Category: Articles

Top 8 Apps for Android Gingerbread

Android is one of the most widely used platforms now, famous for the big number of apps it supports. The most famous version of Android is perhaps the latest update — Gingerbread, which brings a number of useful features.

Android Market offers many, many interesting apps designed for Android Gingerbread, but here is my list of top 8 Android Gingerbread apps. Maybe it will be useful for you, too, if you’re looking for new apps for your Android smartphone.

Facebook for Android

Facebook is very popular now, so the developers of the Android OS decided to devote a separate application for Facebook, in addition to the social networking widget. The application comes with separate icons for each of the features of Facebook, including Friends, News Feed, Profile, Messages, Places, Groups, Events, Photos and Chat. So it’s quite a useful app for all social networking fans. You can download it from here.

Titanium Backup

Titanium Backup used to be an exclusive feature for the iPhone, but now we have its Android version, too. It allows to backup all of the data on your device and save it in some other location, including other devices or PCs. Though the overall process can seem to be complicated, the application is rather easy to use. There are two versions of the application — paid and free. Both of them allow to get back applications, music files and even SMS/MMS messages. The paid version of the application costs $6.19, which is quite expensive, but some customers claim that the speed and the performance of this version is radically improved if compared with the free version.

adbWireless

This application helps to wirelessly transfer files from your Android device to your computer in only a few minutes. adbWireless is free of charge, and you can download it from Android Market. The application is frequently used by hackers, that’s why it’s advised to be careful with it.

SetCPU

You will be required to pay a small amount of $1.99 for this application — and you will get the opportunity to control the speed of your processor. So you can make your device faster or — just the opposite — make it slower (to increase the battery life or for some other reason). If this application is not good enough for you, you can also use CPU Tuner for more accurate battery and processor control.

Root Explorer

This application is mainly targeted at the UK customers coming with a price of 2.40 GBP. The application will help you out to get rid of all unnecessary files, applications, roots and other things. If you want to keep some of them but do not have enough space, the application will allow to create a ZIP file and to to store some files in it. I use this app quite often, and I guess you’ll also find it useful.

Android Terminal Emulator

Those who are familiar with CMD on Windows will definitely enjoy this application. Android Terminal Emulator gives you access to the built-in Linux command line shell of Android, so it’s very popular among programmers. But this free app can be interesting for you, too, even if you know nothing about programming.

AdFree Android

If you hate the apps in Android, this free app is what you need. It removes most of the ads in the browser and in many other Android apps (just like a similar add-on in Firefox), making the apps and especially the browser work much faster. But you should keep in mind that the application is designed for rooted devices only.

CacheMate for Root Users

CacheMate for Root Users allows to easily clear the cache of your device, improving the smartphone’s performance. The free version of the application will clear everything, while the paid version will also give an opportunity to remove only some selected things. Anyway, the paid version of the application costs only $1.00, which is not much for an interesting and useful application.

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September 20, 2011 | 0 Comments More

Top 5 Android Smartphones of 2011

Many great Android-based smartphones were released in 2011, and most of them were awarded with lots of attention and love. Of course, if we try to mention all those famous smartphones, it will be a list with many bullets, but here, we’ll try to put aside five of those we like more then others. I hope this list will help you if you’re going to buy your first Android smartphone or upgrade the existing one.

So here is out list of Top 5 Android mobile phones:

5. HTC Desire S

Maybe the HTC Desire S isn’t the best smartphone ever (no dual-core processor, after all, and the camera isn’t that gorgeous), but no one will argue if I say it’s still a great device, nicely built, elegant, fast and user-friendly. So no wonder it’s so popular now!

The HTC Desire S is first of all famous for running Android 2.3 Gingerbread while many high-end smartphones haven’t received this update yet. Besides, its hardware features are good, too: 1GHz Scorpion processor, Qualcomm MSM8255 Snapdragon and Adreno 205 GPU. Together with 1.1GB of ROM and 768MB of RAM they ensure great performance and fast web-browsing.

