5 Things Which Makes Android One Game Changer

Google is now ready to launch its new series of Android known as Android One. Google has collaborated with Micromax, Karbonn and Spice and will be launching the Android One smartphones from Sept 15. Google has chosen India as a starting point of this program. Google will be providing basic guidlines to the smartphone manufacturers about the hardware configuration. This will lower the cost of smartphone. Thus, these smartphones will be having good features at low cost.

These are the five things that make Android One game changer.

1) As Google is collaborating with many low cost phone makers, these smartphones will cost about Rs. 6000. You may say that a lot of phones are already available at this cost, but in this program, Google will be be controlling the hardware quality. So, these phones will have good built quality at low cost.

2) Specifications are not properly known yet, but some of the features are dual core chip, 5MP camera, removable SD card, Media Trek processor and 4.5 inch display. All these features will be available at low cost.

3) Google services don't work on all Android phones, but in case of Android One, these services will work on all the phones. These phones will get upgrades faster than others.

4) Android One will increase the market of Google. As this OS is developed by Google, hardware as well as softwares are customized to utilize Google's services.

5) Android One is initiated by Google to stay at top in Indian market. This will ensure the safe play for Google in market.

Android One is going to eat a major low cost smartphone market all over the world. But, other companies also are trying to introduce such low cost smartphones. Only the time will tell if the Android One is a  success for Google or not.

Google's New Android Coming Soon

Google is going to release its first series of low cost Android Smartphones. These smartphones will be powered by the most awaited Android One operating system. It is an initiative through which a key set of references for hardware are provided for help to the device manufacturers which will help them to make low cost smartphones. The phones will be unveiled by Sundar Pichai, Google's SVP of Android, Chrome and Apps in New Delhi on Sept 15.

India is the launching ground for the platform that Google eventually wants to take other economies. India is the world's fastest growing  smartphone market. Millions of users are using Androids and many people are now turning towards Android phones. Thus, India provides a large market for low-cost smartphones. Google has collaborated with leading Indian smartphone manufacturers Micromax, Spice and Karbonn to launch this Android One series.

In India low cost smartphones get large market while the high end premium gadgets do not get that much response.Theses Android One phones could be priced around $100. Google indicate that it could work with mobile carriers to package the devices with inexpensive internet activity. If Google manages this, then its going to change the game of Android Smartphones.


By customizing operating system and other softwares, Google is trying to make a better operating system specially designed for low cost smartphones. The race is to make the low cost smartphones with better hardware and performance. Lets see how Google introduces it's new series.

The Most Awaited Smartwatch Is Now Available

2014 is the year of Android Wears. From the beginning of the year many leading companies are releasing their smartwatches. LG has revealed two smathwatches yet. Samsung is going launch one very soon. At the start of year, Motorola had announced it's first Android Wear Smartwatch, Moto 360. Moto 360 went very popular among the people due to its premium look and features.

Check out the features of Moto 360 here.

This much awaited watch is now available in the market. Is Moto 360 is able to give a good competition to recent smartwatches? Actually, It is difficult to say without spending some time with it. According to some people, who get the watch hands on, Moto 360 is easy to use and it takes a few minutes to get hands on it.

A good thing about Moto 360 is it's design. It has a round dial with metallic strap. Leather strap is also available as an option. It looks like a regular watch and gives a premium look with its metal strap. This is what we are able to say by looking at the pictures. But, does it really look good on wrist? Not much. It looks oversized with it's big dial and a little odd when compared to traditional watches. It is 11.5mm thick and 49 gram heavy.

The dispay of Moto 360 is nice with scratch proof Corning Gorilla Glass 3 protection. It offers excellent brightness and viewing angles. It is powered by OMAP 3 processor and 512 MB RAM. It has Android Wear and has to be connected to smartphones with Android 4.3 or higher via Bluetooth. "OK Google" command gives you access to voice commands to send messages, play music, measure heart rate, etc. Moto 360 is having a pedometer and optical heart rate sensor. According to TOI, it can measure heartbeats without hiccups.

Moto 360 comes with 320mAh battery and the bad thing is that you have to charge it every day. Motorola has used a new technology for charging. Moto 360 is docked for charging and charged wirelessly. It can act as a night clock while docked. But still, I don't think people will like to charge their watch everyday.

It seems everything good except the battery backup of the watch. Moto 360 is available in market approx at Rs. 15,000.

