Consilier Probleme Android Nr 3

LATEST SMARTPHONE, TABLET AND APP REVIEWS

ANDROID ISSUE

03

ADVISOR

BEST EVER SMARTPHONES HTC One VS Sony Xperia Z2 VS Samsung Galaxy S5

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MWC ROUND-UP

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Welcome... W elcome to the third edition of

Android Advisor ,

in which we take a look

at the three flagship smartphones vying

for your attention this year: HTC’s brand-new One M8, the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony’s Xperia Z2. We present our verdict from page 26. Mobile World Congress kicked off in Barcelona at the end of February. The technology tradeshow serves as a launchpad for some of the latest and greatest smartphones, tablets and wearable tech running the Android operating system. We round up the product announcements on page 44. Of course, a lot has happened in the mobile world since then. From page 20 we look at three new and incredibly exciting products launching very soon. First off, Google’s finally jumped aboard the

wearable-tech wearable-tech bandwagon, announcing its Google Wear smartwatch OS, seen on the Motorola Moto 360 and LG G Watch. Then there’s the Nexus 8 – has Google really dumped its 7in tablet? And finally, LG’s upcoming G3 smartphone, which is expected to pack a screen so tight with pixels it will leave the S5, One M8 and Xperia Z2 shaking in their boots. We’ve We’ve also got loads of opinion, including why Nokia shouldn’t have bothered with its Android handsets (page 10), plus useful tutorials, such as how to get free Kindle apps on any tablet (page 89). As always, please send us your feedback via Facebook (facebook.com/AndroidAdvisorUK) or email us at [email protected]. 2 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

At At long last, Android takes the iPad’s crown Android tablet sales grew 127 percent in 2013 to take the top spot from Apple’s iPad, iPad, according to Gartner G artner

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he iPad has been king of tablets for a number of years, but Android has finally taken top spot, according to new figures.

Research firm Gartner states that a whopping

195.4 million tablets were shipped in 2013 – up from 116 million in 2012. More interesting is that most of these devices were running Android, not iOS. Things were pretty even in 2012, with iOS leading on 52.8 percent; Android saw 45.8. But 2013 witnessed a rapid increase in Android tablet sales,

You don’t want one You one of these any more...

ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 3

with Google’s platform scooping 61.9 percent of the market. Despite its fourth-quarter launches of the iPad Air and mini Retina, Apple dropped to 36 percent. Apple shipped 70.4 million iPads, compared to a whopping 120.9 million Android tablets. Budget devices such as the Nexus 7 and Tesco Hudl have fuelled the 127 percent growth, according to Gartner. “In 2013, tablets became a mainstream phenomenon, with a vast choice of Android tablets being within the budget of mainstream consumers while still offering adequate specifications,” specifications,” said Roberta Cozza, research director at Gartner. But Apple remains the top vendor in the tablet space, even though its market share has dropped. This is because Android devices are made by various companies that partner with Google. Samsung is the top Android vendor, and has increased its market share 336 percent from 7.4 percent in 2012 to 19.1 percent last year. Gartner also said that tablets represented 90 percent of overall ‘Ultramobile’ sales in 2013. Interestingly, Interestingly, emerging markets recorded tablet sales growth of 145 percent in 2013, while mature markets grew just 31 percent. 4 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Is Android overrun with malware? Given its popularity, it’s no surprise Android was the top target for malware makers in 2013

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013 was a year marked by malware targeting mobile devices and Android was the top target, according to latest findings by Fortinet.

Threat landscape research by FortiGuard Labs

found Android was the top choice for malware developers, with 96.5 percent of all mobile malware infections attributed to the platform. In comparison, Symbian came a distant second at 3.45 percent, while iOS, BlackBerry, PalmOS and Windows together added up to less than 1 percent.

“

The growth shows no signs of slowing; in fact, the growth seems to be accelerating Axelle Axelle Apvrille, senior mobile antivirus researcher at the security vendor, said the majority of over 1,800

”

new distinct families of viruses detected in the past year targeted the Android platform. “The rapid growth of malware targeting Android continues to be of concern to system administrators who have implemented a mobile device strategy on their networks,” he said.


Android in the sights The number-one mobile malware of recent months was NewyearL.B for Android, which targeted millions of devices by being bundled inside harmless apps such as a flashlight. “Clearly cybercriminals are putting a substantial amount of effort into churning out hundreds of thousands of new variants daily in the hopes that some of them will be successfully implanted implanted on a target device,” Apvrille said. The growth of Android malware in 2013 is also seen by Apvrille as a sign of concern for 2014. “The growth shows no signs of slowing; in fact, the growth seems to be accelerating,” he said. With a growing number of Android Popularity has its down sides

devices being purchased and taken online, Apvrille said this leads to further opportunities opportunities for attackers to infect as well. Check out our recent Android antivirus group test for details on how to protect your Android smartphone smartphone or tablet (head to tinyurl.com/qehzgbm).

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Mutant Windows-Android hybrids must go Microsoft and Google reportedly aren’t happy with the idea of sharing space on the same PC

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icrosoft may be comfortable with Windows Phone and Android splitting time on a single phone but, when it comes to PCs, forget

about it. Google also isn’t too thrilled with the idea of Frankenstein Android-Windows computers, and at least one PC maker may have to dump the hybrid devices from its line-up as a result. Asus, maker of the Transformer AiO P1801 and

The Asus Transformer Book Duet TD300 was announced at CES 2014

P1802, is reportedly being forced to put the kibosh on its year-old all-in-one-slash-tablet PCs. What’s more, the anticipated Transformer Book Duet TD300 shown off at CES in January is also headed for the scrapheap, according to The Wall Street Journal. These devices run Windows when they’re in PC mode. Slide out the AIO’s screen or flip the laptop into a


tablet, however, however, and you’ve got an Android slate. The concept is theoretically appealing to users, who get the best of both worlds in one device, but Microsoft and Google apparently aren’t pleased. It’s easy to understand why Microsoft wouldn’t want devices such as this to catch on. The company is struggling to get users to adopt Windows 8.1, an OS designed with two interfaces: one for the traditional desktop and one for touchscreen devices. A convertible PC that switches from Windows 8.1 8.1 to

“ Perhaps Google simply doesn’t like the idea of Android playing a complementary role to Windows on a PC Android rather than the Windows desktop to the Modern UI Windows Start screen would undermine the entire Windows 8 concept.

Google grimaces Google’s Google’s opposition is a little more curious. Reports suggest Google simply doesn’t want Android sharing space with another OS. But, as far as we know, Google never objected to Canonical’s concept for a hybrid Android-Ubuntu phone, and Huawei plans on bringing an AndroidWindows Phone hybrid device to the US in the coming months. PCs are different, however, and perhaps Google simply doesn’t like the idea of Android playing a complementary role to Windows on a PC. 8 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

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Google can’t stop a company from using the open-source open-source version of Android in its devices, but the search giant can clamp down on any company that wants to access Google’s online services on Android. Those apps and services – such as Gmail, Maps and Google Play itself – aren’t part of the open-source open-source version of Android and require striking a business deal with Google before they’re preloaded on a device. The reported objections from Google and Microsoft are a little late to the game. The Asus P1801 and P1802 were introduced more than a year ago, and Samsung announced another Android-Windows PC, the Ativ Q, in 2013 (although it has yet to ship). However, chip makers AMD and Intel are both backing the dual-OS concept as a way to get their processors into more and more devices, and hybrid devices were a noticeable trend at this year’s CES and Mobile World Congress shows.

Device makers need Google on their side if they hope to offer access to Google Play

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Nokia and Android just don’t don’t mix Nokia has just launched three smartphones running Android. But it really shouldn’t have bothered

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ne of the worst-kept secrets of Mobile World Congress was that Nokia was planning to launch a trio of smartphones running not

Windows Phone but, shock, horror, Google Android. And it did, with the dual-SIM Nokia X, XL and X+. (Did it forget that Microsoft just bought its mobile business?) But it really shouldn’t have bothered. Nokia’s Nokia’s X line-up is interesting in that it offers something completely different in the smartphone category. The trio of brightly coloured handsets, blessed with the stylish design and excellent build quality for which Nokia is known, makes a nice change among a slew of samey-samey samey-samey iPhones, Samsung Galaxys and their numerous copycats. Of course, ‘new’ and ‘different’ are not terms necessarily associated with ‘good’. Our main gripe is that, although the Nokia X lineup runs Android, the operating system is a custom

version that is irrecognisable as Google’s platform.

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If it’s going to make a point of not running Windows Phone, make it

” 10 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Nokia has customised the interface to the point that these devices look and feel like Windows phones. If it’s going to make a point of not running

These Android phones look suspiciously like Windows phones

Windows Phone, make it. Perhaps Nokia fears upsetting its new sugar daddy, appeasing it with an ‘Inspired by Lumia’ tagline. These are staggeringly cheap phones – we’re talking less than £100 – and aimed at first-time buyers and emerging markets. But as a budget smartphone buyer you sit in one of two camps: that which likes Windows Phone, and that which prefers Android. (Forget iOS; the iPhone 4s and 5c are cheap only to the rich.) For all its benefits, Windows Phone remains the inferior platform of the two: fewer apps; fewer handsets; fewer fans. And, with cheap phones available running each platform, there’s just no reason to plump for a strange mash-up of the two. Windows Phone is heavily criticised for its lack of apps. A phone that runs Windows Phone but has access to Google Play would therefore be an interesting proposition. The X family does neither. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 11

Rather than accessing Google Play, Play, you’ll rely on third-party app stores such as Yandex, which offers just 100 100,0 ,000 00 apps. apps. Yep, it lags lags even even Windows Windows Store. Store. And we’re almost back to square one. Meanwhile, the range of Microsoft services on these handsets looks pretty good. So, does Nokia really want people to like Android, or push them into Microsoft’s arms? Well played Nokia, well played.

“

Refusing to choose and sitting on top of the fence will give them only a metaphorical sore bum Say a user buys a Nokia X handset and gets used to running Android apps on what looks like a Windows Phone. Then they upgrade to a premium Lumia handset. It looks the same but, hang on, where are the apps? Where are the widgets and proper notifications? notifications? This is rubbish. Consumers can get a better experience by spending a little more money, money, whether they sit on the Android- or Windows side of the fence. Refusing to choose and sitting on top of the fence will give them only a metaphorical sore bum. Go with Windows, and Nokia’s own Lumia 520 offers fantastic value with a decent spec and a tiny £100 price. Unsurprisingly, it’s flying off the shelves. Go with Android and there’s there’s the £129 Motorola Moto G, which has shaken up the budget smartphone market with all the gusto of a tornado. It shares hardware specifications with phones that cost twice its price, and performance that’s even better.


”

Why everything must go in the smartphone world Get ready for an influx of cheap smartphones, aimed at first-time buyers and second-handset second-handset owners

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WC 2014 set the scene for the smartphone market in 2014. Trawl the web and you’ll find a bunch of articles talking about trends in the

mobile world as evidenced by MWC. Some of these include ultra-HD tablets and phones, wearable tech and improved audio for smartphones and tablets. These all speak to the same thing: the requirement to get wealthy western punters to shell out for newer, more expensive tech.

Cheap is cheerful in the smartphone world


“ Crappy Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace proliferate, and the major phone makers have cottoned on We saw multiple HD+ tablets, capable of showing off super-HD content, and plenty of phones with better-quality better-quality speakers and audio compression. They offer marginal improvement to the mobile experience, and greater profits for manufacturers. Meanwhile Meanwhile no-one needs a smartwatch, but the big guys are all betting the farm that you’ll buy one.

Cheap smartphones: what’s going on These trends relate to-, but are separate from what’s really going on in the smartphone world: the rise of the budget smartphone (aka the lowering of the price of good-quality smartphones). In essence, in the developed world everyone who wants a smartphone likely has one, so any growth to be found in the UK is in sub-£150 phones for those who use email, internet and Facebook, and could be persuaded to upgrade. There’s also a market for second smartphones – rough-and-ready devices for those times when you need to be connected but you don’t want to risk your £600 phone. More critical yet is the rest of the world: in developing nations mobile phone connectivity is better than is fixed-line fixed-line broadband, and there is going to be an explosion in smartphone use. The major players are all jostling for this market, and it is likely that UK smartphone buyers will benefit. 14 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

”

The rise of the sub-£100 smartphones Take a trip down to the high street and look into Carphone Warehouse, Warehouse, Phones4U or any of the other phone stores. You’ll see the latest iPhone, Samsung Galaxy, Nokia Lumia and Sony Xperia handsets, and literally dozens of cheap smartphones and feature phones. Ask any salesperson working in those stores and they’ll tell you that the £100 Lumia 520 walks out of the door at a rate of knotts. Meanwhile, crappy Android phones such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace proliferate, and the major phone makers have cottoned on. At MWC we saw multiple phones in the sub-£100 sphere. Nokia announced five of them, then there’s the Firefox phone and the Acer Liquid Z4.

