https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gpc.myweb.hinet.net.PopupVideo&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImdwYy5teXdlYi5oaW5ldC5uZXQuUG9wdXBWaWRlbyJd
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Android App of the Day: SUPER VIDEO! Watch videos and do anything else on your phone at the same time
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=gpc.myweb.hinet.net.PopupVideo&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImdwYy5teXdlYi5oaW5ldC5uZXQuUG9wdXBWaWRlbyJd
Taking Your Phone To the Next Level: An Overview on Rooting!
Finally, the much anticipated Rooting series has come to the blog! Over the past few months, more and more of you fellow Android owners have wondered just what "Rooting" is; what's it for, is it dangerous, why do it? In this overview my goal is to clear it up as much as possible, and in future segments dive a little deeper into the subject. So, without further ado!
What is Rooting?
Well rooting your device gives you administrative control over your phone. You get access to the root directory and in doing so, have direct access to the system files that reside there. With this new found access comes the ability to install custom firmware, as well as modify anything on your phone. Not being rooted is akin to not having administrative access on windows, or having some parental controls on your web browsing. You can do a lot, but there are boundaries. When you root your device, you now have the ability to enhance, tweak, or bork your phone as you see fit.
Please leave any questions/comments/concerns/suggestions/observations in the comment box below! And don't forget to vote up top for which phone you think will be the top phone of 2012! Thanks for reading!
What is Rooting?
Well rooting your device gives you administrative control over your phone. You get access to the root directory and in doing so, have direct access to the system files that reside there. With this new found access comes the ability to install custom firmware, as well as modify anything on your phone. Not being rooted is akin to not having administrative access on windows, or having some parental controls on your web browsing. You can do a lot, but there are boundaries. When you root your device, you now have the ability to enhance, tweak, or bork your phone as you see fit.
What are the benefits of rooting?
As you know by now (I hope) rooting gives you administrative access over your phone. Some of the things you will be able to do are
- Upgrade your software to the latest version of Android (or a more recent one)
As you know by now (I hope) rooting gives you administrative access over your phone. Some of the things you will be able to do are
- Upgrade your software to the latest version of Android (or a more recent one)
- Install custom firmware which comes with all sorts of new tweaks, enhancements, and features (for example Beats audio)
- Install new apps which allow you to tweak your phone (like being able to change the boot animation, installing fonts you wouldn't be able to normally, applying a theme otherwise unavailable, calibrate your battery etc...)
- Install new apps which allow you to tweak your phone (like being able to change the boot animation, installing fonts you wouldn't be able to normally, applying a theme otherwise unavailable, calibrate your battery etc...)
- Uninstall apps you don't want (like bloatware)
- Improve your phone's performance via Overclocking (speeding up the cpu in your phone to work harder and produce better performance)
- Improve battery life through underclocking and unvervolting (slowing down the cpu in your phone to a lower frequency which uses less battery power, as well as lowering battery output to save battery)
- Unlock tweaks that you would previously have to pay for (free wifi tethering)
- Enable functionality your phone initially did not have (For example screenshot for older devices)
- Improve your phone's performance via Overclocking (speeding up the cpu in your phone to work harder and produce better performance)
- Improve battery life through underclocking and unvervolting (slowing down the cpu in your phone to a lower frequency which uses less battery power, as well as lowering battery output to save battery)
- Unlock tweaks that you would previously have to pay for (free wifi tethering)
- Enable functionality your phone initially did not have (For example screenshot for older devices)
Is rooting dangerous? Will I void my warranty?
Well as stated earlier, when you root, you have the freedom to make or break your phone really. Breaking your phone is called bricking it (because that's what it becomes when you mess it up that bad). Also as long as you are rooted, you are not covered under warranty. However, you can always unroot and return to stock to be covered under warranty again (Granted if you brick your phone, unless they use a special process called a J-Tag (which may or may not work) it's not like the carrier can know you were rooted anyway).
What are the chances of me bricking my phone?