Here's a video of Moto 360 unboxing by Android Authority.

Is Android Safe? Our Data Might Be At Risk

Android is a platform that supports almost four out of five mobile devices worldwide. Android users are increasing daily on a large scale. It is so popular because it is free, easy to use,have large variety of apps and it's terms do not dictate to manufacturers about the hardware to be used.

But, over the past few months, Android platform is having a difficult time. Hackers are making some softwares with malicious intents. They are finding the ways about how to make this operating system weak. It seems that the hacking is the result of the popularity of Android, but there are some inherent problems, which experts and hackers have discovered don't exist on other platforms.

Android is getting more attention from hackers and malware creators, because it has more than 40,000different malware compromises. Same systems for Apple or Windows phones seem to have less such issues.

Few months ago, there was a concern about an SMS worm that could propagate via Android Devices. Now, researchers have found a flaw in the GMail Android app. This flaw makes it easy to create malware to obtain personal information using the gmail application as a route to extract all kinds of data from your phones.

The researchers have claimed that this is an issue about Windows and Apple devices also. But, Microsoft and Apple have app stores that include a range of strict security checks before an app is allowed on their devices. Unlike this, Google Play Environment lacks in these security checks. Also, Plat Store is not the only source of Android applications. There are many non-Google appstores available for Android devices.

The security community has also exposed some flaws with the official Google Play Store. In case of Microsoft or Apple devices, we can trust the applications we have downloaded. In case of Android devices, te risk is considerably higher. You must have an up-to-date anto-malware software on your device.

Another issue for Android devices is with their factory reset option. It has been found that, the factory reset option, which should erase any historical data from the device, seemed not to work well. (This is the same issue regarding the Tesco Hudl Tablet, reported earlier this August.)

The system of Android updates also is an issue. When new and better Android version releases, newly released devices uses them. Also some high-end devices get the updates. But the lower priced Android devices stick to the same version. So, currently along with the latest version of Android, KitKat, previous versions such as Jellybean, ICS, etc. are also in use.

I agree that Android is a great platform. It has enabled the low-cost smartphones and tablets to take place in the market. But still, Google should make some more improvements in it and should tighten the rules about how an application should enter the device. Currently, the most important thing is that, every Android user should do is to install an anti-malware app on their device.

This article is previously published at The Conversation.

The Most Expensive Android Wear Yet - LG G Watch R

As I said before, this year many new Android Wears are going to be revealed by the leading companies. Samsung, LG, Motorola have already released their smartwatches this year and now, here comes the successor of LG G Watch, LG G Watch R. Unlike G Watch, this smartwatch has a circular display and is going to give a tough competition to Moto 360.

LG G Watch R is going to hit the market by October at a price of EUR 299 (roughly Rs.23,900), announced by LG. With this price, this smartwatch is going to be the most expensive Android Wear yet. LG G Watch, the first smartwatch of LG is now available at Rs.15,000. But, the new watch gives more premium look.

LG G Watch R features 1.3 inch Plastic OLED circular display and resolution 360*360 pixels. It is having a stainless steel frame and supported by 22mm calf skin leather strap. LG G Watch R will be available in black colour only. It is powered by a 1.2 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon Processor along with 512MB RAM. It runs on Android Wear, an Android OS specially designed for wearables. It features 4 GB internal storage and is backed by a 410mAh battery. The watch is IP67 certified and is claimed to run for 30 minutes in 1 metre of water.

LG G Watch R has a good voice recognition which provides information about messages, missed calls, upcoming events, weather forecasts, etc. It features a PPG sensor to track user's heartbeats. It also has gyro-sensor, accelerometer, compass and barometer.

LG G Watch R has great specs and features. Also, the look and design of the watch is really good. But, Moto 360 is also a similar kind of watch with more premium look (due to it's metallic strap) and Samsung is also going to launch it's new smartwatch Gear S with 3G connectivity and voice calling. The pricing of LG G Watch R can be a barrier for it's marketing. In that case, Moto 360 and Gear S are going to give a tough battle to it.

HTC Announces First 64-bit Android Smartphone

We always think that the high-end smartphones are released with the latest features, but this time HTC is going to change the game. HTC announced the first 64-bit Android smartphone and surprisingly it will be a mid-range smartphone. The Desire 510 is that first 64-bit smartphone which will be accompanied by Snapdragon 410. Snapdragon 410 has four Cortex A53 CPU cores running at 1.2 GHz, along with an Andreno 306 GPU. This combination of CPU and GPU should make for a quite fast SoC compared to Snapdragon 400.

