There’s plenty of buzz surrounding recent leaks and rumors suggesting that Samsung’s next-generation flagship phone, the Galaxy S6,
is shaping up to be another iPhone copy from the South Korean
electronics giant. Nothing is certain until the handset is unveiled this
coming Sunday, of course, and if the new S6 is an iPhone copy, we’re not so sure that’s entirely a bad thing.
Speaking of copying, still have some time to wait between when the
Galaxy S6 is announced and released, but anxious fans can make their
current smartphone look like a Galaxy S6 right now.
Judging from all of the leaks and rumors — and from the exclusive info we received from our trusted sources — Samsung’s Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge
will be the premium Samsung smartphones we’ve been waiting for. They’ll
feature gorgeous displays and cutting-edge specs, like all Samsung
flagship phones, but they’ll also feature housings made entirely out of
glass and metal.
This is a big departure from the norm for Samsung, and we can’t wait to check it out.
Since the S6 is expected to be such a premium phone, there aren’t
many current Android models that will look or feel like Samsung’s
upcoming device. If you just can’t wait to get a small taste of the
company’s 2015 flagship phone, however, you can at least make your
display look like the one on the Galaxy S6.
XDA Developers forum member “megatooth” managed to get his hands on one of the Galaxy S6’s beautiful new wallpapers, and he has made it available to all for download.
You might not be able to hold an actual S6 in your hands for another
couple of months, but at least you can move one small step closer to
your dream.
The wallpaper can be seen below (click to view and download the full-size version).
Here at BGR, we cover paid iPhone and iPad apps that go on sale
for free all the time. Why? It’s simple: we love sharing great deals
with our readers and iOS apps go on sale all the time. Unfortunately,
the same just isn’t true of Android apps. Big Android app sales are sadly few and far between, but we always try to cover them when they do come around.
And you might have guessed, a huge sale on Android apps has just popped up and it’s definitely worthy of your attention.
Android apps tend to go on sale in the Amazon
Appstore much more frequently than they do in Google’s Android app
store, and right now Amazon is running a huge sale on Android apps.
There are 365 Android apps in total on sale right now, and some of
the discounts are pretty huge. Of those, a total of 145 apps are premium
paid applications that are on sale for free.
Some of the apps on the list are bizarre bootleg games like “Real
Speed: Need for Asphalt Race – Shift to Underground CSR Addiction” and
“Flappy Egg.” There are definitely some solid apps in there if you’re
willing to dig though, and the full list is linked below. Amazon Android app sale
While
apps are great, browsing the Web is still a big part of how we use our
smartphones and tablets. Apple's iPhone and iPad come with a pretty good
default browser in Safari, but there are plenty of third-party
alternatives to choose from that have different features. The iOS 8
update has created a level playing field by allowing other browsers to
use Safari's Nitro Javascript engine as well as introducing extensions,
so there's nothing limiting browsers on iOS. You still cannot change
your default browser from Safari, but it's a small limitation. We tried
out a lot of different browsers, and these are our favourites. Safari
Safari
is the undisputed leader in the iOS browser market. The app has great
design, and iOS 8 extensions let you easily share content to other apps
from Safari and even use third-party password managers. It is one of our favourite iOS 8 apps
and for good reason too. An added bonus when using Safari is that
there's nothing to install as it comes pre-loaded on your iPhone, iPad,
and iPod touch. Google Chrome
If
you use Google Chrome on your PC or Android, you might want to use it
on iOS as well. This way, you can sync all your browser data like
bookmarks, cookies and even tabs across various platforms . It also has a
handy data compression feature, which is useful if you have strict data
caps. However, Chrome on iOS doesn't support extensions third-party
password managers like 1Password - which Safari does. It also looks like an Android app, which may annoy some. Download Google Chrome Opera Coast
Opera
Coast offers a very different take on the browsing experience. It does
away with familiar UI such as a back button and a conventional address
bar, instead going with an arrangements where sites line up like apps on
a desktop. The design is magazine-like, and appealing, and it makes use
of Opera's features like compression to make sites load more quickly
and use less data. It's not a great app for power-users though, and if
you like hopping between multiple tabs while you work, then Coast
probably isn't the best pick for you. If you prefer a simpler browsing
experience, Coast could well be a good fit. Download Opera Coast Sleipnir
Sleipnir
browser has many features such as configurable gestures for common
browser tasks, a built-in ad blocker, a list of open tabs at the bottom
of the screen, easily opening links in the background, and more. All of
these are configurable, which makes this ideal if you love
customisation. The fixed tab list does take up precious screen space,
which is a problem on sites that embed their own top bars and share
icons, but on the iPad in particular, it works great. Download Sleipnir These four apps are the best free iOS browsers at the moment, but there is one more you might want to consider. Opera Mini is one of the most prominent and has a nice video compression feature. You should take a look if you're tired of watch videos buffer.
