Droid my Drug

WakaWaka Base: solar power for lighting and charging needs

No, WakaWaka Base is not a gadget that plays Shakira's 2010 World Cup theme over and over again. It is actually a portable solar power kit that aims to give, well, power when electricity runs out or when you're in an area that doesn't have one. The power kit can give you multiple charges on your smartphones or light supply for an entire week, whichever is more important for you at the moment.

If you live in an area that often has power interruptions due to storms or hurricanes or if you just go camping and other outdoorsy stuff often, then you are the target market for this device (also, if you have a ton of gadgets and are always afraid of running out of juice for them). Aside from the battery pack that will power your gadgets, it comes with two custom designed LED lights. One can connect to the battery pack while the other one can light up on its own with its own rechargeable battery.

Solar technology is slowly but surely coming into its own, and WakaWaka Base is an example of a practical and extremely useful application for it. Just place the panel in direct sunlight for one whole day (well, at least until there is sun) and it will be full and ready for use. It also has the capability of charging during winter and when it's cloudy, but of course it will be a slower process. To ensure that you maximize the power capacity of the WakaWaka Base, there is also a custom power management system software that comes with it.

The WakaWaka Base comes in two models: the Base-10 is bigger and has 10,000 mAh capacity while the smaller Base-5 has 5,000 mAh. It still has 16 days to go in its Kickstarter campaign but they've already gone way beyond their target of $70,000. The devices are expected to ship by May next year.

SOURCE: Kickstarter

Huawei Honor 4X arrives bearing 64-bit Snapdragon 410

Hauwei has just launched a new smartphone and it is quite a notable one. By all means, it should be and actually is a mid-range smartphone, except for one rather interesting fact. The Honor 4X runs on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 410, which is one of the chip maker's 64-bit ready mobile chips. Just in time for Android 5.0.

We are perhaps going to see another surge of interest in the 64-bit architecture for mobile devices now that Android Lollipop is almost here. It is the first Android release to be completely 64-bit compatible and, to mark that occasion, Google has outed the Nexus 9 tablet as the first 64-bit Nexus, powered by an NVIDIA Tegra K1 Denver. Qualcomm's Snapdragon 410 isn't as impressive, as it is a quad-core that can run at a max of 1.4 GHz, but it is also the first mid-range SoC to bear the 64-bit design. The smartphone undoubtedly ships with Android 4.4 only, though it's amusing to notice that the capacitive navigation buttons seem to mimic the Android L look already.

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The rest of the Huawei Honor 4X's specs aren't exactly groundbreaking but they are, nonetheless, quite decent. There's 2 GB of RAM to help with the workload, for example. The large 5.5-inch is at least 720p. Though we could have wished for better, we have definitely seen worse at that size. The LG G3 Stylus, for example, only has a qHD resolution at the same 5.5 inches. The rear camera is 13 megapixels and is noted to be Sony's. The front shooter is something selfie lovers might drool over, as it is a rather large 5 megapixels. Battery is also large at 3,000 mAh, which should provide ample juice given this phone shouldn't require too much. It has dual SIM slots and supports the gamut of China's networks, from 2G to 4G.

As a mid-range, the Huawei Honor 4X sells for 1,299 RMB, roughly $212 in the US. Whether that price tag and the smartphone itself lands in the country is a different matter entirely. Pre-orders start today and shipping starts November 6.

SOURCE: Huawei

NIST reports vulnerability of Samsung’s Find My Mobile feature

“Find my phone” type apps are numerous – just go to the Google Play Store and have a quick search. But one of the main features of newer Samsung top tier devices is that they have this capability built in with the “Find My Mobile” service. But the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) has just sounded a warning, saying that the feature a real security vulnerability and is very much “hackable”.

The NIST has published this in a report and has shown two proof-of-concept videos that demonstrate the Cross-Site Request Forgery (CSRF) vulnerabilities in the Find My Mobile service. This then allows a “denial of service” attack, which constitutes of the hacked being able to remotely lock, unlock and ring the phone – which are incidentally the main functions of the Find My Mobile feature.

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You see, Samsung’s Find My Mobile remote control features include being able to lock a lost device, causing a lost device to ring at maximum volume for a minute even if set on vibrate, device location, and wiping lost device data among others. The hack allows the attacker to do this in reverse. See the videos below.

A small comfort is this – the service is not enabled by default. But please note that it is automatically enabled when you register for a Samsung account. If you have the feature activated, it might be a good idea to turn it off for now. We will be waiting for Samsung’s reply to this vulnerability, which could possibly be in the form of an OTA firmware update.

VIA: Computer World

New PCMark app for Android to provide more useful benchmarks

Futuremark has been in the business of providing benchmarking tools for PCs since the beginning of 3D gaming, so it would make sense that they would at least try to get into the mobile device benchmarking niche where a lot of apps already give their own version of performance benchmarks. The new PCMark for Android is out now to give us what Futuremark says are more useful numbers.