Cheap handsets such as the Samsung Galaxy Ace 3 proliferate

These follow on the heels of such budget bargains as the staggeringly good value Moto G, a snip at around £129. Meanwhile, Lenovo has purchased Motorola with the intention of targetting global markets with cheap, quality smartphones. Not all of these will make it to western markets such as the UK, and none of them are entirely aimed in our direction. But some, if not most of them, will be on sale here, aimed at first-time smartphone- and second handset buyers. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 15

Samsung dumps its benchmark boosters Samsung has decided to play fair, fair, with its Android Androi d 4.4 KitKat update removing its benchmark boosters

Samsung was in hot water with the tech press following news its phones were cheating on performance benchmarks

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emember last summer, when Samsung tweaked the system software on the Galaxy S4 to run the processor at maxed-

out speeds during benchmark tests, generating inflated scores? The controversy ended up bruising

Samsung’s Samsung’s credibility among the tech press. Samsung has had a change of heart, or at the very least, doesn’t think the optimisations are necessary


“

It’s the experience that makes the phone, not necessarily the numbers on a bar chart

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now that the reviews are all written. Ars Technica discovered that the latest Android 4.4 KitKat update for the Galaxy S4 and Note 3 eliminates the throttling code. The Galaxy S4’s Geekbench numbers appear to be on par with what we would expect them to be. Primate Labs’ John Poole confirmed that the benchmark-boosting benchmark-boosting practices exhibited in Android 4.3 – the software shipped with the Note 3 shipped – were not present in the Android 4.4 update. “The team has also added some detection code in a recent Geekbench update that would note when boosted scores were uploaded to that database,” wrote Ars Technica’s Andrew Cunningham. “Samsung’s Android 4.3 software sets off the detector, while 4.4 does not.” It’s a smart move on Samsung’s part to remove the software tweaks that gave away its hardwareboosting practices. We don’t allow benchmark results to influence our review scores here at Android Advisor, Advisor, as we find little li ttle correlation between them and how smooth and responsive a phone feels in realworld use. But the news serves as a good opportunity to remember that it’s the experience that makes the phone, not necessarily the numbers on a bar chart.


Samsung shuns Android with Tizen for Gear 2 The Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch uses an early Tizen-based operating system – not Android

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amsung has unveiled its second-generation second-generation Galaxy Gear smartwatch, which runs Tizen not Android. However, this could be a smart move

for the future of wearable tech, according to analysts. The move will help Samsung seed the infant smartwatch market with the relatively unknown Tizen OS. In theory, it will let application developers build Tizen apps for the Gear 2 on an HTML 5 framework. Such development projects could be less complex than re-working Android apps used on smartphones for smartwatches, according to analysts. Samsung has been working with Tizen, an open-source OS, and was expected to announce a Tizen smartphone last year, but did not. The company has persistently said it co-operates with Google on the Google-managed Android ecosystem. However, analysts note that Samsung doesn’t want to grow overly dependent on Android. In recent years, Samsung has worked with at least five operating systems for its i ts products. Samsung is by far the largest maker of Android smartphones and its relationship with Google is complex. Recently the two companies signed a 10-year cross-licensing deal on patents, while Google

also sold Motorola to Lenovo, allaying Samsung’s concerns that it could get preferential treatment.


In the smartwatch business, Samsung has a chance to be early to market and to benefit from using an OS not tied to Google. Google, Apple and Microsoft are all expected to launch smartwatches in the coming year in a market analysts say could explode within five years. Smartwatches are seen by most analysts as part of a growing mobile ecosystem that will rely heavily on smartphones – mainly by acting as second display for apps running on smartphones. Given the expected primacy of smartwatches in coming years, Samsung clearly wants to be an early supplier and would prefer to use an OS not directly tied to Google, analysts said. “Smartwatches are an add-on that will have a role to play in their own right as a part of the ‘connected everything’,” said Carolina Milanesi, an analyst at

Running Tizen, the Galaxy Gear 2 could be compatible with both Android and iOS devices

Kantar WorldPanel. WorldPanel. Putting Tizen on the Galaxy Gear “helps Samsung seed the market with something that runs Tizen. It is going about it in a way that might appear less threatening to Google. Go ogle.”” Milanesi said it’s possible for a Tizenbased Galaxy Gear to be compatible with both Android and iOS devices, unlike Samsung’s original Galaxy Gear, which works with only a few Androidpowered Samsung Galaxy smartphones via Bluetooth. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 19

COMING SOON: Android Wear Wear & Moto 360 Google has unveiled its Android Wear smartwatch OS, with a range of devices set to launch this summer

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oogle has announced its new Android Wear smartwatch operating system. The company has already teamed up

with several consumer electronics manufacturers, manufacturers, including Asus, HTC, LG, Motorola and Samsung, chip makers Broadcom, Imagination, Intel, Mediatek and Qualcomm, and fashion brands such as the

Fossil Group to design Android Wear-powered Wear-powered smartwatches later this year. ”Most of us are rarely without our smartphones in hand. These powerful supercomputers keep us connected to the world and the people we love. But we’re only at the beginning; we’ve barely scratched the surface of what’s possible with mobile


technology. That’s why we’re so excited about wearables – they understand the context of the world around you, and you can interact with them simply and efficiently, with just a glance or a spoken word, word ,”

The Motorola Moto 360 will be one of the first smartwatches to run Android Wear

Google wrote in a blog post. According to Google, smartwatches powered by Android Wear offer useful information when you need it most, straight answers to spoken questions, the ability to better monitor your health and fitness, and are your key to a multiscreen world. The first smartwatch to run Android Wear is the Motorola Moto 360 (pictured), which will be available from the summer. summer. “Moto 360’s iconic design, featuring a round face and premium materials, feels comfortable and familiar on your wrist. It’s everything you need, with a look that you want,” said Motorola. LG has also announced its G Watch, expected by the end of June, but no futher details are available. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 21

COMING SOON: Google Nexus 8 tablet The Nexus 7 is getting a larger, larger, higher-resolution screen, and is expected to go on sale in July

W

e’ve already got two versions of the Nexus 7 tablet from Google, but the Nexus 8 with a larger screen and 64-bit processor could

be set to arrive this summer. summer. The rumour mill is gaining speed with details about another Android tablet from Google. The Nexus 8 is thought to be the follow-up to the Nexus 7, 7, and could be turning up within the next few months. The Nexus 8 will not be announced at Google’s I/O conference in June, but soon afterward in July. It will be introduced with Android 4.5 and the I/O event will focus on new Google services. That’s according to Android Geeks, which cites an unnamed Dublinbased Google employee. The same source revealed that Google will no longer produce a 7in tablet, instead moving things up to 8in. This change would mean the Nexus 8 will

closer rival devices such as the iPad mini, LG G Pad 8.3 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0. According to a Digitimes report, Google has once again partnered with Asus for the Nexus 8. The firm has built both Nexus 7 versions for the online search giant. This is despite being tipped to be partnering with LG for a Nexus 8 tablet. It’s unclear whether Android 4.5 will be a new version of KitKat, or whatever OS comes next.


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Google will no longer produce a 7in tablet, moving things up to 8in

Meanwhile, Android Pit reports that the Nexus 8 will feature a 64-bit processor, processor, following Apple’s Apple’s lead with the iPhone 5s. It’s rumoured that Google will ditch Qualcomm and its reliable Snapdragon chips for Intel’s Moorefield processor, which is clocked at 2.33GHz and features a PowerVR G6430 GPU.

” This image appeared on Google’s KitKat website last November, but we think its screen is larger than that of a Nexus 7


COMING SOON: LG G3 smartphone LG’s LG’s forthcoming G3 could co uld be the first smartphone smartphon e with a next-generation super-high-resolution display

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preading like wildfire are rumours regarding the next smartphone to head LG’s range, which is thought to be the G3. Leaks suggest

the yet-to-be-confirmed smartphone could harbour

next-generation next-generation technology that could have even Samsung against the ropes. The standout feature is a reported 1440x2560-pixel screen that measures 5.5in. If this is true, it means the LG G3 will have an unparalleled 534ppi density. In comparison, Apple’s Retina-grade iPhone 5s has a pixel density of 326ppi, while Samsung’s brand-new Galaxy S5 touts 432ppi. These numbers originated from members of the Korean media and have been cited by TechRadar . No smartphone to date features a 1440p display, and neither do the Sony Xperia Z2, HTC One and Samsung Galaxy S5 (read more about these flagship devices from page 26). Equipping the G3 with a 1440p screen would put it in a league of its own.

“ The standout feature is a reported

1440x2560-pixel screen that measures 5.5in, with an unparalleled 534ppi density

” 24 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Powerful camera, powerful processing Backing up the supposed display are some impressive specifications. The G3 is expected to mirror the innards i nnards of o f the official G Pro Pr o 2 by includin inc luding g a quad-core 2.3GHz CPU and 3GB of RAM. Another specification familiar to LG’s range is the 13Mp rear camera. A leaked image supposedly captured with the G3’s camera suggests that, although the resolution remains the same, it has been refined to deliver impressive detail.

Rushing the launch Trusted ‘industry sources’ cited by a native Korean publication alleges LG will rush the release of its new flagship as it looks to compete against flagships from Samsung, Sony and HTC. The release date, however, remains a point of contention, as other reports cite sources who claim we’ll see the G3 in June.

Pictured: LG’s G2


Best ever smartphones from HTC, Samsung and Sony


We compare the Galaxy S5, brand-new HTC One M8 and Xperia Z2 to see the best of what the smartphone market has to offer in 2014


BoomSound: Front-facing stereo speakers, aka BoomSound, have gained a performance boost. This is thanks to larger speaker chambers and a redesigned amplifier Screen: The HTC has increased its screen from 4.7- to 5in, with improved contrast and viewing angles. Navigation buttons have been moved onscreen, too. The full-HD resolution results in a pixel p ixel density of 441ppi

Motion Launch Gestures: The HTC can be switched on by double-tapping the screen. Swiping in from the edge of the screen launches BlinkFeed or the widget panel. Holding the phone in landscape and pressing the volume key will launch the camera app

HTC One M8 Storage: The HTC has 16GB of internal storage, and now comes with a microSD card slot that can accept cards up to 128GB in capacity. capacity. The phone also comes with 65GB of Google Drive cloud storage


Sense 6.0: The latest version of HTC's user interface, Sense 6.0, 6.0, is paired with w ith Android 4.4.2 KitKat. You can personalise BlinkFeed to a greater degree, and change the theme of the software and even the font

Unibody: The chassis is machined from a single piece of aluminium, which is treated for a glossy finish and now wraps around to the front of the phone. Three colours are available: Metal Grey, Grey, Arctic Silver and Amber Gold

Duo Camera: The main Ultrapixel camera takes standard photos, while the second sensor captures depth information. This allows users to refocus shots after they’ve been taken

Co-processor: Like the iPhone 5s, the HTC One has a co-processor. HTC's low-power chip keeps sensors awake for features such as Motion Launch Gestures and can also track activity via its preloaded Fitbit app

Battery: A larger 2600mAh battery and an Extreme Power Saving mode means the HTC One can last up to 30 hours on just 10 percent of charge


Screen: The 5.1in full-HD Super AMOLED display is brighter with more clarity, delivering a deeper and more vivid picture. Local Contrast Enhancement helps it to adapt to lighting conditions, so you’ll always be able to see what’s onscreen

Faster internet: By combining the power of LTE and Wi-Fi, Samsung’s Download Booster lets you download files in a hurry. And when you’re simply surfing the web, 802.11ac Wi-Fi and MIMO technology offers double the speed of the S4

Samsung Galaxy S5 Dust- & waterproof: With IP67 certification, the Galaxy S5 is resistant to sweat, rain, liquids, sand and dust, so you can just get on with whatever activity takes your fancy without worrying about protecting your phone


Finger Scanner: In common with the iPhone 5s, the S5 allows you to unlock the handset with the swipe of a finger. You You can also use the fingerprint scanner to make PayPal PayPal payments and purchase content through Samsung apps

Camera: The S5 now sports at 16Mp camera (up from 13Mp). New features include Fast Auto Focus, Selective Focus and Virtual Virtua l Tour Tour Shot. There’s also a 2Mp webcam at the front

Health & fitness: Samsung has ramped up the health controls with a new Heart Rate Sensor. It lets you measure your heart rate directly on your phone, then monitor your fitness with S Health