HTC Desire 510

According to AnandTech, this phone ships with the Android 4.4 and it's likely that it is running in AArch32 mode only. AArch64 mode will be coming soon with Android L. Android L is expected to be released in this November or December. HTC should launch the device quickly as this is going to impress the people as the first 64-bit Android Smartphone. As a mid range smartphone, this device will give a good competition to Moto G and Lumia 530.

Specs :

• Software : 

1. Android 4.4.4
2. HTC Sense 6
3. HTC Blinkfeed

• Hardware :

1. Display - 4.7 inch, 854*480 pixels resolution (FWVGA)
2. Size - 139.9*69.8*9.99 mm
3. Weight - 158 grams
4. SoC - Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 -- MSM8916
5. CPU - 4 * 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 cores
6. GPU- Andreno 306
7. Memory - A GB LPDDR2
8. Storage - 8GB internal SD, expandable upto 128 GB
9. Camera : 5MP Rear , 0.3 MP Front
10. Battery : 2100 mAh

All the specs seems good except the display. HTC did not tell anything about price yet, but it should be near Moto G. HTC should tell more about the benefits due to 64-bit smartphone.

Hybridize your Galaxy Note 2 with the features of Note 3 and Galaxy S5

Recently, all the high-end smartphones are getting Android 4.4.2 updates. Samsung Galaxy Note 2, though a little bit late, but got Android 4.4.2 update. Some users who know about the custom roms might have already upgraded their phone to latest Android version. But this is one of the best custom rom I am talking about in this post.

Phantom ROM V6 is one of the best ROMs available for Note 2. This rom will upgrade your device to Android 4.4.2 as well as will install a lot of features to your device. This is a kind of hybrid rom which will install the features of Samsung Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy S5 to your device. This rom will totally change your Android experience. This is very stable, have a stock theme & touchwiz launcher, but gives a sleek performance.

Features:

• Android 4.4.2
• performace tweaks
• battery tweaks
• RAM tweaks
• increased photo and video recording quality
• bloatable from aroma
• S5 system ui and toggles
• ultra power saving mode
• quad view windows
• smart stay
• smart pause
• smart scroll
• smart rotation
• aircommand
• toolbox with 5 apps
• note 3 apps and features
• s5 apps and features
• lockscreen effects
• and many more...

Disclaimer :

Installing a custom ROM may void the warranty of your device. This process may damage your phone permanently. A detailed procedure about installing a custom ROM is given in this post. Please read the post carefully before implementing any changes. Also this rom is only for Samsung Galaxy Note 2 GT-N7100 and do no try to install it on other devices. Neither I or the developer is responsible for any kind of damage to your device. If you are not familiar with these procedures, then try to get help from an experienced person.

Pre-requisites :

• Take backup of all the important data such as contacts, SMS, MMS, APNs, EFS folder.
• Keep your phone charged, at least up-to 60% to complete the installation process without any interruption. Any interruption during installation might damage your device.
• Make sure that your phone is rooted and you are having cusom recovery such as CWM installed on your device.
• Enable USB debugging mode. Go to Settings > Developer' Option/

Downloads:

1. Phantom ROM V6
2. Add-ons fladshable zip - This zip file contains 62 flashable addons which includes themes, wallpapers, apps, boot animation, etc.

Procedures:

• First, download both the files given in the Downloads Section. Move them to phone's internal memory and don't extract them.
• Now, enter the Recovery mode. For this, switch off the phone, then press and hold Power + Home + Volume Up button simultaneously for some seconds.
• After entering the Recovery Mode, take a nandroid backup of the device as it might be helpful if anything goes wrong during installation process.
• Now, wipe all the data.
• Now, select 'install zip from the folder' and choose the 1st zip file you have downloaded which contains Phantom ROM V6. This process might take several minutes to complete.
• Now, install another zip similarly.
• Reboot the device normally. First time booting will take a longer time. Keep patience.
• If you get stucked in the bootloos, try to wipe data and flash the rom again.
• After rebooting, if you are getting any force close errors, then wipe data and flash the rom again.
• Now, experience a totally different and hybrid Samsung Galaxy Note 2 having the features of Note 3 and Galaxy S5.

Please, let me know you comments and reviews.