We've
tried other popular browsers, such as UC Browser, Dolphin, Mercury and
Puffin, but they don't really offer enough added value. Some of these
first became popular by offering Flash support, which Apple did not
include, but that's not so useful anymore, with most websites having
mobile-friendly, Flash-free versions. Features such as integration with
Web services like Pocket were another selling point for these browsers,
but the the arrival of extensions on iOS 8 renders this obsolete.
Which is your favourite iOS browser? Let us know via the comments.
source: NDTV
If
you're not happy with the default SMS app on Android, you can just
change it to something else. This means that you can install an SMS app,
set it as the new default and completely forget that the SMS app your
phone came with even exists.
Google has a couple of decent alternatives in the form of Hangouts and Messenger,
and your phone may already come with one of these apps pre-installed.
Hangouts is the hub for all communications in the Google ecosystem -
from chat (erstwhile GTalk) to audio/ video calls and, of course,
plain-old SMS.
Messenger by Google is the new SMS app that ships
with Nexus devices running Android 5.0 Lollipop. It's perhaps our
favourite 'simple' SMS app thanks largely to the Material Design UI. It
comes with basic features like threads and the ability to block senders.
Both
Hangouts and Messenger are solid apps that work well, but if you want
extra features such as password protecting texts and messaging
scheduling, then you might want to try third-party SMS apps. The best
part is all these apps use Android's central messaging repository to
store texts, so you can switch anytime between apps without leaving any
messages behind.
Here are our top picks for the alternative SMS apps for Android: Handcent SMS Handcent SMS is not a good looking app but it packs a lot of features. The best feature is called Handcent Anywhere.
Once you create an account, you can sign in from any browser and send
SMS via your phone. It also has a password-protected inbox, where you
can store private conversations. You can also schedule messages and
backup texts online. The design is basic, and lacks the visual appeal of
many of the other options here, but in terms of features, this is the
best one. Download Handcent SMS Textra SMS If
you want a good-looking SMS app, Textra is your pick thanks to Material
Design. If that's not your style, you'll be pleased to know that the
app also supports themes so you can completely change how it looks.
Textra
SMS app has a quick reply pop-up that lets you respond to texts without
opening the app. It also lets you mute notifications for any of your
conversations, should a conversation get too noisy for your liking. Download Textra SMS Evolve SMS Evolve
combines many of Handcent's features such as a pattern lock for
messages with a much nicer interface. It also supports gestures for
swiping between conversations, batch deletion, and more; though SMS
reminders are missing.
With Evolve SMS, you can also send messages using your PC via PushBullet; themes and some other features such as setting privacy for individual messages are locked behind in-app purchases. Download Evolve SMS ChompSMS ChompSMS
also has a nice Material Design UI and some advanced features such as
scheduling messages and quick reply pop-ups. Our favourite feature is
something called Delay Send, which causes a delay (of up to three
seconds) between hitting send and actually sending the SMS.
We've
all sent a text and the immediately spotted an error (or worse,
regretted replying at all) and this simple feature can help. Download ChompSMS These
apps offer most of the features you could wish for in an SMS app.
However, if you still want to try other apps, there are a few good
choices. Hello SMS has a nice tab-based view for text messages, which you might want to check out. Go SMS Pro is another app that offers a lot of customisation options including scheduling.
Of
course there are many more SMS apps on Android and it's possible we
haven't even heard about some gems. Which one do you prefer? Let us know
via the comments.
source: NDTV
Until recently, mobile payments hadn’t made much of an impact in North America. Then Apple
Pay came out in full force and CEO Tim Cook aggressively expanded the
system over the course of a few short months. Everyone is talking about mobile payments again, including Google, the company who tried to make it happen four years ago. Now it wants back in the game.
Updated on 02-23-2015 by Malarie Gokey: Added
news that Google bought the mobile wallet Softcard, formerly known as
ISIS, and Google Wallet will come pre-installed on all new T-Mobile,
Verizon, and AT&T Android phones.
On February 23, Google announced that it purchased the mobile wallet app Softcard
(formerly known as ISIS), and struck a deal with the three largest
carriers in the United States to get Google Wallet on all new Android
phones. Every Android phone with Android 4.4 KitKat or higher that’s
sold by Verizon, AT&T, and T-Mobile will now come with Google Wallet
pre-installed.
Essentially, all the carriers who were once reluctant to work with
Google and concentrated their efforts on Softcard instead, have joined
together to support Google Wallet. It’s unclear why the carriers all
agreed to support Google Wallet now that it’s bought up Softcard, but
it’s possible that Google may have
offered them a percentage of the revenue. Apple Pay does not work with
specific carriers, so none of them get a piece of what’s shaping up to
be a very lucrative pie.
One of the factors that limited
Google Wallet’s reach in the past was the fact that it wasn’t installed
on many phones. It seems that at least this problem will no longer exist
for the company’s mobile wallet app.