Battery: The S5 features a 2800mAh battery. Combined with its Ultra Power Saving Mode the Samsung can last 24 hours on just a 10 percent charge


Screen:

Sony claims to offer a viewing experience you won’t forget, with a 5.2in full-HD (1920x1080, 423ppi) Triluminous IPS display. Live Colour LED offers increased colour depth and gradation, while the X-Reality picture engine promises crisp shots free of jagged edges

4K video via MHL:

The Z2 supports MHL (Mobile High-Definition Link) 3.0, which means it can output 4K video content stored on the phone through its microUSB port

Sony Xperia Z2 Processor:

Sony pairs Qualcomm’s 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, processor, which is 75 percent faster than the S4 Pro, with 3GB of RAM and Adreno 330 graphics. You’ll get super-fast performance with minimal drain on the battery


Sound:

Sony has a strong legacy in audio technologies, and the Z2 won’t disappoint. Digital noise cancellation, stereo speakers and Clear Audio+ technology will help your music come alive

Camera: With a whopping 20.7Mp stills camera and 4K video camera, the Xperia Z2 promises standout photography and video from a smartphone. It combines a large 1/2.3in Exmor RS sensor with Sony’s G Lens and BIONZ image-processing engine, for blur-free, ultra-sharp shots, even in low light

Build: Crafted from premium materials, the Xperia Z2 has a one-piece aluminium frame with glass panels, and a high screento-phone ratio that makes it feel natural in the hand

Water- & dustresistant: With a IP55/IP58 rating, the Xperia Z2 is resistant to both water and the tiniest dust particles. pa rticles. You You can even take shots underwater

Battery: A 3200mAh battery promises up to 740 hours on standby. Battery Stamina mode can minimise drain, automatically turning off functions you don’t need, while keeping the notifications you want


S5 vs One vs Z2 2014’s 2014’s flagship smartphones go head to head in our comparison review

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TC, Samsung and

Sony have each

unveiled their

flagship smartphones for 2014 in the One M8, Galaxy S5 and Xperia Z2 respectively. With three

brand-new and very stylish Android handsets on the market, which should you buy? We compare the Samsung Galaxy S5, HTC One M8 and Sony Xperia Z2 spec for spec to find out.

Pricing and UK availability All three phones are set to become available in April, with the Samsung Galaxy S5 launching on 11 April and the Sony Xperia Z2 on 14 April. When HTC announced its One M8 on 25 March it simply said it would be available “shortly after”. Right now you can pre-order the Sony Xperia Z2 for £599, and Amazon UK is listing the Samsung Galaxy S5 at £548 (but with an RRP of £599 matching that of the Z2). Our money is on the HTC One M8 costing around the same price at launch, but no doubt all three smartphones will come down some £50- to £100 34 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

within a couple of months, and you’ll be able to pick them up much more cheaply (relatively speaking) on a contract.

Design and build Design-wise there are only a few differences between each of these smartphones and their predecessors. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has the same design as the S4, but with a perforated case that makes it feel less like a premium device. New here, though, is a fingerprint scanner built into the Home button, and a heart-rate monitor on the rear. The Sony Xperia Z2 is almost identical to the Z1, but with a new (almost hidden) earpiece and microphone microphone at top and bottom. It’s slightly larger than the Z1 to incorporate the larger screen, and Sony says it has improved the screen-to-chassis screen-to-chassis ratio. The Z2 does feel smaller, but it’s still a little unwieldy. HTC has extended its metal design to the front of the handset, machining the chassis from a single piece of aluminium and treating it to a glossy finish. It’s also snuck in improved front-facing BoomSound


speakers that benefit from larger chambers and a redesigned amplifier. The Samsung Galaxy S5 is the slimmest smartphone in our trio, at 8.1mm versus the Sony Xperia Z2’s 8.2mm and HTC One M8’s 9.4mm (we’re quoting GSM on the latter). The S5 is also the shortest, at 142mm, and the Z2 the tallest, at 146.8mm; the HTC One M8 is piggy in the middle at 146.4mm. A slim piggy, mind, since its 70.6mm chassis is smaller in width than both the 73.3mm Z2 and 72.5mm S5, and it weighs 3g less than the Sony (163g), although 15g more than the featherlight 145g S5. Both the Sony and Samsung are certified dust- and waterproof. However, whereas you’ll need to ensure the Galaxy S5’s case is clipped on tightly with its ports properly covered before jumping into a large puddle, the Xperia Z2’s IP55 and IP58 ratings mean you can dive headfirst into the nearest swimming pool and even take photos underwater. The Sony is waterproof in freshwater to 1.5m and for up to 30 minutes. Various colours are available for each of the handsets. The Samsung comes in black, white, 36 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

gold and blue. The Sony is available in black, white and purple. HTC, meanwhile, offers the One M8 in grey, silver or gold.

Display There is very little difference in the sizing of these three smartphones’ screens, with the HTC the smallest at 5in, the Samsung slightly larger at 5.1in, 5.1in, and the Sony biggest of the bunch at 5.2in. All three offer a full-HD (1920x1080) resolution, but the HTC’s smaller screen means it offers the highest pixel density at 441ppi. Meanwhile, the Samsung Galaxy S5 offers 432ppi and the Sony 423ppi, although you won’t be able to tell the difference between them. Samsung employs a Super AMOLED panel in its Galaxy S5, which it says can automatically adjust to lighting, thereby optimising the display for whatever the conditions. Sony uses a ‘Triluminous’ display, and its X-Reality mobile picture engine and Live Colour LED technology (which is said to increase colour depth and gradation) result in a gorgeous-looking gorgeous-looking screen that is sharp, colourful, vibrant and immersive. HTC, meanwhile, has increased the size of its super-sharp panel and moved the navigation buttons onscreen, allowing for a handset that’s only slightly chunkier than the original HTC One.

Processor & graphics We can’t wait to get the HTC, Samsung and Sony into our lab for benchmarking, benchmarking, since ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 37

there’s very little to separate them on paper. All three sport Adreno 330 graphics. All three run Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processors. The differences lie only in the clock speed of the processor – Samsung pushes this chip the hardest, at 2.5GHz versus its rivals’ 2.3GHz – and the amount of RAM. Whereas the S5 and HTC come with 2GB of memory, memory, Sony slaps 3GB into the Z2 – but how much difference will this really make, especially given the Galaxy S5’s faster-clocked CPU? We’re We’re also intrigued by HTC’s HTC’s claims of a coprocessor. According to the smartphone maker, its low-power chip keeps sensors awake for features such as Motion Launch Gestures and can also track activity via the preloaded Fitbit app. One thing’s for sure, though, all three smartphones will be blazing-fast – Sony says the Snapdragon 801 is 75 percent faster than the S4 Pro – and with unbeatable graphics.

Storage The Samsung, Sony and HTC are each available with 16GB of internal storage for your apps, music, 38 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

video and more. The Galaxy S5 is reportedly also available in a 32GB model, but history tells us you’ll be hard-pushed to find one. Pleasingly, each comes with a microSDXC slot that lets you plug in a further 64GB of storage (although Samsung told us its can manage 128GB), and the HTC comes with 65GB of free Google Drive cloud storage. Cameras

At last we have an area where these Android phones are less evenly matched. On paper you might be tricked into thinking the 20.7Mp Sony Xperia Z2 is the best suited to the amateur photographer, while the 4.1Mp HTC One M8 is about as useful for taking photos as an envelope, and the 16Mp Galaxy S5 sits somewhere in the middle. But achieving decent photographs photographs depends on a lot more than the number of megapixels offered by a sensor, and each of these three phones offers some interesting technologies in this department. The Samsung Galaxy S5 has gone from 13Mp in the S4 to 16Mp here, with its 1/2.6in sensor boasting a super-fast auto focus that lets you take a shot in 0.3 seconds, a selective focus mode that blurs the background and makes your subject really stand out, and a pretty decent HDR (Rich Tone) mode. There’s also a 2Mp front-facing webcam, and the S5 is capable of 4K video at 30fps. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 39

Talking about 4K video, the Sony Xperia Z2 gets one up on the S5 with support for 4K video via MHL. This means you can watch the 4K video captured on your smartphone on your 4K TV, thereby enjoying it in its full glory. The Sony also boasts a 20.7Mp stills camera, which should allow for outstanding photography and video from your smartphone. It combines a large 1/2.3in Exmor RS sensor with Sony’s G Lens and BIONZ imageprocessing engine for blur-free, ultra-sharp shots even in low light. There’s also a Timeshift slo-mo mode that shoots at 120fps. We’ve seen the HTC One M8’s Ultrapixel camera before, and we weren’t disappointed. Now HTC has upgraded its design by offering a second camera – known as the Duo Camera. While one sensor shoots a standard image, the other captures depth. This allows you to refocus a shot even after the event. HTC also boasts a 5Mp front-facing camera with a wide-angle lens for the One M8.

Connectivity Whether you buy your smartphone from HTC, Samsung or Sony, it’s going to come with the latest connectivity technology. That means 4G LTE mobile connectivity, Bluetooth 4.0, the very latest in Wi-Fi technology – 802.11ac – and NFC. Sony also allows the sharing of 4K content between your smartphone smartphone and TV via MHL, and 40 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

boasts of one-touch sharing, listening, mirroring and backup via NFC, while Samsung specifies MIMO technology and offers a unique Download Booster that combines the power of 4G LTE and 802.11ac Wi-Fi to deliver downloads at a theoretical max of 400Mb/s. That’s fast. Software

Unsurprisingly, Unsurprisingly, all thee handsets run the very latest version of Google Android: KitKat 4.4.2. None is a vanilla implementation of Android, however, with the Sony Xperia Z2 perhaps the closest. Samsung has performed a bit of a clean up of Android for its Galaxy S5, with round icons found in the notification bar and Settings menu. Similar to BlinkFeed, Samsung’s Samsung’s Magazine interface is placed to the left of the main Home screen, and we couldn’t find a way to remove it. Three extras are worthy of mention: Kids Mode offers a fun, colourful interface for children, restricting content and access to other features with a PIN; S Health is paired with the heart-rate monitor on the S5’s rear to help you track your fitness; and Private Mode is a place in which to store all those naughty or embarrassing photos and videos you don’t want anyone else to see (the fingerprint scanner is used to gain access to this mode). ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 41

HTC’s Sense 6.0 interface debuts with the One M8. It lets you personalise BlinkFeed to a greater degree, and change the theme of the software and even the font. HTC also builds in Motion Launch Gestures – you can switch on the phone by double-tapping the screen, swiping in from the edge of screen launches BlinkFeed or the widget panel, and holding the phone in landscape mode and pressing the volume key launches the Camera app.

Battery life Battery life is always a bit of a sticking point for the most powerful Android phones, with few able to last more than a day without needing a recharge. So it’s pleasing to see phone makers include special power-saving modes that can drastically improve the runtime. The Galaxy S5’s Ultra Power Saving mode, for example, switches the display to black and white and turns off unnecessary features, allowing the Galaxy smartphone to last 24 hours with just 10 percent charge. HTC’s Extreme Power Saving mode is even better, better, allowing 30 hours of runtime once the battery drops to 10 percent. 42 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Ignoring these power-saving features, however, the Sony Xperia Z2 has the largest-capacity power pack at 3200mAh. By comparison, the Samsung Galaxy S5 offers a 2800mAh cell, and the HTC One M8 2600mAh. Only the Samsung’s is removable, which means you could potentially carry a spare when you’re away from a mains charging point for an extended period. Without those power-saving modes, Samsung claims its S5 lasts 10 hours when used for web browsing and 12 hours for video playback. Sony says its Xperia Z2 can manage up to 740 hours on standby, or 120 hours for music, 19 hours for talk time, and 10 hours for video. HTC makes no claims about its battery life in normal use. We’ll We’ll run each handset through our own battery-life tests once we get them into the lab. Verdict V erdict

We won’t be able to form a decision on which is the best smartphone until we’ve had all three into the lab for benchmarking. However, However, on paper alone, the Sony Xperia Z2 appears to lead the pack. With an extra gig of RAM over the competition, a promising stills- and video camera that lets you display 4K footage on your 4K TV T V, one-touch sharing, listening, mirroring and backup via NFC, a gorgeous screen, excellent dust- and waterproofing credentials and the largestcapacity battery prior to the existence of any powersaving mode, Sony is surely on to a winner with the Xperia Z2. The Samsung Galaxy S5’s fingerprint scanner and heart-rate monitor also impress, as does the HTC One M8’s M8’s Duo Camera, but none is on our list of priorities. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 43

Mobile World Congress: new toys on display We visited Barcelona’s MWC tradeshow in February. Here are some of the devices we saw on display Acer Liquid E3 Acer is one of many smartphone manufacturers manufacturers to release a midrange Android smartphone at MWC. In terms of design there is nothing overly different about the Acer Liquid E3, which runs Android Jelly Bean 4.2. It has a decent 4.7in (720x1280, 312ppi) IPS screen and a relatively slim bezel. It’s a nice weight, too, at 135g, and feels solid in the hands. There’s just 4GB of internal storage, but a microSDHC slot lets you add up to 32GB. A 1.2GHz quad-core chip is coupled with 1GB of RAM, and performance performance is pretty good – opening- and closing apps, and navigating the home screens and menus is speedy. The 2Mp front camera is equipped with a flash, which is perfect for the selfie generation, and there’s a 13Mp whopper on the rear. The £164 Acer Liquid E3 is expected to hit the shelves in April.


