mm thick, the whole thing ends up at around 9-10 mm. Not the perfect smartphone, admittedly, but things it could have been worse.
Google has even thought of the marketing. It envisions that majority will be sold as "greyphones", bare-bones versions sold in convenience stores for $50 a pop. This very basic smartphone will include an app that will suggest more modules to owners. Modular phones can also be sold in kiosks, through a selection process that grows from Google's experience with the Moto Maker. And like in Moto Maker, buyers will have options to design their own enclosures or covers, going as far as having them made using 3D printers.
This all sounds like a dream, and in fact that is what many naysayers have called Project Ara. The modular smartphone doesn't just turn your concept of a smartphone inside out, it also turns the whole mobile business upside down. If the idea catches on, manufacturers will no longer just be vying for pricey contracts to provide components for smartphone makers. They will be selling components themselves as modules. The competition will definitely get tougher as well.
Eremenko, however, believes that all doubts will be dispelled the moment they get a fully functioning product out. But though they seem to be near that goal post, there are still a few bumps they have to smooth out. Currently, production costs are still far away from the $50 price that Google is reaching for. But there is another factor going against Project Ara's favor. Traditionally, Advanced Technologies and Projects (ATAP), which grew out from the US Department of Defense' DARPA, gives teams only two years to work on a project. Considering the Project Ara team has already been working on this long before Phonebloks made its Internet pitch, they are running out of time before they hand over Project Ara to Google to nurture into a real business, and something with a hopefully better product name.
SOURCE: TIME
Without Beats, HTC customers were still looking for great sound from their smartphones. Though Beats had a proprietary algorithm that made music pop, HTC now has BoomSound. Coupled with front facing speakers and HTC’s engineering, BoomSounds is a nice feature for their One handsets. With their upcoming One refresh, HTC is teasing a new BoomSound as well.
Via YouTube, HTC gives a comical (read: embarrassing) explanation of what BoomSound is. Geeky engineer guy gives the hard facts, while possible-daytime-talk-show-host guy provides the laypersons explanation. There isn’t much new to take notice of, save for the ending.
Bringing out “The All New HTC One”, Geeky engineer guy holds a pixelated version of the new handset. Censored, of course, he attempts to tell us how the new flagship will be different when it comes to BoomSound. From the sound of it (pun intended), BoomSound will get a lot… boomier?
Expect a slew of these videos leading up to the launch of “The All New HTC One”, covering topics like Zoe or Blinkfeed. As they should, HTC has likely upped the ante on all their features, so expect to be trolled handily until the device comes out. The title itself, "Technical Translations #1" kind of gives it away. One thing you should not expect is for us here at Android Community to actually hack out “The All New HTC One” each time we discuss the device. That name is just terrible. Sorry, HTC.
Dish has reportedly won a government spectrum auction, and will now have a massive portion of H-Block in their grasp. That’s important because Dish’s current holdings are adjacent to their new-found holdings, and make Dish the fifth largest spectrum holder in the US. Coming off the heels of a few failed bids to acquire spectrum via snapping up mobile carriers, this is great news for Dish.
If you recall, Dish was a huge adversary for Softbank in their deal for Sprint last year. Dish was also attempting to sneak Clearwire away from Sprint, and quite honestly had a better deal for shareholders. Unfortunately, none of that worked out as they had hoped, leading them the way of the auction. This new H-Block holding is said to have been purchased for $1.56 billion.
If they have indeed won the auction, this would make Dish a major spectrum holder, and free to license their spectrum — or use it for service of their own. The H-Block in question is 1900MHz, and while not the widest or most powerful available, it does pack a punch. Some speculated Dish would make a run at T-Mobile, much as they did with Sprint, but that never materialized.
Dish has long toyed with the idea of getting involved in the wireless game, and this deal gives them enough spectrum to be. We can now begin to wonder if Dish will be a carrier, lease their spectrum out, or partner with someone. There was speculation long ago that they would team up with Google, and this spectrum is likely going to refresh those rumors. Whatever they end up doing with it, it’s a big win for Dish.
Source: The New York Post
The Blackphone, a secure Android smartphone was teased a bit back in the middle of January. At the time they were talking about showing something during Mobile World Congress, and naturally, we just had to go and check them out. And to clarify, the Blackphone is coming courtesy of Silent Circle, whom we seen with Android apps to include Silent Phone, Silent Text, and Silent Contacts.
Basically, the Blackphone (as a device) is just a further extension of what they have been offering in software form. The Blackphone will contain those apps, amongst others. Some of that other group includes the Blackphone Security Center, Activation Wizard, and Remote Wipe as well as some from third-parties. Simply put, this handset is geared to security and privacy.
Perhaps key for those looking for this type of handset, the whole process is sort of broken down step-by-step and details are offered on just about anything and everything. For example, using Search on a regular handset you are trackable, using PrivatOS you are not. Same goes for the bundled apps, which the former has many and the privacy is often disabled by default. The latter, PrivatOS, has fewer third party apps, but all are privacy enabled.