Google apparently plans to
refresh, update, and add new features to Google Wallet this May during
its Google I/O developer conference, sources told the Wall Street Journal just
last week. The company hopes to reign in all the different developers
and manufacturers it works with and get them to commit to Google Wallet
instead of PayPal, LoopPay, and others. Now that it’s got the carriers,
banks and retailers must also be contended with if Google is to succeed
in mobile payments.
The
company is said to be talking to Visa and Mastercard to work out a
deal, which is something that Apple already accomplished. As the list of
Apple Pay partners grows, so too, must Google Wallet’s. Currently,
banks pay Apple a fee for making payments more secure, and Google may
take a similar approach. However, its software, called Host Card
Emulation, may make banks upgrade their anti-fraud systems, which could
discourage them from joining.
In addition to rounding up more
partners and forcing manufactures like Samsung to include Google Wallet
on their phones even if they launch their own competitor this year (as they’re rumored to be doing for the Galaxy S6 smartphone), Google is said to be adding new features to its Wallet.
Omid
Kordestani, Google’s chief business officer, said that Google will
offer a “fully functional payment system” that goes “beyond just tap and
pay.” Of course, it’s unclear what that means exactly, though it could
involve online purchases, app purchases, and more. Regardless, we hope
to find out more in May, but we’ll update this post in the meantime.
An Android developer has figured out a way to get Android Wear, the wearable-friendly version of Android, to work with an iPhone. While functionality is limited, the workaround pushes notifications from iOS to an Android Wear smartwatch without any jailbreaking required.
To achieve this solution, Mohammad Abu-Garbeyyeh, better known as MohammadAG on XDA, uses the Apple
Notification Center Service (ANCS) iOS feature, which gives Bluetooth
accessories “a simple and convenient way to access many kinds of
notifications that are generated on iOS devices,” according to the ANCS page in Apple’s iOS Developer Library. While
Pebble smartwatches leverage ANCS to play nice with iOS devices,
Android Wear smartwatches don’t support iOS devices, though an Android
Wear product manager recently left the door open to such compatibility in the future.
Abu-Garbeyyeh created an Android application package (APK) to run on the Android Wear smartwatch (in this case a Moto 360)
and enable it to receive iOS notifications via ANCS. If the APK were to
become open-sourced, it would make Android Wear smartwatches compatible
with Apple devices running iOS 7 or higher without the need to do any
jailbreaking.
This workaround doesn’t open up full Android Wear
functionality. While notifications can be received on the Android Wear
smartwatch, taking actions from the smartwatch won’t be possible. Related: Android Wear vs. Apple Watch: Which one will wow your wrist?
iPhone owners who want a compatible Android Wear smartwatch without all this “hacking” may want to wait for HTC’s first wearable device, codenamed PETRA. The device is expected to work with Android (4.4 and up) and iOS (iOS 7 and up) devices.
source:www.digitaltrends.com
IFTT's new standalone Do apps for iOS and Android simplify the tasks you do every day. Here are a few awesome ways to use them.
IFTTT's new Do apps
-- Do Button, Do Note and Do Camera -- are simple, yet versatile tools
to help you automate and simplify the tasks you do everyday. While the
apps are well designed and fun to use, they can be a bit overwhelming at
first, because there are hundreds of ways to use them.
I'm
highlighting the some of the best recipes available for each of the
apps, most of which you can create in just a few steps. Still stumped on
what to do with the Do apps? Check out the collections that IFTTT
created, which are available in each app.
First things first
Before you use the Do apps, you'll need an IFTTT account, which you can get for free either within the apps or at IFTTT.com.
Next, activate the channels you want to use by signing into your
accounts on each. Channels are the services that are connected to IFTTT
and they include Dropbox, Twitter, Google Drive, Instagram, SMS, WeMo,
Phillips Hue, Pocket and Fitbit. All told, IFTTT has 169 channels that
you can use.
Now you're ready to login to the Do apps to
start creating new recipes. Recipes are the formulas that IFTTT uses to
complete an action. When you press one of the buttons in the Do apps,
the recipe tells the app what to do in response. You can either browse
existing recipes in the app, or create a brand-new one. Here's how to create a new recipe:
Tap the mortar and pestle icon, tap the grey plus sign and then press
the black plus sign. Pick a channel and choose from the available
actions you see. Actions vary greatly by channel, so you might need to
look around and experiment to find the right action for what you want to
do.
Once you choose an action, you can edit the recipe from
the available options. That usually includes changing the recipe title
or editing a message that's sent. You can often attach extra information
to your recipe, such as location information or a shareable URL. Tap
"Add Recipe" to save the recipe and you're done.
Do Button
Email someone when you're on your way home.
You can't yet send someone an SMS message with the Do apps, but
you can send an email. Instead of typing out a message each day to let
your roommate, parent or partner know that you're heading home, you can
streamline the process by tapping the Do Button each time. By default,
IFTTT will also send a map photo of your current location with your
message too. Here's how: Create a new recipe
and select the Gmail channel (unfortunately this doesn't yet work with
other email services). Tap the "Send an email" action, then type in the
email addresses where you want to send the message. You can then
customize the email subject and the message itself, saying whatever you
want.