Acer Liquid Z4 Z4 Also new from Acer is the Liquid Z4, which is half the price of the company’s E3 at just £82. It’s a compact handset with a 4in (800x400) display that’s not only a little dull, but low-res and relatively small by today’s standards. The build is better than you might expect at this price, though, with a smooth, rounded back that feels nice to hold, and pleasant red detail around the camera lens on the black model (it’s also available in white). A small button on the rear, dubbed AcerRAPID, aims to simplify one-handed use, and lets you access the camera, answer calls and launch predefined apps. A 5Mp rear camera is paired with a flash, and our test shots were satisfactory for a budget phone. Inside, a 1.3GHz dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM and 4GB of storage space are stingy, but acceptable given the price. If only it had a microSD slot… The Liquid Z4 goes on sale in April.


Archos 50c Oxygen New from Archos is a 5in-screen octa-core smartphone that will cost just £199. The 50c Oxygen is incredibly thin and light, at 140g and 145x69.8x7.64mm. Inside there’s just 1GB of RAM, but twin quad-core processors let the Archos deliver great performance with a minimal impact on battery life. Also onboard is a 8GB of storage, plus a microSDHC slot that lets you add up to 32GB. The 5in screen has a 1280x720 resolution, resulting in a pixel density of 293ppi – not bad at this price. However, However, costs have been cut in the camera department: there’s there’s a fairly f airly standard 2Mp camera at the front, but we found the 8Mp snapper at the rear struggled to focus on subjects only 6ft away. The 50c Oxygen runs Android Jelly Bean 4.3. 46 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Archos 64 Xenon

The 64 Xenon is a phablet from Archos that costs just £199. It’s a huge huge device, with a 6.4in display display and large bezel making it uncomfortable to hold. It’s not heavy, heavy, mind, at just 196g. That 6.4in panel is an IPS display with a 1280x720-pixel resolution – matching that of the 50c Oxygen, but with a lower pixel density. The brushed-metal case looks l ooks cheap, and the overall design isn’t outstanding with oddly placed buttons on the rear. rear. Inside is a Mediatek MT6582 quadcore processor running at 1.3GHz, 1GB of RAM and a Mali-400MP2 graphics processor. Storage is just 4GB, but a microSDHC slot lets you slide in an extra 32GB. The phablet’s phablet’s rear-facing camera is surprisingly impressive, at 8Mp with an LED flash. We managed to capture some pretty nice photos using the Xenon, despite the poor lighting conditions at the stand. It can also record video at 1080p, while the front-facing camera is 2Mp. The 64 Xenon runs Android Jelly Bean, with no signs of KitKat on the horizon. The release date is yet to be announced. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 47

Huawei MediaPad X1

The MediaPad X1 is Huawei’s take on a Nexus 7 killer, and the Chinese firm claims it’s the most slender tablet (or, rather, phablet) in its class. The X1, which will cost

W399

and launch within the next

few months, is certainly narrow and very easy to grip with one hand. The MediaPad is both thin and light, at 7.2mm and 239g, but with a 7in full-HD IPS screen it’s way too big to use as a phone. The rear cover is made from aluminium, with plastic strips at the top and bottom. Inside is a 1.6GHz quad-core processor with 2GB of RAM and 16- or 32GB of storage. There’s There’s also a microSD card slot for adding more. It has the best camera we’ve seen on a tablet, with a 13Mp sensor and LED flash. The front-facing webcam is also pretty decent at 5Mp. The Huawei MediaPad X1 runs Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with Huawei’s Emotion UI 2.0 interface, which removes the app menu and places everything on the home screen. Perhaps most interesting of all is the fact Huawei claims the X1’s 5000mAh battery can last between 20- and 25 hours, and charge other devices. 48 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

LG G2 Mini

Like many smartphone makers, LG has made a smaller, cheaper version of its flagship smartphone. The price has yet to be announced, but the smartphone will no doubt be more affordable than its bigger brother when it arrives in early April. The G2 Mini has a 4.7in (540x960) IPS screen that makes it more comfortable in the hand than the 5.2in G2. It’s a little thicker, too, at 9.8mm, but we wouldn’t call it chunky. In common with the G2, a Rear Key places power and volume controls below the camera; getting one up on that phone, the rear cover is removable, providing access to the battery and a microSDHC card slot. Hardware specs have been downgraded from the G2, the Mini has a 1.2GHz quad-core processor, 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal storage. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat.


LG G Pro 2

The G Pro 2 phablet has a huge 5.9in display, yet LG has managed to keep down the size and weight, and keep things stylish. A thin bezel means even tiny hands can hold and grip the LG with ease, and features such as Mini View aim to improve the ease with which you can use the phablet in one hand. This KitKat device also boasts 4K video recording and Knock Code lock/unlock security. Photos and video look delightful on the huge display, display, and we like the adjustable split-screen mode that lets you watch a film while typing a quick email. There’s a 13Mp camera on the rear, and a 2.1Mp webcam at the front – a white border placed onscreen can aid the capture of selfies with the latter. Inside is a 2.26GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor and 3GB of RAM. The G Pro 2 is available with 16- or 32GB of storage, and a microSDXC card reader lets you slot in a further 64GB. A 3200mAh battery is removable. Pricing is yet to be confirmed.


LG L90

We seriously dig the LG L90, the top model of three L-series smartphones unveiled at MWC (other devices in this family are the 3.5in L40 and 4.5in L70). It’s a 4.7in (540x960, 234ppi) mid-range smartphone with a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon quad-core chip and 1GB of RAM lurking inside. You get 8GB of storage, plus a microSDHC slot for adding up to 32GB more. A rear-facing 8Mp camera with flash offers acceptable quality, while the secondary snapper is a crummy 1.3Mp model that’s there purely to facilitate Skype and Snapchat. The LG L90 supports dual SIMs, but mobile connectivity stretches only so far as 3G. Pleasingly, Android 4.4 KitKat is onboard. Pricing and availability is yet to be confirmed. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 51

Lenovo Yoga Tablet 10 HD+ Lenovo has given its 10in Yoga Tablet a Full HD display and a better processor, as well as a design tweak and camera upgrade. The design is very similar to the original Tablet 10, with the same sleek chassis and cylindrical protrusion at the base that not only makes it easier to hold the 615g device, but conceals a kickstand. The display has been upgraded to 1920x1200, resulting in a pixel density of 224ppi and matching the Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet. We found the display bright, clear and accurate, and a nice tool for viewing images captured by the 8Mp camera. Inside is a 1.6GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 quad-core processor and 2GB of RAM. Storage is either 16- or 32GB, with a microSDXC card allowing expansion up to 64GB. Lenovo touts 18 hours of life from the 9000mAh battery. An update to Android 4.4 KitKat is expected soon, while the tablet itself will go on sale in May at £299 (£329 3G). 52 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Nokia X & X+

The X (W89) and X+ (W99) are two very similar budget smartphones from Nokia running Android. Yes, you read that right. Their design looks very similar to Nokia’s Asha range: square, chunky, and with six colours available. At 10.4mm and 129g they feel a little li ttle brick-like, brick-like, too. The 4in (480x800) screens are basic, but getting an IPS panel is surprising at this price. Inside the X and X+ is a dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 chip, plus 512MB (X) or 768MB (X+) of RAM. It sounds stingy, but offered smooth performance during our hands-on testing. Both models have just 4GB of internal i nternal storage, but a microSDHC slot lets you add an extra 32GB. The Android OS has been heavily customised, looking very similar to Windows Phone, and it doesn’t offer access to Google Play.


Nokia XL

The £89 Nokia XL is the third Android-powered Android-powered Nokia smartphone to appear at MWC. It’s a 5inscreen smartphone that, like its brothers, runs a heavily customised OS with no access to Google Play. Available in March, the XL looks far more like a Windows Phone than any Android handset we’ve ever seen. But the hardware isn’t bad: you get a 5in (480x800, 197ppi) display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, 768MB of RAM and 4GB of storage (plus a microSDHC slot). A 5Mp rear camera is paired with a flash, while a 2Mp front snapper is ideal for video chat. At 141.4x77.7x10.9mm and 190g, it’s not the skinniest smartphone, but it’s not too chunky either.


Sony Xperia M2 The new kid on Sony’s mid-range block is the Xperia M2, and it should offer reasonable value when it goes on sale in May at £250. It’s as beautiful as its higher-priced siblings, measuring 139.7x71.1x8.6mm and weighing in at just 148g. It’s a solid-feeling device that you wouldn’t be ashamed to take out your pocket in public. However, we found the 4.8in (540x960, 229ppi) touchscreen a little unresponsive, and saw some lag opening certain apps – surprising, given the 1.2GHz Qualcomm quad-core chip and 1GB of RAM. There’s also 8GB of internal storage (with a microSDHC slot), an 8Mp rear camera, 4G connectivity and support for dual SIMs.


Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet Tablet Sony’s £399 Xperia Z2 Tablet is a slim, light, durable and powerful 10in tablet that’s that’s good-looking, too. Successor to the Xperia Tablet Z, the Z2 is incredibly (almost unbelievably) light, at 426g. It’s exceptionally exceptionally thin, too, at just 6.4mm. It feels amazing to hold, despite the large, 10.1in display. We can imagine spending hours using the device without feeling a strain on our wrist. The stylish design works on the principle of keeping things simple, with the same rounded corners and metal frame as the Z2 smartphone (see page 32). Specifications include a 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 quad-core processor, a gorgeous 10.1in (1920x1080) IPS display, an 8.1Mp rear camera with an Exmor RS sensor, and a 6000mAh battery. The Z2 Tablet is also dust- and waterproof, and runs Android 4.4 KitKat. The Z2 Tablet is available from March. 56 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

5 things we hate about Mobile World Congress Being a journalist at a tradeshow is a nightmare. Here’s Here’s a little insight into our world

A

n all-expenses-paid trip to Barcelona for Mobile World Congress (MWC) and a few

days out the office might sound like li ke fun to

you, but the reality couldn’t be further from the truth. Here we list five things we hate about MWC to give you an idea of what it’s like to be a journalist at a technology tradeshow.

Everything is miles away Mobile World Congress: you really don’t want to go inside

We’re used to sitting at desks on comfortable chairs, typing away while listening to music. So, walking for hours on end around a huge show isn’t something


“ No matter what you’re trying to

do or where you’re trying to go there will be a gigantic queue with which our legs are familiar. familiar. MWC is one of the smaller shows on the calendar, but that doesn’t mean it’s small. Each hall, of which there are eight, is bigger than a football pitch, and full of stands from different tech manufacturers. This means everything is literally miles apart and it’s pretty easy to get lost trying to find a specific stand. And don’t forget the mobile office you must m ust carry ca rry on your yo ur back. back .

The food This isn’t unique to MWC, but there’s a real danger of becoming malnourished at technology tradeshows. Our delicate stomachs can struggle with the foreign food, and your eating times inevitably get screwed up. In CES the press get a packed lunch each day; not so in Barcelona.

The queues We’re We’re English, so apparently we’re good at queuing. The queues are MWC are nothing short of horrific. No matter what you’re trying to do or where you’re trying to go there will be a gigantic queue. There are out-the-door queues for food at lunch time, picking up your badge to get you into the show, queues as far as the eye can see for taxis at the end of the day and, yes, more queues to see the best devices with which everyone wants a hands-on. You’re alright with the rubbish products. 58 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

”

Dodgy Wi-Fi In order to bring you all the information we’re gathering from the show, we need a good internet connection. Unfortunately, as with almost every other show and press event, the Wi-Fi is unreliable. Obviously Obvious ly it’s going goi ng to be difficult to provide a speedy and constant connection to thousands of attendees, but it sure makes our job frustrating. Luckily the press room has hard-wired ethernet cables, so it’s not all bad.