In my personal experience the chance of bricking your phone is low, but it really depends on how well you can follow directions and read. Bricks are very real and can happen, but once you root, it is your responsibility to do ample research before you flash any new firmware on your phone. "With great power, comes great responsibility" definitely applies to this process.
Well as stated earlier, when you root, you have the freedom to make or break your phone really. Breaking your phone is called bricking it (because that's what it becomes when you mess it up that bad). Also as long as you are rooted, you are not covered under warranty. However, you can always unroot and return to stock to be covered under warranty again (Granted if you brick your phone, unless they use a special process called a J-Tag (which may or may not work) it's not like the carrier can know you were rooted anyway).
What are the chances of me bricking my phone?
In my personal experience the chance of bricking your phone is low, but it really depends on how well you can follow directions and read. Bricks are very real and can happen, but once you root, it is your responsibility to do ample research before you flash any new firmware on your phone. "With great power, comes great responsibility" definitely applies to this process.
Is rooting my phone easy?
Some devices are easier than others. For example Samsung phones are well regarded as the easiest phones to root. Samsung will even attempt to restore your phone if you brick it (but won't replace it) and support the root community. HTC phones, Motorola phones, and phones on some carriers usually are harder to root because they come with locked bootloaders. When a bootloader is locked, you can't install customer firmware on the device. Therefore that's an extra step that needs to be taken in order to get the full root experience. Not to mention S-On and S-OFF (commonly found in HTC Phones) which prevents some changes from being made to the system partition. So yes, different phones come with different levels of root difficulty, and the older your phone is, the less available working resources there are to root your phone. Often times necessary files and applications will be long deleted if your phone is old or not very popular. With other phones, rooting can be as simple as one click.
Some devices are easier than others. For example Samsung phones are well regarded as the easiest phones to root. Samsung will even attempt to restore your phone if you brick it (but won't replace it) and support the root community. HTC phones, Motorola phones, and phones on some carriers usually are harder to root because they come with locked bootloaders. When a bootloader is locked, you can't install customer firmware on the device. Therefore that's an extra step that needs to be taken in order to get the full root experience. Not to mention S-On and S-OFF (commonly found in HTC Phones) which prevents some changes from being made to the system partition. So yes, different phones come with different levels of root difficulty, and the older your phone is, the less available working resources there are to root your phone. Often times necessary files and applications will be long deleted if your phone is old or not very popular. With other phones, rooting can be as simple as one click.
Will you root my phone for me?
I'd gladly walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have, but since rooting your phone is a big step and a big test of personal responsibility and accountability, I don't think it's wise to do the work for you, because eventually you're going to want to flash something else and I won't be there to do it for you everytime you want to try something new. You have to learn it on your own. (It's not hard though).
I'd gladly walk you through the process and answer any questions you may have, but since rooting your phone is a big step and a big test of personal responsibility and accountability, I don't think it's wise to do the work for you, because eventually you're going to want to flash something else and I won't be there to do it for you everytime you want to try something new. You have to learn it on your own. (It's not hard though).
All in all, I HIGHLY recommend rooting for all Android users who want to get the most out of their phones. High end stock Android phones are already better than iphones. Rooting your device makes them even better. With a rooted phone, you could essentially have a new phone every week if you chose. Don't like something? Uninstall it. Is there a process on your phone that's acting up? Freeze it. Not getting good cell service with the modem you have? Install a new one. The possibilities are absolutely huge. If you're responsible, understand that there will be a lot of reading and learning involved, and are ready to take your phone to the next level, I welcome you to the rooting community, and hope you enjoy the rest of the series that is to come!
Please leave any questions/comments/concerns/suggestions/observations in the comment box below! And don't forget to vote up top for which phone you think will be the top phone of 2012! Thanks for reading!
Monday, August 13, 2012
Android App of the Day: GSAM Battery Monitor!
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5nc2FtbGFicy5iYm0iXQ..
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean Review!