Turn off your lights without getting out of bed.
This recipe is like the Clapper, but more high-tech. If you have
the Phillips Hue smart bulbs, you can use the Do Button app to turn off
your lights quickly, just like hitting a light switch, but much more
convenient because you don't need to get up. You can also do this if you
have a lamp plugged into a Belkin WeMo switch. Here's how:
Pick the Phillips Hue or WeMo switch channel and choose the "Toggle
on/off" action, available in both channels. Pick the lights or switches
you want to use from the drop-down menu and save your recipe.
Tweet a message to Twitter.
I don't tweet very often and I'd like to change that. One way to
get in that habit is to create a message that I can post to the social
network whenever I want, without much effort. I personally choose to set
my tweet to "Good Morning," but it can be anything you want to tweet
over and over. Here's how: Create a new recipe
and select the Twitter channel. Choose "Post a tweet" from the action
list and then type in the message you want to share every time you press
the button.
Do Note
Append a new item to an existing to-do list in Evernote.
While I love Evernote for saving notes and to-do lists, I don't
love that it can be time consuming to get into the app, find my to-do
list and add a new item to it from the mobile apps. This recipe makes
that process much, much easier. What's really great is that the any new
item you type into the recipe is appended to your existing note, just as
if you edited the note in Evernote. Here's how:
In the Evernote channel, select "Append a to-do to note." If you
already have an existing to-do list in Evernote you want to use, enter
that note's name in the Title field, otherwise, you can simply change
that field to whatever title you want your new note to have. You can
also choose which notebook to save the note, or leave that field blank
to choose your account's default notebook.
Create a new Google Calendar event.
Creating a new calendar event couldn't be any easier with this
recipe. The only drawback is that because you're not looking at your
calendar, you might miss other conflicting events. It's also only
available in English.
The upshot is that you can either type
in a very specific event, like "5:30pm every other Wednesday Happy Hour
at The Bar," or something as simple as "2pm grab coffee with Sarah" to
create a new event. It's also very easy to create the recipe. Here's how:
Create a new recipe and pick the Google Calendar channel. Choose the
only action: "Quick add event." Save the recipe and you're done. To use
it, just type in any event you want and press the button.
Email yourself a digest of notes every day.
Whether you want to remember big ideas or just to-do items for
tomorrow, this recipe will help keep those things fresh in your mind
each day. You type out notes throughout the day and then IFTTT will send
you a single email with all of those notes together at the time you
pick, like 7am each morning or 9pm at night. It's also helpful for
compiling a daily reading list of links for the end of the day. Here's how:
Create a new recipe using the Email Digest channel and select "Add to a
daily digest." Select the time of day that you want your digest to be
delivered and you can tweak the formatting of the notes in the digest.
The email is sent to the address on your IFTTT account, not any of the
email addresses you use in your channels.
Do Camera
Share photos in one step.
One of my favorite examples of using Do Camera is to share photos
you take instantly with someone. This would be a great option for new
parents who want to share pictures with grandparents, without fussing
with their phones. Because Do Camera works as both a camera app and a
means to share the photos it takes, as soon as you press the shutter
button, the photo is taken and then sent via email, to Facebook or
anywhere else you choose. For this example, I'll use Facebook. Here's how:
In the Facebook channel, select "Upload a photo from a URL." Then, type
in the album where you want to share the photos, such as "Family
Photos" or "Mobile Uploads." Whatever text is in the Message field will
become the photo caption when you upload it, so you can tweak that too.
Back up and organize your vacation photos the moment you take them.
Cloud storage and automatic photo backups mean that our vacation
photos are rarely lost, but they aren't always organized. This recipe
can help with that.
When you take a photo on vacation (or
anywhere), it's immediately added to a folder in Dropbox as soon as you
hit the shutter button in Do Camera. Once the vacation is over, you can
tweak the recipe to save photos to a new folder for your next trip. Here's how:
In the Dropbox channel, pick the "Add file from URL" action. The recipe
will automatically populate the fields with the correct file source,
which is the public URL of your photo. You can change the file name if
you like, or the Dropbox folder where you want to save your photos.
Remember restaurants, points of interest and other special places.
When you're traveling around a new city, you'll often stumble upon
cool places worth remembering. Instead of simply writing them down, you
can take a photo and save the location on a map so that you can find it
again or share it with someone. One of the easiest ways to do this is
with Evernote, but you can also simply email the photos and location
data to yourself. The steps are identical, but you'll pick a different
channel. Here's how: In the Evernote channel,
select the "Create a note" action. Tap into the Body field, and at the
end of the text that's already there, add the HTML phrase <img src="{{LocationMapImageURL}}">.
Doing that will insert a map of the exact location of where you took
the photo, so you'll never forget where it was. You can then change the
other fields to tweak the note title and the notebook where you'll save
the photos.
