Archive for the ‘Mobile Applications’ Category
It may sound like everyone in the world is picking on Google/Google Wallet/Android about “security”. Truth be told, we’re not meaning to (at least not today). But this latest issue is something that Google Wallet users will want to know as it could put them in the financial hot seat should their phone be lost, stolen or simply sold.
The new bug: A thief/hacker can delete the user data for Google Wallet on the device, set up a new account complete with new pin, and then select an option to use a previously used/saved pre-paid card.
Bug #2 was found by TheSmartphoneChamp team and have backed it up with video proof. We’d try it ourselves but we don’t have a Google Wallet capable device. That said, the same way to protect yourself in this instance (similar to the first security scare from earlier this week) is to put either a password or lockscreen pattern on your phone. It might be inconvenient for you now, but we’re fairly certain having to deal with stolen money/personal information will be a much bigger pain in your ass should your phone get snatched.
- February 9, 2012 12:54 pm
The process in which Android manufacturers update their hardware is pretty maddening. It goes something like this: New Android update is released by Google –> wait 2-8 months –> release to customers. So when Motorola’s Senior Vice President of Motorola’s Enterprise Business unit, Christy Wyatt, sat down to answer a few questions with PC World regarding Android’s upgrade process, one would think we’d get some juicier details on the inner workings of Moto’s system for Android upgrades and a valid reason for why updates take so long. Humorously, the response Wyatt gave to PC World is the same thing we’ve said time and time again — there are too many useless (our emphasis) variations in hardware that ultimately mean more time is needed to developer for each different model.
Another gem: customization (by Motorola) is also cited as a reason for update slowdowns. Our response is the same as it was to the “too much hardware” comment — get rid of it. The empty UI skins that manufacturers slap on top of Android add zero value. Let us stress that skins and manufacturer apps are two different things. The former is a waste of everyone’s time while the latter are generally pretty lackluster too, though do offer up some added functionality here and there.
Further casting doubt on the legitimacy of Wyatt’s response is the fact that individual Android developers whom have far less time, money, or living bodies to devout to updating hardware manage to get it down far faster. Why a company as large as Moto (or HTC, Samsung and LG) can’t have this stuff handled in a more timely manner is a conundrum that might have even stumped Einstein himself.
Motorola is calling out the very things they do as problems getting in the way of speedier Android updates yet they continually shoot themselves in the foot. How do these people get hired?
- February 9, 2012 10:17 am
It’s been quite a while since I signed up to be notified about about Cheers, so much so that I honestly forgot about it. But today an email hit my inbox saying the new iOS app was live. If you haven’t heard of Cheers, I’ll preface this hands-on by saying it is very similar to both Oink and Stamped — “life rating” apps — with a little bit of Instagram ideology thrown in.
Still interested? Hop inside.
Tweetbot 2.0 for iPhone is finally here. Now what? Get Tweetbot for iPad of course!
Ok. So Tweetbot isn’t a universal app. In our opinion, it’s easily worth the $6 spread across two devices. We, as well as countless iPad users who use and abuse Twitter have been waiting for months to get Tweetbots beautiful pixels all over their 9.7″ of Cupertino-designed glass. And now that Tweetbot for iPad is available, what do we think? It’s great! It is robust and full of features, yet at the same time simple in design. Honestly, if you’ve used Tweetbot for iPhone, the iPad version is pretty much identical, just bigger. Everything from the iPhone app: Push Notifications, gestures, gorgeous UI, support for multiple services (Read It Later, Instapaper, Cloud App & more) as well as the ability to customize which shortcut links are present on the sidebar.
At $2.99 it’s not worth a second thought as to if you should purchase it or not, because quite frankly, it’s awesome. Tweetbot has instantly become our favorite Twitter app for iPad, unseating our previous favorite (stock Twitter app). Download it now (App Store link).
Gallery full of eye candy after the break…
Tweetbot 2.0 has been teased around twitter for the last couple of weeks. Though if you follow either @tapbots_paul or the official @tweetbot account, you’ll know the taunting has been especially brutal the last couple of weeks. But the waiting is finally over. Tweetbot 2.0 is here. Hop past the break for a breakdown of the new features and screenshots…
- February 7, 2012 10:47 pm
@CarboniOS just tweeted a couple of screenshots of the upcoming Carbon for iOS Twitter client (and then subsequently removed them). But were fast like ninja tonight. (Update: New ones are now up.)
For those not familiar with Carbon, it was one of the most popular Twitter clients for webOS. Now that that journey has run its course, the team has been focusing on bringing the awesomeness of Carbon to Android, iOS, and WP7.
A couple of individual shots after the break…
Web browsing on Android’s stock browser has been pretty decent so far. Next to Safari for iOS, it’s the next best (native) browser. But it could certainly be better.
Today, it gets better. Google has officially unveiled Chrome for Android, a more portable version of its desktop counterpart but with some interesting and useful finger friendly features tossed in.
After the break you’ll see a quick video showing off Chrome for Android’s new user interface as well as unique tab management and navigation. Nifty navigation/tab features aside, the underlying guts of Chrome for Android is better than the old stock browser, too. For starters, now that Chrome for Android is built off of the same open source Chromium project, updates should be (in theory) faster and easier for Google to push out as it allows the entire mobile-desktop browser landscape follow a much closer path.
Also, while Google has focused more on UI presentation and “natural” feeling throughout, the browser itself is a wee bit faster than the outgoing version. Finally, we’re stoked to see the ability to sign into Chrome for Android and have it automatically open up the tabs you’ve left open on your desktop version of Chrome, perfect for continuing your web browsing on the go.
Hop past the break for a quick video, screenshots and the download link (Android 4.0 required)!
Announcements of new hardware and software often get mistakingly posted before their official release (if they’re not already leaked beforehand). The “bad” affect it has on the company in question is debatable. We’d argue that the small leaks here and there only increase the anticipation and hype around a genuinely lusted after product/service.
Instagram for Android is the latest to suffer from pre-release release. The screenshot above was captured by an AndroidGuys reader and shows the Android Market’s “Featured App” as the currently unreleased Instagram for Android. Clicking on the link by said reader resulted in a failed journey into awesomeness (read: the link was broken). Still, despite leaving the Android Market empty handed, the person who caught the image above (as well as the rest of us) shouldn’t have to wait too much longer. Details around Instagram for Android have been constantly bantered back and forth in the online world.
Keep waiting everyone. It’s almost here.
We’ve been pretty unimpressed with the Android tablet scene thus far. The hardware has been drool worthy, for sure, but when it comes to software, things are sorely lacking. Thankfully that situation is changing (albeit slowly).
Today, Rhapsody released their new 2.2.2.380 update to their popular Android app, with the most important addition being a new UI for tablets. Quite simply, Rhapsody did a pretty awesome job. The tablet UI for the updated Android app is better than many of the other tablet specific UIs we’ve seen on Android apps. The only kicker — it’s only for tablets 9″ and bigger and only available on Android 3.0 and up. Considering how hard Android manufacturers have touted their 7-9″ tablets over Apple’s iPad as a prime example of “choice” over the last year and a half, we find it pretty shortsighted and a bit ridiculous on Rhapsody’s part to cut off this sector of the market. Then again, the 7-9″ tablet space has been pretty reliant on ancient builds of Android 2.x. But alas, it is what it is. Here’s to hoping Rhapsody has a change of heart and gets the smaller tablets into the party, too.
Get the new update right over here: Downlaod – Rhapsody 2.2.2.380 (Android Market link) Another screenshot after the break.
