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Screen Dimming to the Next Level – XDA Xposed Tuesday

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Auto brightness on some devices is a joke. Even if you control your brightness manually, the dimmest setting is oftentimes still too bright. If you’re in a dark room or area too bright a screen can hurt your eye or be a distraction to others. Don’t be distracting!


In this episode of XDA Xposed Tuesday, XDA TV Producer TK reviews an Xposed Module that helps you take your screen dimming to the next level. XDA Forum Member tony78960 created the Screen Filter 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



The post Screen Dimming to the Next Level – XDA Xposed Tuesday appeared first on xda-developers.


Samsung’s Exynos reportedly developing a Cat.10 LTE modem

Exynos, Samsung’s in-house processor and chipset developers, are reportedly churning up a spanking new Cat.10 LTE modem, able to give you 450Mbits per second of download speed. When rumors come out of Exynos like this, the rumor mill really starts turning, especially since it is high time that Samsung starts developing the next flagship phone.



If you’ve been following Samsung long enough, you would know that most of its flagship models usually have two iterations – one with a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, and another with an Exynos one. The Snapdragon model is usually for the international market, since Qualcomm has gotten the compatibility with global standards down pat.


The Exynos model is usually for the local South Korean market, and Samsung usually gives out “bonus features” for the Korean devices that won’t be in the international models. So will this rumored Cat.10 LTE modem be part of the Exynos chipset for the Samsung Galaxy S6? People are certainly saying this might be so.


The move coincides with some South Korean mobile networks upping the juice of their infrastructure so that they can give out Cat.10 LTE speeds. Coincidence? Might be, but the timing looks right, with Samsung reportedly prepping for a launch during the Mobile World Congress 2015 in Berlin. Watch this space.


VIA: Phone Arena





Wireless charging the next frontier, mass production being explored

It’s not like the technology for wireless charging hasn’t been realized – it’s here. The issue is not so much inventing the technology as it is the means to actually mass produce products under a unified standard. We haven’t seen wireless charging technology roll out on a lot of products because of this. But an outfit called Freescale is trying to break that barrier.



Freescale is looking outside of the smartphone form factor towards tablets, laptops and the larger phablets – looking to put out a 15-watt charging pad that could be placed everywhere, like airline seats, coffee shop and restaurant tables, and even on your car’s console/dashboard.


“Today’s mobile products offer a broader range of features, functionality and form factors than ever before, requiring developers of wireless charging systems to accommodate larger batteries and enable faster recharge speeds. Freescale’s industry-first 15 W solution is engineered to address these evolving market requirements, while helping to streamline product development and unleash design creativity,” Denis Cabrol, director of global marketing and business development for Freescale’s MCU group, said.


As we have said, this is not new tech – it’s for real. It’s just up to Freescale to bring together the standards vying for leadership in this niche – which includes Qi, Wireless Power Consortium, and the Power Matters Alliance. And then come up with the charging pads for mass production. Soon, eh?


VIA: SlashGear

SOURCE: Freescale





Will LG soon discontinue their G Pro line of smartphones?

LG has been riding on a high the past months, as their flagship LG G3 has received critical acclaim and the OEM seems to be doing good in terms of sales (as compared to the other Korean brand and their fierce rival, Samsung). But this means also that they might need to focus on several product lines and let go of those that may be too "redundant."



Reports indicate that the one getting the axe might be the previously popular "Pro" line, previously known as the Optimus G Pro. It used to be the positioned as the more premium and bigger versions of the "G" line, but now that the non-Pro devices are gradually increasing in size as well, there is very little difference between the two lines of smartphones now. The G Pro 2 is 5.9 inches, while the LG G3 is already at 5.5 inches. Rumors are putting the upcoming LG G4 at 5.9 inches, so if it is indeed true, then the Pro series would indeed be irrelevant.


2015 is supposed to be the year of the LG G Pro 3 but it looks like the Korean OEM might be skipping launching that at the MWC in February. What they are focusing on now is to finalize the LG G4 in order to get that out in the market by the middle of next year. This is something that most are looking forward to, especially as the current flagship was a darling, particularly in the QHD display aspect.


While we might be saying goodbye to the Pro line soon, their other series will probably remain, as they seek other markets. The L series is for those looking for more low-end and cheaper smartphones while the F series is the middle ground between low and mid tier devices.