These are just a few of the ways you can use the Do apps by IFTTT
and there are many more recipes just waiting for you. Now that you have
the tools, go out there and start automating your life with Do and
IFTTT. Also, share your favorite recipes in the comments below -- I'd
love to see what you create.
source by Sarah Mitroff/CNET
"OK, Google. Turn on WiFi" is something you might want to start practicing out loud if you're among the small percentage of Android users who already have Lollipop on their devices. Android Police has discovered that Google Now on the latest Android release can tweak some
of your settings for you with just a voice command. Specifically, it
can switch the device's Bluetooth, flashlight and WiFi on or off,
whereas it could only bring up the Settings page in the past, leaving
you to toggle things yourself. The feature can be really useful at
times, especially if your device doesn't come with a built-in flashlight
controller or if you need to use your phone while on the road. It seems
to be limited to those three for now, and only for Lollipop devices, so
you'll still have to work those thumbs to adjust any other setting.
There was a talk in the market circle that the
reputed mobile maker Samsung Electronics would be toning down its
TouchWiz interface to Nexus-like levels. Many experts in the field of
gadgets thought this to be most desired news of 2015. If the news
emanating from the South Korean-based company has to be believed, it is
coming out with a new product Galaxy S6, which has an option to download TouchWiz applications. This will be the first Samsung Smartphone that has this download option.
Download Option
By introducing this option, the consumer electronics major actually wanted to its users to enjoy the facilities of both the worlds. The company may actually give as option to download
those lamed-duck applications that nobody ever uses, thereby giving you
enough memory space for other applications that users want to use. In
other words, the users will indeed witness less RAM usage for stocking Android ROM found only in Nexus devices.
Other Likely Features
Samsung Galaxy S6 will have more colourful UX, which is a worrisome option.
The company may offer an iOS-like keyboard to help the users to type
text in a conventional way. The device would also be supporting
different grid layouts in the applications drawer. For this purpose, the applications drawer has a number
of themes pre-installed. In short, Samsung is going ahead with all-out
delivery of a mixture of colourful material design and an almost
invisible TouchWiz experience in its yet to be rolled out Galaxy S6
Smartphone. The company may bundle its services with free Office 365
subscriptions as a result of its recent deal with Microsoft on Whole
Patent Royalty case.
Samsung’s Taunt for Mobile Geeks
Since it is tweaking the NEXUS, we may expect some
response from Google. However, there is no response from the Silicon
Valley-based company. Indeed, it is not clear in which direction the search engine behemoth would respond to this move by the South Korean mobile maker. Anyhow, Samsung is giving us enough reasons in the form of selective leaks to force the mobile geeks to go for Galaxy S6.
YOU TUBE is set to roll out a kid-friendly version of its service this Monday.
Google, which owns the video-streaming giant, revealed last year it
was planning to launch child-focused versions of its products. Its plan
for YouTube comprises a “fun and safe” Android app offering a mix of
original and existing content.
According to USA Today, which recently viewed a demo version of the app, YouTube Kids sports a
clutter-free interface and includes a number of unique features, among
them a timer function that lets parents control how long the app can be
used for before a password is required to continue watching.
Reportedly built by in-house engineers “with
parenting credentials,” the app’s home screen features eight large tiles, each one showing images from popular children’s shows.
Icons above each tile indicate the type of video to expect, so, for
example, a TV set indicates an entertainment show, while a lightbulb
represents something educational.
Voice search
With toddlers’ typing skills not quite fully formed, the app wisely
offers a voice-based search option, though the feature will need to be
pretty smart if it’s to accurately capture some of the baffling babble
that emanates from the lips of littl’uns.
And if a kid types or says a search word that’d make their parents
blush, or possibly faint in shock, the app has been programmed to
respond with a “try something else”
According to the Wall Street Journal, which also carried news of the
app’s imminent release, YouTube is paying some creators to produce
original content for its new service. However, it’s not currently known
how YouTube Kids will generate revenue for the company.
The inclusion of ads is said to be “under discussion,” though the
existence of the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA), which
imposes strict limitations on how data is collected for advertising
purposes from those under 13 years of age, means the company will have
to proceed with caution if it decides to go down that road.
The law has been used by the Federal Trade Commission to land 20
firms with fines over the last 15 years after it was discovered they’d
mined information from children without their parents’ agreement. YouTube Kids will be announced during a keynote at the Kidscreen Summit in Miami on Monday, the Wall Street Journal said in its report. [Source: USA Today, Wall Street Journal]
A particularly nasty piece of Android malware has been discovered by security experts AVG.
It’s being called PowerOffHijack, and it’s capable of fooling you into
thinking a phone is turned off, but instead it remains covertly active –
and potentially spying on your every move. How does it work?
According to AVG’s research, the malware takes over when you hit the
power on/off key, and while it’ll still present the usual options and
shutdown animation, the phone will stay on. Behind a black screen, the
malware could enable the device to make calls, send out messages, or
even access the camera app. All without your knowledge or permission.