Expenses This is most definitely a first-world problem, but expensing a trip like MWC is a nightmare. Remembering Remembering to get a receipt for everything you buy is hard enough; not losing said receipts is even more difficult. If you manage manag e to do all that, that , sorting through th rough it all when you’re y ou’re back in the office is worse wors e still. It’s It ’s not only logistically tricky, but working out what you’ve bought on a Spanish receipt is practically impossible. Online editor David Court wrangles with his expenses


Android smartphone processors explained We explain the past, p ast, present and future of smartphone chip design

A

RM may rule the roost in the Android hardware world, but it’s not running a

dictatorship. dictatorship. Rather than fabricate and sell

its own chips, ARM simply designs architectures architectures and instruction sets, which it then licenses to chip

manufacturers manufacturers across the Android land. It’s a somewhat generous approach, and ARM even encourages its hardware partners to alter reference designs however they like. As a result, companies as diverse as Apple, Qualcomm, Samsung and nVidia have cooked up their own ARM processor variants, creating something of an arms race.


Thanks to a nudge from Apple and its A7 processor, which was introduced in the iPhone 5s, 64-bit chips will soon be commonplace in Android phones too. Indeed, major players in the Android processor space have already announced both highand low-end 64-bit parts for 2014. But what does all this mean for you? Read on for details and insight. We’ll describe the processors deployed in today’s phones, and preview what’s on deck for tomorrow. Your phone’s ARM chip plays a pivotal role in app performance performance and battery life, so knowing what’s on the horizon could influence whether you buy a new phone this week, or wait until later this year.

Qualcomm: Snap, the mighty dragon In US markets, Qualcomm leads the way in Android phone implementations with the Snapdragon SoC (System-on-Chip) (System-on-Chip) platform. Snapdragon starts with an ARM-compatible CPU core of Qualcomm’s own

A basic block diagram of the Snapdragon 800 chip


design. Currently, Currently, the CPU core in Snapdragon processors is called Krait, and is loosely comparable c omparable in speed to ARM’s Cortex A15 reference design. Paired with Krait is Qualcomm’s Adreno graphics technology. This GPU line began life at ATI under the brand name Imageon, and was picked up by AMD in 2006 when it purchased ATI. Two years later, AMD sold off the Imageon technologies to Qualcomm, which re-branded them Adreno. It’s a cheeky move on Qualcomm’s part: Adreno is an anagram of Radeon, the name still used by AMD graphics cards. Qualcomm was first out of the 4G LTE gate with an integrated SoC implementation for the wireless standard. This put Qualcomm at an enormous advantage in markets such as the US, where LTE support became a must-have feature. Direct SoC integration also earned the Snapdragon a home in lots of phones, as the alternative is to add a separate LTE modem chip – thus raising price, energy usage and manufacturing complexity. complexity. The Snapdragon 800 series is Qualcomm’s Qualcomm’s top offering, featuring up to four Krait cores running at up to 2.46GHz, and partnered with Adreno 330 graphics. Arguably, Arguably, this represents the most well-rounded processor package for Android devices today, today, providing excellent performance performance in all areas within a reasonable power budget. Snapdragon-based devices also get the lion’s share of post-release ROM development from enthusiasts. Just around the corner is the Snapdragon 805, a platform refresh that will feature f eature faster Krait cores, an improved Adreno GPU, and faster RAM bandwidth. Oddly, Oddly, Qualcomm’s first 64-bit mobile parts will arrive this year in the form of the low- to 62 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

mid-range Snapdragon 410. High-end parts are expected shortly afterwards.

Samsung, the company man Samsung has been producing SoCs based on ARM architectures for more than a decade. In fact, Samsung chips appeared in every iPhone released

The Exynos 5 Octa features four ‘big’ highperformance cores paired with four ‘little’ cores that offer lower performance but big battery savings

before the iPhone 4. Samsung’s current Exynos series SoCs are fairly traditional ARM variants, featuring Cortex A9 and A15 cores, and ARM’s own Mali GPU design. However, a few Samsung chips – such as the Exynos 5 5410 found in one variant of the Galaxy S4 – use PowerVR’s potent SGX core to handle graphics. PowerVR’s excellent GPU designs are most commonly found in Apple products, which is too bad because Exynos could use a little love l ove when it comes to GPU horsepower. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 63

While the Exynos 5’s raw CPU performance is generally superior to Qualcomm’s Krait performance, the Mali GPU falls behind competing Adreno and PowerVR PowerVR graphics solutions. Samsung’s own Galaxy Note 3 implementation is a good example of this. The Note 3 variants featuring Snapdragon chips offer more features and a better user experience, despite being virtually identical to the versions that include Samsung’s own Exynos chips. A15 cores are power hungry, so ARM implemented a scheme called ‘big.LITTLE’ wherein each highperformance core is shadowed by a lower-power, lower-performance core that takes over whenever workloads permit. The current crop of Exynos 5 Octa SoCs employs this feature to keep the A15’s appetite for power in check, c heck, although some implementations of big.LITTLE have cache issues that hinder performance. Looking forward, Exynos 6 promises to bring cutting-edge 64-bit hardware and integrated 4G LTE LTE to the table. Samsung says the caching problems that held back earlier variants of big.LITTLE have been resolved, and we should see Exynos 6 by springtime, perhaps in the Galaxy S5. That being said, Samsung’s phones and tablets are most appealing for reasons beyond processor performance, focusing instead on features such as advanced OLED screens and sophisticated stylus input. The conservative route of going with ARM’s reference designs allows Samsung’s engineers to look for more novel ways to differentiate their hardware. Given their market share, it appears Samsung may be on to something with this strategy. strategy.


nVidia: full speed spee d and full volume It may seem like nVidia has been plugging away with its Tegra line for a while now, but it’s the newest player to the SoC game by a long shot, and the inexperience shows. Tegra’s growing pains meant that very few devices used a Tegra chip until Tegra 3 came along. But the third time was a charm, and nVidia’s SoC package found a home in tablets like li ke Google’s Google’s original Nexus 7 and Microsoft’s Surface. Microsoft retained nVidia for the Surface 2, which features the Tegra 4, but Google migrated to Snapdragon for the 2013 Nexus 7. Tegra 4 hit the market in 2013 with up to four times the performance of its predecessor, predecessor, but it still required a separate companion LTE LTE modem chip. It pairs a Cortex A15 quad-core setup with 72 GPU cores of

A die shot of the nVidia Tegra K1. You can easily make out the four ‘big’ CPUs, one ‘small’ CPU in the centre, and the giant graphics array


nVidia’s own design. Still, despite this firepower, GPU performance tends to trail the competition. A fifth, low-power A15 core is also included in Tegra 4 to serve in an energy-saving capacity similar to Samsung’s big.LITTLE. Tegra 4 isn’t i sn’t fully competitive with current industry leaders, but waiting in the wings is nVidia’s Tegra K1, a project that promises to bring last-generation gaming console quality graphics to mobile users with a 192GPU core implementation of the Kepler Kepler architecture. Tegra K1 was announced in two versions. One uses the same ‘4+1’ CPU setup employed in the Tegra 4, with similar ARM Cortex A15 cores. But the more interesting K1 version uses a custom, dual-core 64-bit CPU code-named Denver, Denver, designed by nVidia’s nVidia’s own in-house dream team of engineers poached from Intel, AMD, Sun, Transmeta, and HP. While leaked benchmarks suggest the K1 may live up to its press, the chip is still a wait-and-see proposition. For starters, we don’t know which variant of the Tegra K1 generated those leaked benchmarks. And what’s more, we have no helpful details on the K1’s power utilisation. With no integrated LTE LTE modem, and nVidia’s history of relatively high power use, the Tegra K1 may be destined for tablets but turn out to be too power-hungry for phones. 64-bit dreams

While Apple’s move to 64-bit has motivated the rest of the mobile industry to follow, don’t expect to see dramatic dividends in upcoming Android phones and tablets. Apple’s tightly controlled vertical integration – in which system software and device hardware are made by the same company – makes it easier 66 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

for the company to realise benefits from big platform shifts. And jumping from 32-bit to 64-bit is a big shift. But the transition won’t be quite so seamless in the diverse Android ecosystem. Some 64-bit benefits, such as increased memory limits, should manifest quickly. But other performance advantages will have to wait until the OS and many applications are modified. And that will require coordination between hardware vendors, software developers and Google itself. This might take a while, but don’t worry about the wait. There’s There’s plenty of mobile tech in the pipeline for 2014 to keep you busy in the meantime.


Run Android on Windows – and vice versa We look at ways of running Windows applications on your mobile and Android apps on your desktop or laptop PC

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lthough smartphones are now available with Windows, as the most popular operating system for handheld devices, most of us are

using Android while we’re on the move. This means that we have to juggle two operating systems – Windows on our desktop or laptop, something quite different on our phone or tablet. Many of us are used to sharing data between these devices – either by synchronising in the cloud or transferring documents documents locally via Bluetooth or USB.


“ If you have apps you like on your

smartphone, why can’t you use them on your PC? The good news is that you can But what about sharing software? If you have apps

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you like on your smartphone, why can’t you use them on your PC? Conversely, if you have a package that’s useful on your desktop PC, why shouldn’t you be able to use it on your Android tablet? The good news is that you can.

Lookalike apps Our main emphasis here is on how to use exactly the same applications on our mobile devices as we use on our Windows PC and vice versa. However, However, for some purposes, it’s possible to manage with lookalike apps while you’re out and about. In essence, we make do with apps on our Android devices that provide some of the functionality of Windows applications.

PDF files In some cases they work in a way that’s indistinguishable from the Windows version. Android’s reader for Adobe PDF files, for example, is just about perfect. However, However, apps that provide compatibility compati bility with w ith Microsoft Micr osoft Offi ce documents docum ents – namely Word, Excel and PowerPoint files – while very desirable, are something of a mixed bag. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 69

Micr Mi cros osof oftt Offi Office A quick search in Google Play shows that there are plenty of Microsoft Micros oft Office-type apps a pps available avail able for Android. Many of them are free, so you don’t stand to waste any money by making the wrong choice. However, However, it would save a lot of time if you take a good look at some reviews before deciding which app will best meet your needs. In many cases, the more sophisticated features are not fully supported but, since many people only use the basic features, that might not be an issue. Perhaps the most m ost well-known well -known Office app is i s Google’s Quickoffi ce which comes c omes as standard stan dard with new n ew Qu ickoffi Quic koffi ce should meet most of your productivity needs

devices running Android 4.4 KitKat, but is freely available from Google Play if you have an earlier version of Android.

Quic Qu icko koffi ffice Quickoffi Quicko ffice isn’t is n’t 100 10 0 percent perc ent compatible with Microsoft Office. We found fou nd that th at openin ope ning g a Word document that was formatted with multiple text columns appeared as a single column, but it will probably meet most of your needs.

Image files You may also need a means of editing photos and other graphics files in standard formats such as Jpeg or Png. Here, we’re not concerned with compatibility with particular 70 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Windows software, but with the ability to import and export in the necessary formats and the provision of adequate functionality. As with Windows, a wide range of Android apps is available for f or photo editing.

Running Windows on Android Solutions for using Windows applications on an Android device tend to involve accessing a Windows PC or a virtual PC via the cloud rather than running the software directly on your smartphone or tablet. While this is undoubtedly a reflection on the more limited resources available on most Android devices, it’s a perfectly workable solution.

Remote Desktop can give you access to Windows on Android, but it has some limitations

The first method is to connect to your home PC using the Microsoft Remote Desktop app on your Android device. We mention this here because it will appeal to some users, and it has the advantage of giving you access to all the software you use on your PC, but there are some serious drawbacks that limit its usefulness. For a start, although you don’t have to install any software on your PC, it will work only if that PC is running certain editions of Windows. In particular, particular, for Windows 8 you need Enterprise or Pro while for ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 71

Windows 7 it’s restricted to Professional, Enterprise or Ultimate. Given that most home users have basic or Home editions, it’s not an option. Second, for this to work your home PC has to be switched on while you’re away from home. Needless to say, this will increase your electricity bill and doesn’t do much for the environment. Finally, although you can run the Remote Desktop app on any Android device, if you’re going to be using usin g it to any great extent, a tablet would make a lot more sense than a smartphone. After all, trying to navigate a Windows desktop on a small smartphone screen is going to involve a lot of zooming and panning. A more practical solution for most people – but, again, only if you have a tablet – is the virtual PC service offered by OnLive. Although you can chose to pay for additional features, the free service is an excellent way to get started, giving you access to


OnLive is a free virtualisation solution

Word, Excel and PowerPoint while providing you with 2GB of cloud storage. We recommend that you try the free service first before considering the more fully-featured fully-featured offering. First of all you should sign up at desktop.onlive. com and, optionally optionall y, upload to OnLive any Office documents from your PC that you subsequently want to access from your Android device. Then, on your Android tablet (the app isn’t supported on smartphones), install the OnLive Desktop app from Google Play. Be sure not to accidentally install the app called OnLive, from the same company, which is for online gaming and quite different. Now, when you run the app, your virtual PC, complete with Microsoft Office, will appear a ppear on screen scr een and those thos e applications applicat ions will work in just the same way as on your PC.