The app name PCMark doesn’t make much sense now, we admit – but what could it provide that isn’t already being given by the multitude of benchmarking apps out there? It says that it measures the performance of the device, and not isolated elements. It also hypes that it tests your device based on everyday performance, and not just by some programmed algorithm.

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We need to warn you though, that while the app is a simple enough download via the Google Play Store, you will still need to download a 400MB plus “test file” so that you can start running the app’s tests. When that file has finished downloading, then you can start either work performance or work battery life tests. These are all that’s available for now, although Futuremark is promising more tests soon.

Are you convinced? We’ll at least give it a spin, to see what all the hype is about. You can download it via the Google Play Store or hit up the source link and scroll down to see the download link. Tell us about it if you’ve tried out the app.

SOURCE: Futuremark

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Unlock Your Device Automatically with No Lock Home – XDA TV

It is a very good idea to have a lock screen on your phone. The basic suggestion is to use a PIN code, and there are other options like Pattern and Face Unlock. Using these helps keep your phone and files private from casual snooping and prying eyes. But when you get home, you may not need the hassle.

In this episode of XDA Xposed Tuesday, XDA TV Producer TK reviews an Xposed Module that lets you disable your lockscreen when you are on your home WiFi. XDA Recognized Developer moneytoo created the No Lock Home module. TK shows off the modules and gives his thoughts, so check out this Xposed Tuesday video.

Be sure to check out other great XDA TV Videos

XDA Xposed Tuesday: XHangouts Will Improve Your Hangouts

XDA Xposed Tuesday: No Map Tips with Google Maps – XDA TV

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Don’t Get Down with OBB on Your Internal Memory

XDA Xposed Tuesday: Modify Your Volume Control

XDA Xposed Tuesday: How to Shut Up Your Phone – XDA Developer TV

Android Basics 101: Understanding Xposed Framework – XDA Developer TV

App Development: Xposed Framework for Android – XDA Developer TV

The post XDA Xposed Tuesday: Unlock Your Device Automatically with No Lock Home – XDA TV appeared first on xda-developers.

Facebook image storytelling now easier with mobile update

Your social media feed may be filled with too many selfies (in which case, you should reconsider your choice of friends), but there is no doubt that storytelling through images has become the new status message. Whether it's through Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Snapchat, etc, you would much rather scroll through photos rather than read about your friends' latest vacation stories. A new update to Facebook's mobile app now makes it easier for you to post pictures the way you want them to appear.

This is nothing really new if you use Facebook on your desktops, but previously, uploading photos on the mobile app wasn't really that convenient when it comes to arrangement, tagging, etc. But now, you can choose the specific order of the pictures that you want your friends to see, which is really important when you want to tell a story through the images. After you've uploaded the photos, you will get a preview of how it will look like to your friends. You can rearrange the sequence by dragging and dropping the photos, write an introduction for the whole series, add captions for each photo, tag specific people and add the locations for the individual photos.

When you're satisfied with the whole series of photos, post it and your friends will see it in a collage layout, just the way you want it. Facebook is trying to position itself (in terms of image sharing) as not just a place where you store your photos in albums, but as a storytelling platform, specifically with the use of your own images. And by giving a "curated approach" to uploading photos, instead of just adding them to your Mobile Photos, users can create stories. In fact, the posts will show up in Your Photos but not in your albums, which gives it even more of a "real time" style of sharing.

The update is rolling out to all Facebook apps on Android devices today. If yours hasn't automatically updated yet, you can go to Google Play Store and update it yourself.

SOURCE: Facebook

Smile! This alarm clock app wants you to…

Honestly, alarm clocks don’t work for me. I need to set at least three alarms before I wake up and the phone should be placed near my ear. More often that not, I get up after five times of tapping on the snooze button. Such is my life every morning. How I wish there’s something really loud or an app that would make me get on my feet and start the day early.

But hey, don’t get me wrong. When I’m finally up on my feet, I’m good to go. A hot cup of coffee will be enough to make me smile and start the day. Sometimes I wonder though if there’s a super annoying alarm that would make me move faster each morning. Maybe an app that will require me to do something physical before the alarm is turned off. I guess this Smile Clock app will be the answer to my morning woes. Why, this alarm clock app requires the user to smile at the phone before the buzzing sound can be turned off. Snoozing is still an option but the fact that you need to move your facial muscles to smile is enough to wake you up.

You can choose the first thing you want to see or hear on your phone when the alarm goes off. Make sure you choose something that will make you smile. This time, you won’t be annoyed by the alarm---just smile and you’re good to go.

As a remembrance of your starting the day right, the Smile Clock app will save your picture smiling in your photo gallery. Share them with family and friends as proof that you’re no longer grumpy in the morning.

The Smile Clock app was developed by Appfro. It’s the first version so app may be a little buggy. The main problem the developer noted is that thick facial hair will interrupt smile detection process. This means you gotta shave. The app needs you to lessen your mustache or beard. Sorry guys.