While AVG goes into considerable, and very techy, detail about how
the malware does all these things, but what we care about is the
likelihood of PowerOffHijack being found on our own phones.
Speaking to VentureBeat,
AVG said the malware is affecting Android versions up to 5.0 Lollipop,
and around 10,000 installations have been tracked so far, with the
majority coming from China. It’s apparently being spread through apps
downloaded from stores other than Google Play, which isn’t accessible in
China.
However, here’s some good news. The malware only affects
phones that have been rooted, so anyone with a stock Android device
running standard software – yes, that includes Google’s hardware like
the Nexus 6
– is quite safe from the threat. If you’re not sure if your phone is
rooted, then there is a very high chance it’s not, due to the
complicated process needed to gain root access.
If you have
rooted your phone, and are concerned it has picked PowerOffHijack up,
then AVG says its own anti-virus software will detect it. Alternatively,
it states the best way to ensure your phone is switched off is to
remove the battery – which is all very well unless you own a phone where
the battery’s fixed in place.
It is vanity, or pride if you will, which is the true enemy of the Secret Self. For with consciousness centered in the surface self, with the vanity that self-centeredness brings, an opaque veil is drawn over all spiritual perception, and man lives isolated from the wellsprings of his being. He may struggle through life many years in this summer attacking his problems and pursuing his goals with the persistent energy of an enterprising fly, but eventually he must be brought up short by the realization that he simply is ineffectual and he had best find a new blueprint of thought and action or give up the ghost altogether. One ant alone does not topple a rubber tree plant. Only the concerted effort and teamwork of thousands of ants make this feat possible; and the energy and effort of one human being is nothing by itself, but is everything when it proceeds from the source of all energy, for then it is attuned to the tides and forces of the cosmos, becomes in a manner an irresistible force, a kind of infallible action.
Success stories often are fictions concocted by the human desire to achieve supremacy over circumstance. Most people fit into a kind of equation. They react a certain way when confronted with certain circumstances, and therefore must act a certain way always when confronted with those same circumstances. For example, suppose a man is afraid of groups of people when he is unacquainted with them and expected to circulate amongst them and communicate. If early in life he gives in to his fear and avoids new groups, such behavior becomes a habit and one that he eventually finds impossible to break. Therefore, all through his life, when confronted with a strange social situation, he will avoid it through one pretense or another, simply because he has built up a habit of acceding to fear. He is absolutely predictive in each circumstance of this type, and he is predictive because he is not free, because he is a slave to his fears. He has become an automaton led around by the nose, a victim of circumstances because he is not master of his feelings. He tends to regard circumstance itself as the evil, says, “People in groups are uninteresting. They bore me.” They don’t bore him at all; they scare hell out of him; so much so that he avoids them at all costs, leaves a large blank in a portion of his psyche and is completely frustrated in this area of his growth. And it is his own fault. He simply cannot bring himself to muster the courage necessary to face his fear
We must not be soft with ourselves no matter what our goals or positions. All things fare best when they are constantly tested by opposition. The sturdiest grass is that which must grow through concrete. The coddled lawn burns clean away at first exposure to sun or wind. If we have an aching muscle we must learn to exercise it, not to rest it, and we will find the muscle soon healed. If our psyche is closing us in, cutting us off from life and growth and expansion, then we must learn to test and use and expand that psyche. If we do not, the psyche will atrophy, cut off completely all normal ties with life. Still, to be human is to be weak, is to be subject to sin and suffering and error, and as long as we live we never truly overcome any of these; but as long as we live we must try, for we truly live only when we try. What we finally have to learn is that we cannot expect an ultimate or even a satisfying victory over our infirmities when we meet them one by one, but only when we have found a way of assembling all on the same field of battle for one final showdown. What results then must be a complete step forward in our evolution as human beings, for no one is ever defeated who gathers courage to face his assembled weaknesses.
“How is this possible?” someone may ask. “How does one gather all his weaknesses in one spot and overcome them?” It is not simple or even apparent. In isolated areas, yes. If you have a tendency to be afraid of new situations, then you can build up confidence about them by forcing yourself to enter into them. Sooner or later you are bound to meet each new situation calmly, if not, eagerly, for the general condition of newness has become familiar. This exercise of will power, however, while it will tend to give you courage in every aspect of your life simply because you have met fear in one area and defeated it, nevertheless will not overcome a tendency to be lazy, for example, or untruthful, or disloyal, or even to eat too much. As a matter of fact, it can readily be seen that his helter-skelter treatment of the unwhole psyche is much like a man trying to plug a series of leaks in a dike with his fingers. Eventually all ten fingers will be occupied, and still the new leaks come.
Soon after Google officially announced Android 5.0 Lollipop late last
year, Sony promised to bring the new software update to all the members
of the Xperia Z tribe. Furthermore, the Japanese phone maker said that
they should roll out the Android 5.0 Lollipop for Sony Xperia Z3 and
Xperia Z2 sometime in the first quarter of 2015.