As you guys should know by now, with the numbering conventions of Android, changes in the first decimal usually mark minor changes/updates/tweaks instead of huge overhauls. Android 4.1 Jelly Bean offers these improvements over 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (courtesy of wikipedia):
Smoother user interface by:
- Vsync timing across all drawing and animation done by the Android framework, including application
rendering, touch events, screen composition and display refresh
- Triple buffering in the graphics pipeline
- Enhanced accessibility
- Bi-directional text and other language support
- User-installable keyboard maps
- Expandable notifications
- Ability to turn off notifications on an app specific basis
- Shortcuts and widgets can automatically be re-arranged or re-sized to allow new items to fit on home
screens
- Bluetooth data transfer for Android Beam
- Offline voice dictation
- New interface layout for tablets with smaller screens (closer resembling that of a phone)
- Improved voice search
- Improved camera app
- Google Wallet (for the Nexus 7)
- Google Now
- Multichannel audio
- USB audio (for external sound DAC)
- Audio chaining (also known as gapless playback)
The ROM i'm using to test Jelly Bean is CM10 for the E4GT http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1810315 (Fortunately the bugs don't interfere with the features or experience toooo much)
Feature Review
1. Buttery Smoothness!
The most noticeable feature that Jelly Bean brings is its buttery smoothness. No matter what phone you have or how fast of a processor there is, the Android OS' hasn't been as smooth as iOS on iPhones. Some phones get closer than others, and some android versions get closer than others, but Jelly Bean has finally caught up, and arguably surpassed, the iPhone in regards to buttery smoothness.
2. Google Now!
Google Now offers a completely new searching experience for Android devices. It updates various cards based off of the events you have scheduled in your phone and the things you search for. Some examples of cards are: Weather, Sports, Flights, and Locations. These cards will provide detailed information in regards to their respective topics and how they relate to you, and will update on their own.
3. Expandable Notifications!
With the notifications you get in the drop down bar, if there are multiples or more information on them, you can expand them to get a better preview of what all exist within the notification. So for example if you have 100 emails, you can expand that particular notification to catch a glimpse of who some of the emails are from and what their subject is.
4. Easier Widget Placement!
This new feature allows the widget you're trying to place to move other icons around when trying to put it on your screen. In previous versions, if you tried to place a widget and there were icons in the way, even if you had enough space on the screen, the widget would not place. This feature just makes your life a little easier during widget placement.
With the notifications you get in the drop down bar, if there are multiples or more information on them, you can expand them to get a better preview of what all exist within the notification. So for example if you have 100 emails, you can expand that particular notification to catch a glimpse of who some of the emails are from and what their subject is.
4. Easier Widget Placement!
This new feature allows the widget you're trying to place to move other icons around when trying to put it on your screen. In previous versions, if you tried to place a widget and there were icons in the way, even if you had enough space on the screen, the widget would not place. This feature just makes your life a little easier during widget placement.
5. New Camera App and Gallery!
The new camera app and gallery creates sort of a film strip effect when you take pictures. So after you take a picture, the phone will push the picture to the right in film strip fashion. Also when reviewing pictures, you can swipe up or down to delete a picture if you don't want it (similar to notifications).
The new camera app and gallery creates sort of a film strip effect when you take pictures. So after you take a picture, the phone will push the picture to the right in film strip fashion. Also when reviewing pictures, you can swipe up or down to delete a picture if you don't want it (similar to notifications).
These were the most noteworthy features to me, outside of additional CM settings (only offered for Root Users). So if rooted, I highly recommend checking out Jelly Bean!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Manage Your Contacts!
I hear time and time again countless stories about how people lose their contacts, or had them on their SIM card but now they're gone. When I first rooted my phone and put different ROMS on, I would try and backup the contacts on my SD Card. However, Facebook sync would make hundreds of duplicate contacts that really irritated me. I knew my contacts were syncing to Google, but I didn't know how to manage them. Once I found out, I never had problems with my contacts again. I highly suggest you click this link https://mail.google.com/mail/u/0/#contacts and sign in to delete/add contacts. An alternate route to get there is to go into your gmail, then click "Gmail" in the top left to open a drop down menu. From there select "Contacts" and there you go. I suggest you not only add contacts via this method, but email addresses as well. You can also set your phone to sync new contacts to this list if you like. Many of you will discover that when you log into your gmail and look at your contacts, there will be duplicates or people you deleted/forgot about, or worst case, none there at all. Hopefully this helps some of you as backing up your contacts can save you a lot of trouble later! Don't forget to vote for which phone you think will be king in 2012, and leave a comment below about some future topics of interest you may want to hear about. Other than that, have a great day and thanks for reading!