VIA: SlashGear


Darknet is a retro-future strategy-puzzle hacker game for the Gear VR

Now that AT&T announced the availability of the Samsung Gear VR in the US, we expect to hear more announcements of new games for the wearable device. We already know a few: Land’s End by USTwo, Temple Run VR by Imangi Studios, theBLU, Anshar Wards, HeroBound, and VR Quest. Recently announced and previewed is Darknet by creator of the game Auralux.



Made by indie game designer E McNeil, Darknet has been under development for more than a year. It’s available for download for free from Darknet’s website but it should be ready on the VR app store soon for $10 USD. This is after the first adopters of Gear VR have received their units.


This VR strategy game’s theme is all about hacking. Darknet offers a rich 3D-like experience similar from old movies like the Lawnmower Man, Matrix, Tron, and Hackers. If you’re a geek and are familiar with old school hacking and related movies, you’ll appreciate this in a retro-future kind of way.


Virtual reality gaming is here but it’s not quite perfect. Even the Samsung Gear VR recently released is just an Innovator Edition (not the final version) but Oculus and Samsung are already working to perfect the device.


Watching the trailer below reminds me of the early days of the Internet, hacking, cybercrime, etc. Imagine all those scenes being experienced right on the Gear VR.




Excited much? Here is an overview of Darknet on the Samsung Gear VR:




It's kinda hard to explain this hacking VR game but this is the (retro) future. Stay ahead of security, drop viruses, and crack codes on a virtual reality computer network. Make good use of hacker tools to finish this strategy-puzzle game made especially for the Oculus-powered Samsung Gear VR.


darknet darknet _ e darknet _ d darknet _ c darknet _ a


VIA: SlashGear





Android Studio IDE reaches the big version 1.0 milestone

Google's new preferred and official Integrated Development Environment (IDE) has finally reached its first stable release. With Android Studio 1.0, beginning Android developers have less hurdles to overcome when starting out, while existing developers will still have all the tools they need in one convenient package. Of course, there will be some re-learning and re-training involved, but Google is trying to make that transition as painless as possible.



To some, it might be surprising to learn that Android grew up this long without an official IDE, but it does have one, though not exactly the official IDE. Eclipse, a popular Java IDE, has been the de facto Android development environment from the beginning, but it's not exactly a breeze to set up, especially for first timers. The old way involved getting pieces here and there and making sure they work together, a daunting task for some beginners. Android Studio emphasizes on the "integrated" part of the IDE name and lumps everything you need inside a single product.



android-studio-1.0-2



Android Studio is based on the open source community edition of Intellij IDEA, another popular Java IDE, but of course goes beyond simple Java. Version 1.0 introduces new features that help both beginners and power users alike. For example, there is a Setup Wizard that gets the ball rolling as well as a bunch of templates that takes the drudgery out of setting up a project. Power users will probably love the powerful editor and performance analysis features, like memory usage monitor. A convenient user interface preview lets you see your apps across multiple screen sizes, languages, and Android versions. And adding support for Google Cloud services in your app is as easy as a few clicks of a button.



android-studio-1.0-3



Those coming from Eclipse and older versions of Android Studio will be able to easily migrate to the stable version by using the IDE's Import Project option. Android Studio releases will take after Chrome and offer four release channels, namely, Stable, Beta, Dev, and Canary, with Canary being the most bleeding edge of them all.


SOURCE: Android Developers


Pimp Your Xperia with Impressive Animations

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Unlike Apple’s iOS or Microsoft’s Windows Phone, Android gives users tons of customization options. Almost every element of the user interface can be changed through third party applications, Xposed Framework modules, or simply through reverse engineering. Additionally, many OEMs also apply their own custom UIs in order to make their devices seem unique.


One OEM with quite a lot in terms of skin customization is Sony. Animations and fancy transitions are just a small part of Sony’s UI tweaks. If you feel that there could be more, XDA Senior Member kalel2012 prepared a guide that shows you how to add an animated background to the pulldown notification and system settings.


The provided method uses Apktool and any available notepad app. If you are using Windows, you should consider using Notepad++. The process of adding these animations is very simple, as kalel2012 provided all resources required in the process. If you’re planning to add them to your current Sony ROM, you need to edit just a few lines in SystemUI.


The guide can be used if your device is running the official or modded Sony firmware in the version 4.4. If you’re looking to get into some device customization, head over to the Animated Background System And Puldown Notification thread to learn more.


The post Pimp Your Xperia with Impressive Animations appeared first on xda-developers.


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