If you happen to own a Sony Xperia Z3 then we have great news for
you, as the Xperia Z3 Android 5.0 Lollipop update could be around the
corner. According to the guys at Xperia Blog the
Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Sony Xperia Z3 just got certified at
WiFi Alliance. The certification is dated February 16th, so the update
could roll out later this month.
As usual, the Sony Xperia Z3 Android 5.0
Lollipop update will be rolled out in phases, meaning that some of you
would have to wait longer than others before being able to download and
install the new firmware. When your Xperia Z3 becomes eligible to
receive the new update, you should be able to notice a system update
message in the notifications bar. Tap on it and follow the on-screen
instructions. You can also perform a manual check under Settings >
About phone > Software updates > Check now.
Android 5.0 Lollipop arrives with a plethora of changes and
improvements. The new update introduces Material Design, Android
Runtime, lock screen notifications, better battery statistics,
multi-user support for phones, dynamic status bar, revamped
notifications bar and quick settings, and other such features.
What are your expectations for the Android 5.0 Lollipop update for Sony Xperia Z3? Please let us know in comments.
The official SlimLP 5.0.2 Alpha 1 ROM from SlimROMs team is now live
for download and installation for the AT&T version of the LG G2
phone. Use this post in order to learn how to successfully install this
new custom ROM for your device.
This is a custom ROM that is based on the latest build of Android
5.0.2 Lollipop AOSP, but it also packs its own features designed by the
SlimROMs team. Besides the stock Lollipop features you will find
elements borrowed from CyanogenMod and Paranoid Android custom ROMs. If
you want to learn more about this release, then you should read the post
here.
Before starting the installation process of this new ROM you will need to read the preparation guide below:
use this post only with the AT&T variant of the LG G2.
– check the model number of your phone under Settings> About Phone and make sure that the “d800″ value is listed there.
– do not update any other version of LG G2 with the files that you will find in this post.
your phone has to be rooted and running the latest CWM or TWRP custom Recovery image.
– the installed custom Recovery has to be upgraded to its latest build, so that it supports the Android 5.x Lollipop ROMs.
the ‘how-to’ part of this post features two extra steps: the NANDROID Backup and the Factory Reset.
– do not skip these steps.
– NANDROID Backup: use this step in order to create a complete restore
point for your device, one that you can use in case the new ROM doesn’t
boot in normal mode.
– the Factory Reset: this step wipes clean the system partition, it removes all data that was installed by the previous ROM.
– the ‘factory reset’ process doesn’t remove any data from the phone’s internal sdcard.
if you wish to save data from installed apps, then you can use Helium for Android.
– sync Contacts info with your default Gmail account.
read the whole guide and don’t skip any steps.
– make sure that the phone’s battery charge is over 50%, it prevents the device from powering down during installation.
this is a guide for advanced Android users, we cannot be blamed in case you end up losing any data in the process.
Now that you know all of the above you can continue to the next part of this post.
NOTE: this Alpha 1 build is a test release and it might pack some errors and bugs, install it only for testing purposes.
The stable SlimLP builds based on Lollipop AOSP will be available for download some time in the future.
How to flash SlimLP Android 5.0.2 Alpha 1 ROM for AT&T LG G2 D800:
Move the downloaded zip files to your phone’s internal storage.
– don’t unzip these files.
– after the transfer is complete you can disconnect the device from PC.
Power off the LG G2 and then boot it in Custom Recovery Mode.
Set a NANDROID Backup for the ROM that’s already installed on your phone:
– CWM: select ‘backup and restore’.
– TWRP: press ‘backup’.
– set an easy to remember name for this file and confirm process.
Now you can ‘factory reset’ the device:
– CWM: select ‘wipe data/ factory reset’.
– TWRP: press ‘wipe’.
– confirm.
Start the ROM flashing process:
– CWM: select ‘install zip from sdcard’, then ‘choose zip from sdcard’.
– TWRP: press ‘install’.
Find the new SlimLP ROM zip file and confirm its installation.
When the ROM has been installed you can flash the new Gapps zip,
too. Use the same actions as in step 7 in order to find and install
Gapps file.
NOTE: the first boot process of this new ROM should take more than
ten minutes before it loads all the new files, which is why you should
wait until the welcome screen appears without pressing any buttons.
If the phone fails to boot, then you will need to repeat the whole
guide more than once. Use the comments field below in case you need any
extra help. need ROM for versions here
GApps is a package of Android programs that you need to flash and
install every time you install a new custom ROM because otherwise you
won’t be able to use them on your phone.
This package will install all the Google-based applications on your
device so that you will be able to use Gmail, Gtalk, Google Voice,
Calendar, Google Play Store, Google Maps, Goggles, Google Contacts and
all the other applications you need to correctly use your phone. These
apps can’t be integrated in custom ROM packages because it breaks the
licensing restrictions and you cannot integrate them with CyanogenMod
installation.