Thursday, May 10, 2012
Maximizing Battery Life!
As Android owners, one of our biggest struggles is with battery life. Having widgets, live wallpapers, and large beautiful screens comes at a price. However, there are tips and trips to reduce this cost as much as possible (Everyone's experience will vary though). With that being said, let's jump straight to it!
1. Turn off wireless services when you're not using them (i.e. Bluetooth, GPS, 4G Wifi*)
This should go without saying but these services do not come free (in terms of battery life). Leaving these on when not using them is a waste of battery...as is using them when you don't have too. It's your phone of course, but if it's dying in 2 hours, you may not have to update your foursquare at EVERY location.
*Wifi is an exception which I'll cover at the end
2. Turn off auto brightness
Auto brightness is a great feature, but sometimes it gives you more brightness than you actually need. By manually controlling your brightness, you can make sure your phone display isn't beaming when you're indoors (though it looks great). This is probably one of the most effective tips.
3. Turn off auto sync or background data, or data altogether
This is another biggie! When you have auto sync off, the apps listed under your accounts won't sync 24/7. When you turn background data off, all your apps will not sync unless you want them too. This means you wont get twitter, facebook etc... notifications but you save a lot of battery. You can also turn off data (3G/2G) altogether if you're not going to be using it. This helps as well. If you are in a low signal area, turn off background data or data in general! It drains battery to try and pull from data that isn't there.
4. Reduce the number of widgets you use
Widgets are awesome but each widget requires a little bit of the Android OS to run. Reducing these decreases the load and improves battery life
5. Consider not using live wallpapers
This kind of goes without saying. I personally use one but I know my battery life would improve if I didn't. These also fall under your Android OS category and reduce battery life. If you can get through a day with it on then don't worry about it but if not, consider removing it.
6. Use a dark/black wallpaper (AMOLED phones only)
OLED is a screen technology that turns off pixels when displaying a dark image. LCD screens dim the pixel severely but they are still on. So if you have a phone with a OLED type display (For example Super Amoled +) Dark backgrounds help battery life.
7. DON'T Use Task Killers
Task Killers not only kill troublesome apps, but they kill apps that often just restart on your phone regardless. All of these apps restarting consumes battery, so in a sense you're shooting your self in the foot while trying to kill an ant on your shoe. Instead you can use apps to monitor which programs are taking up your CPU. I personally use GSAM Battery Monitor https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5nc2FtbGFicy5iYm0iXQ.. and watchdog lite ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zomut.watchdoglite&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS56b211dC53YXRjaGRvZ2xpdGUiXQ.. ) *Warning, the notifications can get annoying*) If you find troublesome apps in this program, kill those .
8. Power Save and Power Save Apps
Power save and power save apps usually do numbers 1, 2, and 3 for you, but it doesn't hurt to use these functions
9. Use Airplane Mode
When in an area with no signal or no wifi, you might as well put your phone on airplane mode instead of letting it search for a signal that will never come, or try and pull data that isn't there.
10. Bump Charge Your Phone
When you're charging your phone and it hits the 100% mark, in order to keep from overheating your phone, it'll stop charging for a bit, and then recharge a little bit to get back to 100%. This is why sometimes when you take your phone off the charger, it jumps straight to 99 or 98%. Other times it may charge to the bare minimum of 100%. When you bump charge, you let your phone get to 100%, unplug it, and plug it back in and let it charge some more. After bump charging 2-3 times, you'll be starting from, or as close as you could get, to a true 100% charge.
11. Check what processes are using your battery
Go to settings > About Phone > Battery Usage and see what apps and functions are consuming the most power. Screen should be the biggest battery drain unless you haven't used your phone much, then Android OS would be around the top.
