Believe it or not, you can have a reasonably secure smartphone without shelling out $630 for the recently released Blackphone. The Wall Street Journal’s Geoffrey Fowler has written up five best practices for making sure the conversations and messages you have on your smartphone stay as private as possible and they’re simple enough for just about anyone to use.
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We’ve seen that battery life has became a huge factor when it comes to choosing a smartphone and Google has smartly made improving battery life a key goal of its upcoming Android L release. Ars Technica decided to put Android L to the test and found that the same phone with Android L had 36% more battery life — or about two extra hours of run time — than it had when it was running Android 4.4 KitKat.
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I’m not sure I am mentally ready for this whole smartwatch/band/charm/bracelet thing. I love watches — real watches — and it makes me sad to think there’s a good chance that even beautiful mechanical watches are going to fade away in the near future.
I say that already knowing that relatively zero people wear watches for reasons other than functionality at this point, and the youngest generations can’t be bothered. We spend an inordinate amount of time on our phones and other devices. We check them every 10 seconds, constantly pulling them out of pockets and bags to see if we have any notifications. Obviously, it does make wonder if there is some way of extending your phone’s functionality in a manner that lets you live more and do more without being bogged down in notification purgatory.
The answer for damn sure isn’t glasses on your face. So what if it does involve a watch-like device on your wrist? I have been toying with a couple of Android Wear devices and Android L over the past few days, and I’m slowly warming up to the idea.
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Facebook always seems to be taking heat for something, and its most recent slip up involved conducting a massive psychological experiment on its users without their knowledge or permission. Mere weeks before this latest uproar, however, Facebook found itself the target of user complaints for another reason: The company announced that it would begin tracking users’ web browsing history and using it to serve targeted advertisements.
But thankfully, there is now a way to stop it once and for all.
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After commissioning an external agency to conduct on-site checks for 100 suppliers in China last year, Samsung discovered pervasive labor violations such as discriminatory language in recruitment notices or contracts, careless administrative errors and excessive overtime hours in a majority of the suppliers. In Samsung’s Sustainability Report for 2014, the company has detailed its code of conduct and provided solutions for each and every violation the agency disclosed.
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Google’s newly unveiled “Android L” software is the biggest upgrade to the Android platform that we have seen in quite some time. The software includes a complete redesign of the Android user interface that Google calls “Material Design,” and it marks a big and beautiful departure from earlier Android versions. But L is about much more than just looks. There are also thousands of new APIs for developers as well as tons of great new features.
And now, you can get one of Android L’s best new features on your smartphone without waiting for Android L’s release this fall.
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Another day, another batch of awesome paid iPhone and iPad apps that can be downloaded for free if you act fast. Different app makers are constantly offering their paid apps for free in an effort to drum up some extra interest, but sifting through all of those apps can be a tiring task. Luckily, BGR is happy to do the heavy lifting for you. Today we have six nifty apps to tell you about, but remember: These sales often last for just a short time, so be sure to act quickly if you see anything you like.
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When we think of iOS, in all of its various incarnations, we think of methodical progress. When we look at Android, we see stunted growth and fragmentation. Google has always put functionality ahead of visual appeal when it comes to its mobile operating system, sometimes to a fault, but out of nowhere, it looks like the designers have finally tied up all the loose ends and created an attractive, responsive interface with Material Design in Android L.
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Is Samsung finally getting ready to unveil the smartphone we’ve all been waiting for? Samsung’s top smartphones have all have a few things in common over the past few years. They have all had gorgeous displays and plenty of nifty features, and they have all featured plastic cases that feel cheap and flimsy. According to a series of leaks, however, we may soon finally be able to get our hands on an awesome high-end Samsung smartphone with a premium look and feel that matches its premium specs.
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Hackers, start your engines — Andorid L is ready to be picked apart and made even more awesome. Google has released the source code for its brand new mobile operating system, currently referred to as “Android L.” The Android L source code has been made available through the Android Open Source Project website for the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 tablet (current-generation model and previous-generation model) and Nexus 10 tablet.
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