As you know, then CyanogenMod doesn’t need the GApps package to work
but, you need it, after installing CM, in order to be able to install
apps from Google Play Store, to use Google Maps, Calendar, Google Plus,
Google Talk and all the other tools offered by Google that are required
on a daily basis for a better Android experience.
Download Google Apps for Android by clicking the links below:
For Android 5.x Lollipop and newer versions:
Download Gapps for CM 12 Android 5.x Lollipop ROM here.
Download Gapps for Paranoid Android 5.x Lollipop ROM here.
Download Gapps for Paranoid Android 4.x ROMs from HERE.
Download Gapps for all Android 4.4 KitKat custom ROMs from HERE.
Download Gapps for all Android 4.3 JB and CM 10.2 ROMs from HERE.
Download Gapps for all Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean based ROMs from HERE.
Download Gapps for Jelly Bean Android 4.2.x / CM 10.1 from HERE.
Download Gapps for Jelly Bean Android 4.1.x from HERE.
Download GApps zip file for other Android versions from HERE.
– this file has to be flashed after you’ve successfully installed the custom ROM firmware on your Android device.
If you wish, you can install only the
Google Play Store and after that you can choose to download the rest of
the Google apps from the market.
The Android 5.1 Lollipop update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus
10, and other supported devices will apparently start rolling out soon.
Android 5.1 was mentioned a couple of times already when Google launched
the Android One program in Indonesia and the Philippines earlier this month. Now, for the first time, we have an ETA for the new update.
Since we are talking about a Maintenance
Release, all the members of the Nexus family which received Lollipop
support will get upgraded to Android 5.1: Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6,
Nexus 7 (2012 and 2013), Nexus 9, and Nexus 10. Of course, the new
update will also be released for the Google Play Edition devices.
Apparently, the Android 5.1 Lollipop update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5,
Nexus 7, Nexus 10, and other supported devices will be released in
March. The information comes to HTC’s Mo Versi, who said on Twitter that Google’s next Android Maintenance Release will be made available in March.
If the reports prove accurate, then the Android 5.1 update will not
bring any new features as it’s mostly aimed to improve the overall
system performance and to fix some bugs. It seems though that in Android
5.1 the WiFi and Bluetooth toggles in Quick Settings will behave
differently.
Those of you who owning Android 5.0-powered devices already know that
pressing the “Wi-Fi” or “Bluetooth” text in Quick Settings opens the
respective menu pages. In Android 5.1, tapping the “Wi-Fi”
or “Bluetooth” words will open a list of nearby Wi-Fi networks or
Bluetooth devices in a menu that’s similar to the one of the “Cellular
data” toggle. If you want to go to the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth settings menu,
you can press the new “More settings” button at the bottom of the list.
Naturally, if you press the Wi-Fi or Bluetooth icons you can toggle the
functions on/off.
The Android 5.1 Lollipop update for Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, and
Nexus 10 will be pushed to users in stages. Of course, the latest Nexus
terminals, Nexus 6 and Nexus 9, will also be in the first wave of
devices that get upgraded to 5.1. Since not all users will get it in the
same time, some of you might have to wait longer before the OTA hits
your device. Fortunately, the new update can also be flashed manually
using either the factory images or the OTA ZIPs.
As a refresher, Lollipop is the biggest update Google’s mobile
platform has received in a while. Android 5.0 has introduced Material
Design, which relies on realistic 3D effects and shadows to make the UI
more intuitive. The new design philosophy also arrives with more vivid
colors and fluid transitions. Android 5.0 also comes with performance
boosts, native support for 64-bit-enabled chipsets, and ART (Android
Runtime) instead of Dalvik.
The Overview menu, formerly known as Recents, has a card-based
interface and brings “document-centric multitasking.” This means that
some apps can display multiple cards in Overview. For example, Chrome
can have one card for each opened tab.
Lollipop also arrived with redesigned Notifications bar and Quick
Settings area. The Quick Settings menu can be accessed by either swiping
down with two fingers from the top of the screen, or by swiping down
twice from the top. For less interruptions, Google also introduced
Heads-up notifications.
One of my favorite Lollipop features are the Lock Screen
notifications. I remind you that you can select which apps can show lock
screen notifications, you can choose the priority level for each
notification, and you can select how much content each notification is
allowed to display. The new update also introduced multi-user support
for phones, Screen Pinning, and Smart Lock. The latter feature can be
used to automatically remove the lock screen security when your device
is in a Trusted Place or connected to a Trusted Bluetooth Device.
Android 5.0 also arrives with better battery stats. You can now see
how much you have left until your battery is completely empty, or how
much time you have to wait until the battery is fully charged. The new
Battery Saver Mode (turns off battery-eating processes, limits cellular
data, and dims display to improve battery life) can be automatically
triggered when the battery reaches 15% or 5%.
What are you expecting from the Android 5.1 Lollipop update for Nexus
4, Nexus 5, Nexus 6, Nexus 7, Nexus 9, and Nexus 10? The comments
section below is all yours.