12. Disable/Enable Wifi
This was the exception I was talking about earlier as there has been a debate over this. Wifi does require battery to use, but there are times where using 3G would drain more than wifi would, and vice versa. So here are some separate rules for wifi based on my findings
Conditions:
1. If you are in a low signal area and have access to wifi, use wifi.
2. If there is no wifi around, turn off wifi. Do not let it search for wifi all day.
3. If your 3G speeds are good enough to work with, turn off wifi.
4. If condition 1 is met and background data is on go to Settings >Wifi > Hit the
menu button > Advanced > Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep - Always
5. If background data is off and wifi is available go to Settings >Wifi > Hit the menu button
> Advanced > Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep - Never
13. Turn off auto-update for apps in the play store. Your phone will constantly search for updates for apps while active.
1. Turn off wireless services when you're not using them (i.e. Bluetooth, GPS, 4G Wifi*)
This should go without saying but these services do not come free (in terms of battery life). Leaving these on when not using them is a waste of battery...as is using them when you don't have too. It's your phone of course, but if it's dying in 2 hours, you may not have to update your foursquare at EVERY location.
*Wifi is an exception which I'll cover at the end
2. Turn off auto brightness
Auto brightness is a great feature, but sometimes it gives you more brightness than you actually need. By manually controlling your brightness, you can make sure your phone display isn't beaming when you're indoors (though it looks great). This is probably one of the most effective tips.
3. Turn off auto sync or background data, or data altogether
This is another biggie! When you have auto sync off, the apps listed under your accounts won't sync 24/7. When you turn background data off, all your apps will not sync unless you want them too. This means you wont get twitter, facebook etc... notifications but you save a lot of battery. You can also turn off data (3G/2G) altogether if you're not going to be using it. This helps as well. If you are in a low signal area, turn off background data or data in general! It drains battery to try and pull from data that isn't there.
4. Reduce the number of widgets you use
Widgets are awesome but each widget requires a little bit of the Android OS to run. Reducing these decreases the load and improves battery life
5. Consider not using live wallpapers
This kind of goes without saying. I personally use one but I know my battery life would improve if I didn't. These also fall under your Android OS category and reduce battery life. If you can get through a day with it on then don't worry about it but if not, consider removing it.
6. Use a dark/black wallpaper (AMOLED phones only)
OLED is a screen technology that turns off pixels when displaying a dark image. LCD screens dim the pixel severely but they are still on. So if you have a phone with a OLED type display (For example Super Amoled +) Dark backgrounds help battery life.
7. DON'T Use Task Killers
Task Killers not only kill troublesome apps, but they kill apps that often just restart on your phone regardless. All of these apps restarting consumes battery, so in a sense you're shooting your self in the foot while trying to kill an ant on your shoe. Instead you can use apps to monitor which programs are taking up your CPU. I personally use GSAM Battery Monitor https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.gsamlabs.bbm&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS5nc2FtbGFicy5iYm0iXQ.. and watchdog lite ( https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.zomut.watchdoglite&feature=nav_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDMsImNvbS56b211dC53YXRjaGRvZ2xpdGUiXQ.. ) *Warning, the notifications can get annoying*) If you find troublesome apps in this program, kill those .
8. Power Save and Power Save Apps
Power save and power save apps usually do numbers 1, 2, and 3 for you, but it doesn't hurt to use these functions
9. Use Airplane Mode
When in an area with no signal or no wifi, you might as well put your phone on airplane mode instead of letting it search for a signal that will never come, or try and pull data that isn't there.
10. Bump Charge Your Phone
When you're charging your phone and it hits the 100% mark, in order to keep from overheating your phone, it'll stop charging for a bit, and then recharge a little bit to get back to 100%. This is why sometimes when you take your phone off the charger, it jumps straight to 99 or 98%. Other times it may charge to the bare minimum of 100%. When you bump charge, you let your phone get to 100%, unplug it, and plug it back in and let it charge some more. After bump charging 2-3 times, you'll be starting from, or as close as you could get, to a true 100% charge.
11. Check what processes are using your battery
Go to settings > About Phone > Battery Usage and see what apps and functions are consuming the most power. Screen should be the biggest battery drain unless you haven't used your phone much, then Android OS would be around the top.