This sort of pattern continues for WiFi usage, app permissions, communications, updates and more. Keeping with the mention of updates, the Blackphone is promised to get "frequent secure updates" as they move forward. Again, this is all about security and privacy. Software aside, the phone itself is (as the name suggests), black. It has a 4.7-inch IPS LCD display and it is powered by a quad-core 2GHz processor with 2GB of RAM. There is also an 8 megapixel camera on the back.
Anyway, those looking for something with quite a bit more in terms of security and privacy now seem to have a solid option to consider. And lastly, make sure to check the video sitting above, which has Tony Bryant, VP Business Development of Blackphone discussing some of the privacy options included on the handset.
Want that Nexus 5 feel on your Android device? The Google Now launcher is now available in the Play Store. The launcher, which brings up Google Now with a quick swipe to the left from the home screen, was one of the selling points for KitKat. Now it’s one of the reasons to have an Android device.
On launch, the Google Now launcher was one of the better features of Android 4.4. While there were a host of other tweaks and changes keeping us interested, the Google Now launcher was far and away the coolest tweak we’d seen from Android in a long time. Though Google Now was never hard to find from the home screen of a Nexus device, this launcher ushered in a new era of utility.
We’ve been testing it on a Nexus 4 for a while this morning, and it just might be quicker than the swipe-up-from-the-home-button method we’ve been using. It also works well with either Dalvik or the new ART runtime, and we’ve migrated back and forth just to make sure. No issues, and no fuss. We can also happily report that the swipe-up method is still around.
The launcher is only available to Nexus or Google Play Edition devices, unfortunately. If you have one of those, though, we highly suggest you give it a shot. Unsurprisingly, it has a five star rating in the Play Store. After the Nexus 5, our beloved Nexus 4 just felt a little dated, but now — we’re falling for it all over again.
Businesses implementing Android apps can learn from what Web developers have done to handle browser variations, to handle the similar variations in Android OS versions. In this first post of a three-post series, we will examine what Web developers have done to simplify their development efforts and what the Android analogues are.
Full-disk encryption is fine as far as it goes, but it does not go quite as far as you might think in terms of defending your data. If you are considering encryption at the application level, in addition to the device level, SQLCipher for Android makes it easy for you to add AES-256 encryption to your local databases.
Android-powered desktop robot that's open source? Sign me up!
Join us on June 19th at 9am Pacific / 12pm Eastern for a lively conversation on mobile and cloud moderated by Peter van der Linden, Android Technology Evangelist at Motorola Mobility and with guest speakers
When implementing an enterprise mobile strategy the #1 security issue is?
We saw a preview of the Sony wearables back in January, during CES. And nicely, Sony was prepared to offer a bit more this time around. Coming out of MWC 2014, there was some hands-on time with the Sony SmartBand SWR10. This is a Bluetooth dongle at the moment, and will be paired with the Smart Lifelog Camera companion setup.
The band itself doesn't appear all that spectacular. At first glance it just looks like some of the other trackers we've been seeing. But there is a bit more going on here. To begin with, the band is not going to be the only option for the wearable. It seems Sony has put some thought in here, and maybe even realized that some people already wear watch, and may not want to wear something else on their wrist.
For that, Sony will have an option that attaches to a regular watchband (as above). Regardless though, the technology itself does some familiar monitoring. Sony has mentioned how it will be able to keep track of your steps throughout the day, as well as monitor your sleep. This will also pair with a smartphone app for a bit more including GPS tracking.
Some of the other features will include music controls, and being able to take a picture remotely, using your smartphone. As for the gear, Sony has said it will be waterproof (IP58) so users will not have to worry about getting caught in the rain. Plus, it will be just fine for those taking a shower, or looking to take a dip in the pool.
Sony will have this connecting over Bluetooth LE, and with the initial pairing over NFC. Bottom line here, it looks like Sony is taking the fitness wearable trend, and extending it out a bit further. In this case, that further has convenience, as well as a side of life tracking.
As ZTE had promised, the Grand Memo II LTE was unveiled during Mobile World Congress. We had also been told the display was going to be 6-inches. Basically, that meant the Grand Memo II LTE was going to be a bit larger than the Grand Memo, which sports a 5.7-inch display.
In this case the 6.0-inch display of the Grand Memo II LTE is 720p, the same as we saw with the original model. ZTE has the Grand Memo II LTE equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor paired with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal storage space. Other goodies include a 3200 mAh battery, WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and as the name would suggest -- LTE connectivity.
The camera setup includes a 5MP on the front, with a 13MP on the back. Further details for the front camera include it being a f/2.2, and further details for the rear camera include it being Sony BSI with auto-focus, flash and f/2.2. Despite the handset being on the larger side, it was surprisingly thin and light.
To that point, ZTE has this one measuring in at 6.36 x 3.27 x 0.2-inches. Lastly, this one is arriving with Android 4.4 Kit Kat and the latest version of the MiFavor user interface, which is touted as being able to enrich the user experience by "making the handset more natural for human use." With that in mind, make sure to keep following along for more coverage coming from MWC 2014.