Running Android on Windows As we now turn our attention to the opposite issue of running your favourite Android apps on your Windows PC, we find means of doing exactly that, as opposed to effectively driving a remote PC as is the case with accessing Windows apps under Android. First up is the BlueStacks App Player which it’s free from bluestacks.com. bluestacks.com. As the name suggests, this package allows you to run Android apps on your Windows machine but it’s not a full Android emulator so you won’t get the full Android experience. It’s currently a beta release, and it might ask your permission to upgrade your graphics driver, but in practice, we found installation to be straightforward. straightforward. Having said that, if you don’t already have a Google account you’ll need to sign up for one as you would to get the most out of any Android device. A key ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 73

emphasis is one playing Android games under Windows so when you run BlueStacks most of the screen will be taken up with game suggestions. However, However, unlike some similar packages, BlueStacks includes Google Play so you can search for and install apps in just j ust the same way as with a true Android phone or tablet. As a beta release, it’s probably not reasonable to expect it to be perfect and we did, indeed, experience a few teething problems. First, with some apps, the screen looked very pixelated pixelated although this is probably inevitable on a large PC screen when you’re using an app that had been written for a small low-resolution screen. Second, on a non-touch screen PC, zooming with apps that expect pinch and reverse pinch gestures can be problematic. BlueStacks’ support pages suggest that Ctrl + and Ctrl – should work but we didn’t find that to be the case and it seems that it’s probably app dependent. 74 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

To run Android on Windows try BlueStacks

A solution that claims to provide you with a full Android emulation on your PC is YouWave. Whether the issue of full Android compatibility is an asset compared to the app player approach of BlueStacks, we’re not so sure. YouWave uses Oracle VM VirtualBox as the emulation engine but, paradoxically, paradoxically, if you already have VirtualBox VirtualBox installed you have to uninstall it before installing YouWave. It isn’t free software although you can download a fully functioning copy and try it for 10 days. After this trial period you must pay $14.99 or $19.99 for the Basic (Android 2.3 Gingerbread) or Home (Android 4.0 ICS) versions respectively. respectively. In reality we found it very similar to BlueStacks, even down to the issues of pixilation and zooming. The suppliers confirmed that zooming isn’t currently supported but indicated that they were considering it for a future version, perhaps using on-screen buttons. These are still comparatively early days for Android on Windows solutions and we trust that the types of problems we encountered with both BlueStacks and YouWave will prove to be short lived. For many uses, both will provide acceptable service but if you’re tempted to take the YouWave route, we suggest you make good use of your 10 day trial before deciding whether to buy it. The all-in-one solution

While all the solutions we’ve seen so far are either free or low-cost, most represent something of a compromise. Although not free, though, if you’re in the market for a new PC, you might like to consider one of the small but growing number of platforms that have been designed to run both Windows and Android natively. Industry experts are divided on ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 75

whether these all-in-one machines will really take off but it’s a potentially interesting solution to the Windows-Android dichotomy. dichotomy. While a few such products have been announced, one of the few you can buy today is the Asus Transformer Trio Like other products in the Asus Transformer range, the Trio takes the form of a laptop with a removable keyboard which, when detached, turns the laptop into a tablet. But while other Transformers run the same operating system – either Windows 8 or Android – whatever the form factor, the Trio allows you to switch operating system at the touch of a button. In fact it can do more than this which is the key to the Trio designation. Because both the screen and the keyboard contain their own processor, processor, by adding a keyboard and monitor to the keyboard, it can be used as a desktop PC. Not only that, but the screen section can then be used as a tablet by someone else, at the same time. Needless to say, buying two computers in one doesn’t come cheap and, even then, without some of the solutions we’ve seen elsewhere in this article, it doesn’t allow you to run Android apps under Windows and Windows software under Android. With a street price of £899, you’d probably be better off buying a separate Android device and a laptop at the moment. However, However, if this type of computer really takes off, expect prices to tumble. What’s more, if it also provides a means of the Android and Windows elements interacting with each other, with the ability to share software between the two platforms, we think manufacturers will be on to a winner. winner. 76 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

What is the Spritz reading app? A new app promises it can enable you to read up to 1,000 words per minute

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reading app that claims to enable you to read up to 1,000 words per minute has attracted a lot of attention, but how does it

work? We explain what is Spritz, and how it works. It’s not surprising that an app that claims to enable

its users to read at 1,000 words per minute has attracted attention – especially when we tell you the average reading speed is a lowly 220 wpm. Spritz will initially appear on only the Samsung Galaxy S5 smartphone and Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch. However, Spritz’ CEO Frank Waldman claims to be in talks with the likes of Google, Yahoo and Amazon. So watch this space.

What is Spritz? In its simplest form Spritz is an app for the Samsung Galaxy S5 and Samsung Galaxy Gear 2 smartwatch


that lets you read quicker than you normally would by showing you one word at a time.

How does Spritz work? While there are other apps on the market that claim to enable you to read faster, faster, Spritz is a little different. According to Waldman, this difference is due to Rapid Serial Visual Presentation. It places a lot of emphasis on the positioning of each word, highlighting the recommended ‘focus letter’ to give the reader the best chance of processing each word. Waldman Waldman also claims that Spritz has an incredible in credible algorithm built into the app that decides how long each word should be displayed onscreen.

When can I get Spritz on my device? There is no n o official release rel ease date for f or the Spritz Spri tz app on devices other than the S5 and Gear 2 but, given the amount of attention the app has received even prior to its launch, it would be madness for the German tech company not to strike while the iron is hot.

How much will Spritz cost? Waldman hopes to follow the WhatsApp business model, which means it will offer the speed-reading app free for a limited time, then start charging c harging a small fee for the app further down the line.

Will I process everything I read? Yes, according to Spritz. Research suggests that reading retention while using Spritz is equal to that of traditional left-to-right reading. The company also claims that with experience you will soon remember more of the text than you did before. 78 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

What is Cartoon HD, and is it safe? If an app seems to be too good to be true, it probably is. We investigate Cartoon HD

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ver Christmas an app called Cartoon HD began causing a stir, but it was quickly pulled from Apple’s App Store. Now a plethora of

copycat apps have launched. So what is Cartoon HD, and is it safe to use?

What is Cartoon HD? Cartoon HD made waves by offering users free access to cartoons and full-length feature films, including new releases such as Despicable Me 2. The app should have cost around £20, but it was


available for free. Unsurprisingly, Apple banned the app for providing copyrighted content. Whether Cartoon HD was doing anything malicious is unclear, unclear, but it’s likely that copycat apps will want to cash in on the hype. This means you should be very careful when installing and using such apps.

Cartoon HD copycats If you search the Google Play store for ‘Cartoon HD’, HD’, many Android apps appear in the results fighting for your attention. Descriptions will no doubt state that the app is legitimate and collecting content from YouTube and websites in the public domain – but just because they say that that it doesn’t make it true. true.

Is Cartoon HD and its alternatives safe? User reviews and ratings are likely to make the app look appealing. However, these are probably fake, or written by those who don’t know what they’re talking about. Many of these apps will be cashing in by way of adverts – if you don’t mind viewing ads then that’s fine, and everything could well be above board. They might also want in-app payments for content – also fine, if handled responsibly. As a rule of thumb, never enter your banking details into an app – only pay for in-app items via the Google Play store. More mischievous developers might try to collect your personal data, which they can sell on for profit. Before you click to install an app from Google Play, Play, a pop-up window will show you what permissions are required before you continue. Read these carefully before you take the plunge – they can be a giveaway as to what’s really going on. 80 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Cartoon HD app permissions Apps will typically require network access (to stream the content) and the ability to stop your screen turning off. However, a video-streaming app that wants to read your web history and find accounts on your device is somewhat more suspicious. Tony Anscombe, senior security evangelist at AVG said: “It’s important that people read the permissions approval process before simply clicking ‘Yes’ and regularly check the settings and T&Cs of apps to see what data is being held or what can be accessed by the service provider. A little common sense goes a long way when approving these permissions – after all, does that flashlight app really need access to your contacts?” The bottom line is that if you’re not sure about the legitimacy of an app, don’t download it. If something smells fishy, don’t ignore it: the app is probably too good to be true. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 81

Ditch your satnav with these five great apps Navigate your journey from A to B on your smartphone or tablet

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our smartphone and maybe even your tablet is likely equipped with GPS, which means you can use it as a satnav in your car or, indeed,

for walking. That means you don’t necessarily have to go out and buy a standalone satnav. Here are the best satnav apps for Android. There’s There’s a wide range of free and paid-for apps on the Google Play store to choose from, so we’ve rounded up the best five. You can go far with a free app, but note that you’ll need a data connection connection – these will suit users with unlimited or generous data tariffs. Paying for apps will provide downloadable content, but watch out for in-app purchases for

additional features.


1. Waze – Free

Waze isn’t the best satnav app just ju st because it’s free, it’s because it manages to merge a great navigation app with crowd-sourced data to tell you in real time about traffi c jams, closed c losed roads, road s, speed- and red-light red-l ight cameras, plus local petrol prices. This would be all for nothing if no-one used it, but Waze has millions of users around the world, with plenty in the UK. You’re encouraged to participate, even if only passively, passively, which is why it’s such a success. Collecting data about your position and speed means other Waze users can be alerted to slow traffic without wit hout anyone a nyone lifting liftin g a finger. finger. You You can c an report temporary speed cameras, accidents and other hazards as well as map corrections. The app itself is a breeze to use, and it i t looks great, but maps aren’t ar en’t stored offl ine so you’ll you ’ll need an active data connection. It even includes a Glympse-style option to let someone track your progress and ETA while you drive. Road speed limits aren’t displayed, but you’ll only be warned of speed cameras if you’re driving too fast.


Our main criticism is the wide-open privacy policy which means your data, which isn’t anonymous, can be shared with too many third parties including the police. Waze is effectively a black box for your car, so drive sensibly, or don’t use it.

2. Google Maps – Free You might not even realise it, but your Android device already has software installed capable of navigating you to a destination. Although Google doesn’t so the best job of making this clear. Some devices will come with an app called ‘Navigation’, but if yours doesn’t then just open Google Maps. Both use the same system, so it’s a little confusing. Google Maps isn’t just for looking up postcodes. Set a destination and your starting point (probably your current location), hit Start and off you go. This will launch Google Maps Navigation, which is still in beta and, although there are some warnings and crashes do occur, the app is excellent on the whole. You get that familiar view of Google Maps with a navigation interface carefully placed over the top. You can even switch to Satellite view. 84 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

You get exactly what you need, including the next turn-by-turn guidance (onscreen and voice), road names and ETA. Google Maps will suggest different routes and, while you’re yo u’re driving, drivi ng, live traffic, incident reports and dynamic re-routing are handy features. You don’t get speed-limit or camera warnings, though. Unfortunately, you’ll need to use your mobile data connection, so that’s one reason why you might want to pay for an app like the next entry in this list. 3. CoPilot Premium – £19.99

If you are going to pay for a satnav app then CoPilot is the one to go for. There is a free version, which might be worth trying before you upgrade. It will be worth paying for all the extra features, though, and at £19 CoPilot Premium is a fair amount cheaper than a standalone satnav. CoPilot works with more than 280 Android devices (including tablets) and includes detailed 2D/3D maps of the UK and Ireland, which you can optionally download and store locally. This means, importantly,


“ One of the biggest and most recognisable names in the satnav market is TomTom you don’t need to reply on an active data connection while you’re driving. For your money you get all the features you’d expect from a satnav, including turn-by-turn voice-guided navigation, alternative routes, favourite places and lane guidance. However, additional bits and pieces make CoPilot a very well-rounded bit of kit. You’ll get a speed-limit indicator and warnings, Speed-camera alerts with free updates automatic day/ night modes, a five-day local weather forecast and Google searches. Furthermo Furth ermore, re, you’ll you ’ll get get 12 months mon ths of Activ A ctive eTraffic finds the fastest route based bas ed on live l ive traffi c flow, automatically finds a new route if there’s a delay and provides provid es a colour-coded colour -coded live li ve traffic map and status bar. Thereafter it costs £7.99, but doesn’t automatically charge customers. 4. TomTom – £37.99