The smartphone features a 3.7-inch S-LCD capacitive touchscreen (480 x 800) protected by the famous Gorilla Glass technology. As for the camera, it’s only 5MP (with auto-focus and LED flash), but it takes rather good 2592 x 1944 pictures and shoots 720p videos at 30fps. Plus the standard Li-Ion 1450 mAh battery is more than enough to make all these features work.

The HTC Desire S is a great choice for all those who want a good smartphone for a decent price. Today the unlocked version of the smartphone costs in the range of 450$-500$, but you can find even more affordable HTC Desire S deals online, starting with a free phone and around 13£/month (UK).

4. Google Nexus S

The Google Nexus S is the next smartphone in our list of 5 most famous Android devices. Just like the HTC Desire S, it’s based on Android Gingerbread, has a great performance, especially when playing games, using multiple apps or any other features at the same time.

It has a bigger display (4.0-inch Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen) than the HTC Desire S, so it’s a bit cooler, though the other features are almost the same – 1GHz ARM Cortex-A8 processor (not a dual-core one again!), PowerVR SGX540 GPU, a 5MP rear-facing camera, 512MB of RAM and 16GB Storage.

The unlocked version of the Google Nexus S is much cheaper than the Desire S – you can buy it starting 400$ from most online retailers. So it’s a great choice for those who want a good smartphone without signing contracts with carriers.

3. Sony Ericsson Xperia Play

For a long time I was sure that my Nokia phone had the best sound ever. Then one of my friends said I just hadn’t heard the sound of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. Soon I got the chance to make sure my friend was right – the Xperia Play’s sound was really great, and even my Nokia couldn’t be compared with it…

Of course, good sound isn’t the main feature of Sony Ericsson’s smartphone. It’s a great choice for those who like gaming, too. It runs the newest version of Android OS, just like the first two devices we described. It also has a 4.0-inch LED-backlit LCD capacitive touchscreen with a slide keypad (not QWERTY, unfortunately, but a d-pad) and special gaming buttons.

The Sony Ericsson Xperia Play also boasts a 1GHz Scorpion processor with Adreno 205 GPU and 512MB of RAM. Its camera is only 5MP, but it’s rather good anyway.

2. HTC Sensation

Many geeks are now quarreling which Android-based smartphone is the best at the moment – the HTC Sensation or the Samsung Galaxy S II. Some say they’re both very good, others say the Sensation is better…

I personally think that HTC’s smartphone has to take the second place in this list, leaving the first one for Samsung’s device. Of course, it has great build quality and powerful features (Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 4.3-inch touchscreen, 540 x 960 pixels, 1.2GHz dual-core processor (dual-core at last!), Qualcomm MSM 8260 Snapdragon, Adreno 220 GPU, 1GB storage, 768MB RAM, 8 MP camera with auto-focus and dual-LED flash and many others), but something makes most people like the Galaxy S II more. I guess it’s the design…

Anyway, you can buy the unlocked version of the HTC Sensation from $550 or find better HTC Sensation deals with your local carriers.

1. Samsung Galaxy S II

So the Samsung Galaxy S II seems to be the best Android-based smartphone at the moment with its huge 4.3-inch Super AMOLED Plus capacitive touchscreen display (480 x 800), Gingerbread, 1GHz Samsung dual-core processor, 1GB of RAM and the cool 8MP camera with auto-focus and LED flash.

The Galaxy S II is stylish, slim, light, but durable and very fast. A great choice for those who can spare $600 on a smartphone.

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August 31, 2011 | 0 Comments More

Android Leads in US Smartphone Market in Q2

Yesterday NPD Group posted its next report where we can find many interesting facts about Android. We have already investigated many reports showing how popular Google’s operating system is: Verizon Still Dominates in Android Market with 41% Share; Android 2.3 Taking 24% of Android Devices; Android is the number one platform in 35 of 56 countries; Android Tablets Getting 30% Market Share and so on.

Now NPD Group’s report gives a new reason to all Android fans to be proud of their favorite platform — Android has accounted for 52 percent of the U.S. smartphone market in Q2.

The best selling smartphone in the U.S. at the moment is the iPhone 4, leaving behind the iPhone 3GS, the HTC Evo 4G and the HTC Inspire 4G. So here we can say, though HTC yields to Apple, Android is in the leading positions.