12. Disable/Enable Wifi
This was the exception I was talking about earlier as there has been a debate over this. Wifi does require battery to use, but there are times where using 3G would drain more than wifi would, and vice versa. So here are some separate rules for wifi based on my findings
Conditions:
1. If you are in a low signal area and have access to wifi, use wifi.
2. If there is no wifi around, turn off wifi. Do not let it search for wifi all day.
3. If your 3G speeds are good enough to work with, turn off wifi.
4. If condition 1 is met and background data is on go to Settings >Wifi > Hit the
menu button > Advanced > Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep - Always
5. If background data is off and wifi is available go to Settings >Wifi > Hit the menu button
> Advanced > Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep - Never
13. Turn off auto-update for apps in the play store. Your phone will constantly search for updates for apps while active.
*Rooted Phones Only*
(What's Root? We'll cover that in the future)
1. Calibrate your battery
Download the app Battery Calibration from the market. Bump charge your phone to 100% and then calibrate. You'll notice a drastic improvement.
2. Underclock your processor
This tones down the processing speed of your processor and improves battery life. Apps like SetCPU (not free) and CPU Tuner (free) and Rom Toolbox (free) allow you to underclock your processor and the first 2 allow you to create custom profiles (i.e. underclock when screen is off, overclock when on charger).
3. Undervolt your battery
Same effect as 14. except it reduces how much power your battery uses instead of how fast your processor moves.
4. Install a different Modem
Modems affect how well the radios in our phones work. Some modems are better than others. Efficient modems pick up solid signals so there is less searching (battery consumption) involved
5. Choose your ROMS and Kernels carefully
Some ROM/Kernel combinations are horrible for battery life and some ROMS alone just aren't that good on battery life. Do your research on it before flashing even though results vary from phone to phone.
That's it for battery life tips! Hope you found something useful! I've managed to pull 50 hours off one charge before. I also know someone with an Lg Optimus M who managed to pull a Day with 30% battery to spare. Use your battery wisely and you will see life that not only rivals, but surpasses the life of some of those..other...phones. Don't forget to vote up top, and leave a comment below. Thanks for reading! Have a great day!
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
ANNOUNCEMENT! HTC Evo 4G LTE (HTC One X) Release date: May 18th!
That's right! The HTC Evo 4G LTE, better known as the HTC One X, will be released on May 18th for Sprint customers. You can currently pre-order right now. The price for the Evo is $550 off contract but "should" be $199 with 2 year contract agreement + instant savings. Quick spec rundown:
4.7 inch Super LCD 2 Display (One of the best)
1.5 Snapdragon 4 Dual-Core Processor (Keeps up with quad core processing speeds as well as increases battery life)
1 Gb of Ram (allows for more multitasking between apps)
720p Definition (HD)
312 ppi (Pixel Per Inch, almost matches the iPhone; means there will be virtually no pixelization due to pixel depth)
8 MP Camera (One of the best out there)
1.3 MP Front Facing Camera
16 GB of Internal Storage plus Micro SD slot (up to 32 extra gb)
Beats Audio (Sounds great! Headphones sold separately)
2000 mAh non-removable battery (big battery but still keeps the phone slim)
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (latest version of Android)
Sense 4 (HTC's latest UI)
4.7 inch Super LCD 2 Display (One of the best)
1.5 Snapdragon 4 Dual-Core Processor (Keeps up with quad core processing speeds as well as increases battery life)
1 Gb of Ram (allows for more multitasking between apps)
720p Definition (HD)
312 ppi (Pixel Per Inch, almost matches the iPhone; means there will be virtually no pixelization due to pixel depth)
8 MP Camera (One of the best out there)
1.3 MP Front Facing Camera
16 GB of Internal Storage plus Micro SD slot (up to 32 extra gb)
Beats Audio (Sounds great! Headphones sold separately)
2000 mAh non-removable battery (big battery but still keeps the phone slim)
Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich (latest version of Android)
Sense 4 (HTC's latest UI)
HTC Evo 4G LTE
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