One of the biggest and most recognisable names in the satnav market is TomTom. Its Android app is a little on the expensive side, but it has a lot to offer. Since you’re paying a lot for the app, it’s not surprise that downloadable maps are included. You must download them to your device before you 86 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

”

can get going, so having some free space is essential. TomT omTom handily handi ly offers offer s free updates for life, li fe, making this app something of an investment. As you’d expect you get voice-spoken voice-spoken turn-by-turn navigation (including street names), advanced lane guidance and a 2D or 3D view. The interface itself is clear and provides plenty of informatio i nformation n including your speed, expected arrival time, distance and time to destination. This is good, but those with a smaller screen may find the map getting little space. IQ Routes calculates the fastest route and can give accurate estimations estimations based on information such as the time of day. Instead of a Google search, TomTom Places allows you to search for points of interest. Live traffi tr affic information informati on and warnings war nings for fixed and mobile speed cameras are available but, considering the initial cost, it’s disappointing that these require additional in-app purchases. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 87

5. Navigon – £34.95 Garmin is a big name in outdoor activities and, of course, satellite navigation. Navigon is its satnav app for Android. It’s a little on the pricey side of things, but it’s i t’s worth a look. Although it’s a little cheaper than its TomTom rival, users will have to pay extra for features such as points of interest, int erest, live l ive traffi c information, petrol station locations and more. You’ll be able to download the latest map at the time of purchase, but updates will again cost you more, which is a shame considering the already high price. You’ll need over 1GB of space on your device, but this negates the need for data usage for navigation. There are some good features that you don’t have to pay extra for, though, including Google Street View, support for Glympse location sharing, turn-by-turn guidance and speed-camera alerts. Navigon’s Reality Reality View Pro is one of its better features, providing a photo-realistic display so you don’t up in the wrong lane and miss an important turning. Although there are some good features, the interface isn’t as polished as the others listed here. It’s rather cluttered cluttere d and diffi di fficult to t o pick out o ut the information you’re looking for while driving. 88 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Get free Amazon apps on any Android device You don’t need a Kindle tablet to enjoy the free apps on offer daily at Amazon’s Appstore

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re you shackled to Google’s app store in a nightmarish, never-ending never-ending Play date? date? If so, break off your chains and explore a new

land of apps at Amazon’s Amazon’s Appstore, no Kindle Fire tablet required! That’s right, you can install Amazon’s Appstore on just about any Android smartphone or tablet, providing your device with a whole new destination for app discovery. Amazon knows it needs to provide an incentive to get you using its app store, and it does just that by continually giving away apps and games. Every day of the week, 365 days a year, the Amazon Appstore offers up a new ‘pay’ app or game, totally free, for 24 hours only. Another advantage is title availability. In the past, popular games such as Plants vs Zombies and Angry Birds Rio have launched exclusively on Amazon’s Appstore, only landing on the Play store weeks later.

Install the Amazon Appstore Android app To get access to the daily freebies, you’ll need to install the Amazon Appstore for Android. Before you do the install, you’ll need to dive into your Android Settings panel to enable the appropriate permission. Go into Settings, then Security, and scroll down to tick the checkbox for Unknown sources.


This setting requirement is certainly a drawback to using Amazon’s offering, as you won’t be able to install apps from its Appstore without this enabled. Keeping Unknown Sources turned on does make your phone more vulnerable to a potentially malicious app installation, so be extra cautious about tapping on APK files, especially those received via email or downloaded by a browser. Next you’ll need to download the APK installer from Amazon, which weighs in at about 5MB. Head to tinyurl.com/kyrfxh4 tinyurl.com/kyrfxh4 to download it. Once the download completes, tap on the APK to begin the installation. From there it’s a standard app installation experience. experience. Before you continue on by tapping Install, you’ll be warned that Amazon wants to have its way with your device (via various permissions and privileges). Once installed, launch the Amazon Appstore and you’ll be prompted to sign in with your Amazon account. If you’ve been living in a cave for the past 90 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

20 years and you still don’t have an Amazon account, there’s there’s a ‘Create Account’ option on the login screen. After logging in, there’s a brief pause for ‘Initialising the app’ and then you’re dropped into the main page of the Amazon Appstore. You’ll immediately notice that the Free App of the Day is prominently featured at the top center position of the store home screen. A few notable pay apps that I’ve nabbed for free in the past on Amazon’s Amazon’s Appstore include; CalenGoo, Monopoly, Shazam Encore, SwiftKey and eWallet. If you’re interested in pursuing a historical log of all the

free apps that have been sacrificed at Amazon’s altar, you can do so s o with the unoffi un official @AmazonAppAD @Am azonAppADay ay Twitter account.

Amazon Appstore features and settings Apart from the Free App of the Day, the Amazon Appstore has a few other features and settings that are worth checking out. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 91

The Test Drive option allows you to run an Android app via a built in browser, without the need to download or install the app. This provides an excellent way to try before you buy, allowing you to sample apps without a commitment. Be aware that you’ll need a solid network connection for this feature to work properly, as I received a notification that my connection was no longer fast enough “to provide a good Test Drive experience”, even while I was testing at home on Wi-Fi.

The My Apps library section of the Amazon Appstore keeps track of all of the apps and games that you have purchased, including the free ones. My Apps shows you what apps you have in the cloud (those apps that you have purchased but not installed), what apps you have installed on your device, and it also displays available app updates. Sadly, the Settings panel for the Amazon Appstore app is pretty sparse. You can configure larger app packages to download over Wi-Fi only, with options 92 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

for 20- and 50MB threshold triggers. If you have a limited amount of data allocated per month on your mobile plan, then you’ll want to use this setting to avoid larger app downloads over mobile networks. Unfortunately, the Notification settings in the Amazon Appstore are pretty useless. Surprisingly, there is no option to receive notifications on the new Free App of the Day. Who wants to manually launch the Amazon Appstore every day just to see what is the free app?

Free app of the day notification apps Thankfully there are a few third-party apps in the Google Play Store that can fill the void and help you stay apprised on Amazon’s Amazon’s Appstore giveaways. The two that I tested that work well (on Android 4.2 and 4.4) are Free App Notifier and Daily Free App @ Amazon. Neither of these apps are without flaws, but they both allow you to specify the time of day that you want to receive a notification and they both reliably pop notifications at the time that you specify.


I like that you can disable notifications for games in the Free App Notifier settings, and I find it useful that its notifications include the app’s original list price. The Daily Free App @ Amazon app includes an image from the Free App of the Day in its notification, providing a nice visual touch. If Free App Notifier would update its notifications to include an image from the day’s free app, plus a description, and fix its author display bug, it would become the best Amazon free app notifier.

No refunds and Appstore installation checks If you’re accustomed to the 15-minute grace period that is available for refunds on the Google Play store, be aware that Amazon’s Appstore has an unequivocal ‘all sales are final’ clause in its terms of use. If you’re struck with buyer’s remorse after an impulse Amazon Appstore purchase, then it’s a toobad so-sad scenario for you, as there is no recourse. The one unadvertised exception exception to this rule is for f or ‘accidental’ app purchases. I stumbled upon this when I inadvertently purchased an app that I was trying to use the ‘Test Drive’ feature on. After a quick chat with Amazon support, I was immediately refunded the app purchase price. Just another example of excellent customer service from Amazon. One crucial app dependency that isn’t advertised very well is that you must keep the Amazon Appstore installed on your device as long as you want to continue utilising apps sourced from there. Apps obtained through Amazon will periodically run a check to ensure that the Amazon Appstore is also installed on the same device. 94 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Four apps that put SMS on your desktop Stop swapping between PC and phone every time you receive a text – it’s just not necessary

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hen you’re working, you use a full keyboard, with a mouse or touchpad, because you want to maximise productivity.

Then you receive a text, and you can be found hunched over your phone, pecking away at your tiny distraction machine. When you’re sitting in front of a full keyboard and large display, you should be able to use it to answer texts. More than a few developers have heard our cries, and have created some fantastic Android tools to give you the power to text (and more) from your PC. Let’s dig into what’s possible, starting from

smallest to biggest commitment. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 95

(Note: There are lots of texting replacements out there, from Google’s Hangouts to Facebook’s WhatsApp. Here, we’re talking about honest-togoodness SMS. The kind your friends and relatives send, regardless of who uses which phone or app.)

Pushbullet

Not everybody needs to send text messages in an on-demand fashion. Maybe you only need to know what is buzzing on your phone, so you can safely ignore it. If that’s the case, Pushbullet is what you want. The core function of Pushbullet is sending links, images and map locations back and forth from your phone, which saves time and frustration, but it also shows notifications in a browser extension. Install Pushbullet on your Android phone, then install the Chrome or Firefox extension on your desktop. Pushbullet on Android will ask you to enable 96 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

its Accessibility/administrator Accessibility/administrator access so it can send you notifications. Agree to this, trust me. Now, whenever your phone chirps or vibrates or quietly posts a notification, you’ll see that notification pop up in your browser as a little box. Not just text, but email, Facebook, Twitter, app updates… anything for which you get a notification. notification. You cannot directly respond to a text through Pushbullet, but look in the settings of Pushbullet for the option to ‘Copy links & notes to clipboard when received’. If you want to think something over before replying, you can ‘Push’ a note to your phone with your reply, then simply press and hold in your text message typing field to paste that reply. It’s not something you’d want to do for a rapid back-andforth, but an adequate fallback option. DeskSMS

With DeskSMS, you can receive and respond to texts pretty much anywhere you can open a browser or check your email. You first install DeskSMS on your phone, then give it permissions to read and send text messages. You also authenticate your primary Google/Gmail account, then let it test its connection to your Hangouts account, your email, and/or a browser extension for Chrome or Firefox. If it goes through, you’re now receiving text messages as chats/emails/notifications, chats/emails/notifications, ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 97

and can respond in whichever form best suits your routine. If you want to get texts on your Android tablet instead of your desktop, you’ll want TabletSMS. DeskSMS is not free. After a 14-day trial period, you’ll need to buy an annual subscription to the app for a few pounds. But during those first 14 days, you will really want to make sure that you’re getting all your texts, your friends are getting your messages, and everything feels right about the connection. If so, however, you get the ability to type out texts with your most comfortable keyboard, send texts when the Wi-Fi is strong but the phone signal is weak, and archive your texts in somewhere other than your messy messaging history. history.

Google Voice This one requires more commitment than the other options, but it’s an established system.


If you sign up for a new Google Voice number, or port your number into Google Voice, you get your text messages on your phone, but also at google.com/voice, or in one of many extensions available for every browser the sun. If you enable the option in your Voice settings, you can get texts as emails, and you can respond via email, too. You can also archive and extensively search your SMS history through Voice. Drawbacks? Oh, there are a few. Google Voice is, for one thing, not often touched or upgraded by Google. It creates weird ‘second numbers’ for contacts in unfamiliar area codes, which might creep into your contacts. Plus, there is the non-trivial process of getting a new number, or porting in your existing number. But if you want to type out a text message without actually using your phone, it’s a tested and reliable option. AirDroid

How would you like to send, receive and start text-message conversations conversations from inside a browser window? AirDroid can do that. Install it on your phone or tablet, then head to web.airdroid.com web.airdroid.com on any computer and you’ll see custom desktop within your browser window. As long as you have that page open, you’ll see text notifications, and you can click Messages to check your archive or send texts. You see those other apps and widgets, though, right? See how you can browse and launch files, apps, photos and music on your phone from any webconnected computer? See how you can remotely control your camera from inside AirDroid? Take a screenshot, check the battery, trade links and notes ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 99

(as with Pushbullet), and track your phone’s location? Turn on a (currently beta-experimental) hotspot to share data with other devices? Then it is starting to sink in, and I’m glad you’ve made it this far. There is very little you can’t do with AirDroid, and it works whether you’re on the same Wi-Fi network or not – although it’s a bit speedier on Wi-Fi, and there are smaller (100MB) data caps built into the free version. There are also advertisements advertisements and promotional ‘recommendations’, unless you pay for a Premium account. Spend a little time using any of these methods to get texts on your computer, and you might start to feel that using your smartphone to text is a step back. Your friends will marvel at your SMS speed and eloquence, your boss won’t catch you hunched over your tiny screen, and you might feel a bit more centred and focused. 100 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

k c i n m o H l e a h c i M : o t o h P

Get started with Google text-to-speech TTS isn’t reserved for those with visual impairments; it also opens up a few interesting functionalities

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elcome to the 21st century, where all of your childhood fantasies have come true – just like that of having a handheld

computer that talks back to you. Granted, computers have long had this ability. Text-to-speech (TTS) is usually meant to help those with visual impairments. But on Android it also powers a few other neat features, like having a book read out loud or helping you learn a new language. More than a year ago, Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean introduced a new conversational text-to-speech voice ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 101

so that it wouldn’t sound like your average run-of-themill robot. And more recently, recently, Google introduced two High Quality digital voices in the latest Text-to-Speech Text-to-Speech app update to help make your Android-powered device something you want to talk to you. Currently, Currently, there are only a handful of apps outside of Google’s own that utilise the native Text-to-Speech feature, but it’s still a very handy feature.