Well, let’s return to Android’s success. According to the report, 52 percent of the smartphones sold in the U.S. during Q2 ran Android, 29percent ran iOS, 11 percent ran RIM’s BlackBerry OS, and Windows Phone 7, Windows Mobile, webOS have less than 5 percent of market share.

What is interesting, 44 percent of all Android handsets sold in Q2 were manufactured by Motorola, and now when Google is going to buy it for $12.5 billion we see its market share drops to 22 percent. The main “culprits” of this are Samsung and LG. Though Google and Motorola’s fans have no reason to worry about, as Motorola has 12 percent of the smartphone market in Q2.

Source

August 23, 2011 | 0 Comments More

How to Install and Uninstall Apps on Android

What’s the best thing in having an Android device? Right, Android has conquered half of the world thanks to the huge number of great apps available on the Android Market. So many of us want to have Android-based smartphones to get the opportunity to use those apps.

Some people are interested in getting different SMS-related Android apps, for others having Google Maps or Facebook apps is a must, some others need Adobe Flash or other similar applications. Android Market has more than 300.000 apps now, so almost anything can be found there.

The only question for some people is how to download and install the desired apps and how to remove them. If installing apps is more or less easy and clear, you can’t say the same about uninstalling – many people have no idea how to do it.

To tell the truth, when I got my first Android device, it took me some time to understand how I should install an app from Android Market. I tried to download them from my PC to move them to my phone later, but I didn’t manage to. Later I learned about the right way to install Android apps, and I would like to share it with you. Maybe this post will be useful for those who have just bought their first Android devices and experience the same difficulties I once had.

You probably already know that some Android apps from the Android Market are free, some others cost money, not that much though. It’s really easy to download and install both.

How to install Android apps

  • First of all, enter the Marketplace from your smartphone (no, you can’t download from your PC, unfortunately…). You’ll need an Internet connection – that goes without saying.
  • Find the app you want to install – either go to one of the categories (Applications, Games) or use the Search button.
  • Learn more about the app, read about its developer, permissions and so on. Usually user reviews are also available – they can also be very useful for you.
  • If you decide to install the app, just click on the Free (or Install) button if the app is free or the Buy button if the app is paid. If you’re going to download a free app, just click OK to accept the permissions, and the app will be downloaded and installed automatically. In case of a paid app, after accepting the permissions by pressing OK, you’ll most likely have to sign in to your Google Checkout account and click on Purchase now. That’s all.

How to uninstall Android apps

If there is an application on your smartphone you don’t want any more, here is an easy way to get rid of it.

  • Enter the Android Market and select My Apps (have a look at the screenshot above) – you’ll see the list of apps installed on your smartphone.
  • Select the one you want to uninstall.
  • Open the app, and you’ll see two options – Open and Uninstall. Select Uninstall – that’s it.
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August 17, 2011 | 0 Comments More

Which US State is Dominated by Android?

Recently we talked about Android’s position in the world, and we found out this platform had conquered almost the half of the world. Now other analysts decided to discover which mobile OS dominates in each state of the U.S. You certainly guessed Android is the leader, but let’s look at the map below, it’s very interesting.

The survey is done by Jumptap, which introduced a map showing which states have more Android activity versus iOS activity across its network. Generally, the U.S. has one of the largest smartphone markets in the world with about 83 million users. So, Android dominates in the Southern and Western states while Midwest and New England states’ users prefer iOS. Oddy, the New York state is neutral.

Android market share is 38 percent in the U.S. while Apple’s iOS covers only 33 percent (according to June’s data). I can also introduce other numbers received from comScore: Their research showed Android market share is 40 percent versus Apple’s 26.6 percent. We’ve got such a difference because Jumptap counted the iPod Touches, too, while comScore took into account only smartphones.

The fact there are more Android smartphones than iOS-based ones was known initially, but Apple performs better for advertisers. This means the 0.78 percent of mobile ads on the Apple’s products, including the iPads and the iPod Touches, are clicked on (against Android’s 0.47 percent). It’s interesting Symbian has 0.50 percent, so we can assume the number of produced phones doesn’t mean everything.

August 8, 2011 | 0 Comments More
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