Enable text-to-speech First, you’ll have to enable the Text-to-speech Text-to-speech functionality from the Android Settings menu. In Android 4.2.2 or later, head to the Language & Input panel, and then select Text-to-speech Text-to-speech output, located toward the bottom of the screen. Tap on Preferred Engine to set up the language your device should speak. From this page, you can also install any additional language packs, if necessary, necessary, and choose whether or not Google can update the TTS app using your cellular data. 102 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

If you head back a screen, you can c an select the rate at which the digital TTS voice speaks and install additional voice data, including the High Quality voice that Google recently made available. On Android 4.4 KitKat, there’s there’s an extra option that displays the default language status.

Get reading Third-party e-book and reading apps will work with Google Text-to-speech Text-to-speech only if they utilise the API. Unfortunately, Unfortunately, Amazon’s Kindle app doesn’t, but you can take full advantage of the feature with Google Play Books. You can easily enable the Read Aloud feature to dictate stories to you from the Settings menu. Just turn it on, and your Android device will begin to read to you; it’ll heed to semi-colons and commas and pronounce words to the best of its ability.


The Read Aloud feature works with most e-books. It works especially well with text-heavy novels and even with certain cookbooks, although they have to be properly formatted for the feature to work. Google Translate Translate also utilises the text-to-speech engine. Say you’re overseas and have no idea how to pronounce a word in Spanish; Google Translate Translate can speak the translated word out loud to help you get acquainted with it.

Talk to me, Android If you’re really revving for your device to talk to you every step of the way, you can turn on TalkBack from the Accessibility panel in the Settings menu. Keep in mind that since it’s meant to help those who are visually impaired, your device will recite everything it does in real time, like which menu screen you’re on, where you’re tapping, and what your notifications say. You can easily mute it by keeping the volume all the way down, but keep in mind that it could get annoying to those around you. 104 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Add wireless charging to the Samsung Galaxy S4 The Galaxy S4 doesn’t support wireless charging out of the box, but why should you let that stop you?

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he worst part of using a smartphone smartphone is dealing with the damn battery! If you actually use your phone it’ll be lucky to make it through the day.

So we’re left plugging and unplugging and plugging again. This is the bright promise of wireless charging; if you plug your phone in at the same place (like your

home or offi o ffice), you can just set your phone down on a little pad, and it’ll top off the battery. While the ever-popular Galaxy S4 doesn’t come equipped with wireless charging out of the box, it’s a ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 105

snap to add it. Seriously; if you can snap off the back cover, you can do this. It might even take you longer to read about doing it than to perform the surgery. Just follow these simple steps.

1. Procure a wireless charging receiver Amazon is chock-full of wireless charging receivers and kits for the Galaxy S4. Samsung is in bed with the Qi charging standard, so there are lots of compatible charging pads. With LG, Nokia,

Asus, HTC, Huawei, and Motorola, and Sony also supporting Qi, there are lots of great options, and they’re basically all cross-compatible. cross-compatible. You’ll want to pay attention to the thickness of the receiver you buy, though. I chose this £10 model (see tinyurl.com/nkkkwsd) tinyurl.com/nkkkwsd) because it’s especially thin, and wouldn’t cause the rear plastic case on my GS4 to bulge. Samsung sells sel ls an offi cial upgrade upgra de that is integrated into a new plastic back for your phone. 106 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

2. Pop off your cover Turn off your phone, then remove the back cover. Just pry your fingernail in there and pull it off.

3. Line up the receiver to the little holes

See these little holes here?

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4. Lay it out over the battery The receiver lays out flat down over the battery. It looks like this:

5. Put the cover back on Your phone can now sit on any Qi wireless phone charger and it’ll work. Honest! Just like recent Nexus devices, HTC and LG phones, and Nokia Lumia phones. 108 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

BYOD: Mix business with pleasure Do you really want to carry around multiple devices for work and pleasure? Here’s how to use just one – responsibly

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o-one wants to carry around multiple smartphones or tablets, but using your personal devices for work raises a host of

concerns. Will your personal data be subject to your corporate policies? Can your IT department see everything you do on your device even when you’re not at work? Does someone else hold the key to all your data, business and personal? Here are some things to consider before you decide to go bring your own device into the workplace and, if you decide to go forward, some

tips on how to proceed.


Make sure you are comfortable with the “

idea that personal email and documents could be backed up by your company Read your company’s usage policies You might find that your employer requires control over your device so if it is lost or stolen they can remotely wipe your phone. This will typically delete your personal content, including photos, emails, texts, you name it. Rarely do employers exercise this option, but you should be aware that it is i s possible.

Your Y our employer could own your data Many employers will want to back up your emails and documents to keep them centralised and safe if you leave the company. Make sure you are comfortable with the idea that personal email and documents could potentially be included in this policy before using your device for work purposes.

Know your industry limitations In certain cases, such as when dealing with sensitive customer information, medical records, intellectual property and financial data, consolidating devices might simply be verboten or even illegal. It isn’t worth jeopardising your career for convenience.

Do not use unsecured networks If you decide to use your personal phone or tablet to access work applications and data, you must be careful about what networks you hop on to. Make sure that they are safe and that all data is encrypted. 110 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

”

Set a lock-screen password While this might seem like a no-brainer, many consumers do not enable this basic safeguard. Swipe-to-unlock isn’t going to stop anyone from getting into your phone. Oh, and make sure your password is not your birthday, anniversary or any other commonly used number combination. Also, if your device has a biometric feature such as fingerprint recognition, use it.

Use all available controls if you share your device with family members It is tempting to hand your child your tablet to play a game on a long car ride, but be careful. She could accidentally switch over to your email and send a message or make in-app purchases on your company credit card (if it is set as your preferred payment). Also, she could snap a picture of herself and accidentally send it to your client list. Make sure that all applications are password-protected password-protected and not linked to one other, or that parental controls are enabled (if it’s available on your device).

Read the fine print on all applications Yes, the fine print on installation warnings can be teeny-tiny, but that doesn’t mean you should click through them. Many ask for permissions that might

“ A child could accidentally make

purchases on your company credit card, or send a selfie to your client list

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get you in trouble. For instance, social-media apps often want access to address books. If your contacts include co-workers and customers, you do not want them getting an invitation to play a game or to see your latest postings on Instagram.

Make sure you trust each e ach app’s vendor It’s tempting to download an app because a friend or colleague won’t stop talking about it. But apps can be dangerous. Check who created the app, if you recognise the name and if the company is trustworthy. trustworthy. Apps hook into in to all parts of your device so be careful before you allow them on yours. Try to stick to apps from the Google Play store, rather than sideloading APKs.

Partition as much as you can One way to keep home and work separate is to use two different accounts for your email. Even better, better, use different apps to access those accounts. That way you will be less likely to send mail from the wrong one. Also, be careful when texting. Use the device’s native SMS for personal and a companysanctioned app for professional communication.

Enable safeguards such as remote locator locator,, lock and wipe Find as many ways as you can to protect your smartphone and tablet, including turning on GPS so the device can be found if lost or stolen. And make sure you back it up often so if you have to erase it in the event it’s compromised, you won’t lose your data. Apps such as Lookout can help secure and back up your device. 112 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Control notification lights with Light Manager Force your phone’s LED to blink custom colours for different apps, contacts and system statuses

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any Android devices have notification lights: small LEDs that blink to indicate missed calls, new text messages and battery status. These

lights are great – silent and unobtrusive to those around you (unlike ringtones and vibration patterns), and colour-coded to denote different types of notifications. A hastily blinking red light, for example, usually means your phone is about to die. Think of how helpful these lights would be if you could harness the LED and force it to blink custom colours for different apps, contacts and system statuses. You’re in luck, because you can customise

your handset’s handset’s notification light with a simple, free app called Light Manager.


Managing lights There are several light management apps out there, but Light Manager is our favourite, because it’s free, easy to use, and light on system resources. Light Flow, another popular LED management app, is almost three times the size of Light Manager, and we’ve found it has a tendency to drain your device’s battery. Getting started with Light Manager is simple – just download, install and open the app, and you’re ready to start customising your notification lights. The app can look a little overwhelming overwhelming at first, but its simple black-and-white menu is pretty straightforward. At the top, you’ll see the app’s settings menu:

Here, you can choose the operating mode: Normal, which flashes only one colour notification light at a time, or Alternating, which cycles through colours if there are multiple notification lights. Light Flow has a similar feature, but its cycles take about 12 seconds if you’re using the free version (2.5 seconds in the paid version). In the settings menu you can also configure advanced settings, such as adjusting LED brightness and redefining colours (via hex code). 114 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Below the initial settings menu is the meat of the app: LED Setting for Notification. Here, you’ll see a list of apps and functions that you can set custom notification lights for, including missed calls, text messages, email, and Facebook and Twitter. To set up a custom notification light, tap an app or service to open its notification menu. Here you can enable the LED, choose a flash rate (between 1 and 5 seconds), pick a custom colour (choose a preset or enter your own hex code), and test the notification light to see what it i t looks like. For some notifications (such as missed calls) you can add individual custom notification lights for different contacts. Light Manager lets you set custom notification lights for apps, services, network connections connections (for example, a light might blink if you’re no longer on a 3G/4G network) and system statuses. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR 115

When you’re finished setting up your custom notification lights, go to the top of the screen and tap Restart Restart Light Manager to restart the app and enable any changes you’ve made. Light Manager starts running when you start up your device, so there’s there’s no need to ever open the app again. Tuck the app away in a miscellaneous folder on your home screen and enjoy your new rainbow of notification lights!


Get started with Android’s Android’s user profiles Set up your Android tablet as a family PC, with separate accounts for each member of the household

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f you live in a multi-person household where your Android tablet is frequently used by more than one person, you might want to take advantage

of Android’s built-in ability to manage multiple user profiles. You never know who is going to pick up your tablet to quickly check their own email, so you might as well keep your personal data safely shielded away from prying eyes. Google enabled multi-user accounts almost two years ago with the release of Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, and added restricted profiles with Android 4.3 (think: Kids Mode). The functionality is still limited to tablets at the moment. Here’s how to properly share a tablet between friends and family.


Decide who will have fulland partial access Before you begin, it’s essential that you figure out what type of access you want to give to the various parties sharing a tablet with you. Regular and restricted profiles are vastly different in what they allow users to do, but both serve their own purpose. Also, keep in mind that you can create up to eight different user profiles. First, head to the Settings page, then select Users underneath the Device settings. You’ll see a list of profiles already available, including yours, as well as the option to add another. Select Add a user or profile and then designate what type to make.


Now we’ll walk you through the specifics of setting up each type of user account.

How to give full access to anyone If you’re sharing your device with, say, a spouse, you’ll want to add them as a ‘User’ in order to give them full access to the Android operating system. Android will ask for that person to go through the same Google account setup process you did. You’ll always be considered the primary owner of the device, but other, other, unrestricted users will have unfettered access to everything, including apps and settings. For instance, if they download an app, it’ll be made available to everyone else. However, every photo taken, note written, and calendar entry made stays contained within that user’s profile, so you won’t have access to that information – only the ability to delete the account


if necessary. Those users can also set up their own password to keep the owner of the device from snooping in on their stuff.

How to create a restricted profile Whether it’s a nosy relative or a kid with curious fingers, a restricted user profile can ensure that no one gets themselves into a sticky situation. From the user accounts Settings screen, select Restricted Restricted user profile. Android will ask you to create a lock screen passcode if you don’t have one already set up. Then it’s time to tediously pick and choose which apps the restricted user has access to. You can even restrict them from some of Android’s core apps, too, like the camera app. 120 ANDROID ADVISOR ADVISOR • ISSUE 3

Keep it safe. You know, for kids If you’re creating the restricted profile for your little ones, enable access to the Google Play Movies & TV app, and then select Set app restrictions. From here, you can set rating limits on TV shows and movies.

Always use your powers for good As tempting as it might sound, you won’t have access to the information contained within other user accounts if they’re secured with a lock screen passcode. Do use discretion, however, however, and be sure to communicate with the other members of your tablet’s family about what their needs are.

When you’re ready to rid of an account, just click c lick the trash can icon to delete it. ISSUE 3 • ANDROID ADVISOR 121

Consilier Probleme Android Nr 3

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