Android

Google Cast SDK released, now iOS devs can integrate with Chromecast

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 3, 2014

Google's inexpensive HDMI dongle dubbed Chromecast offers great value for money. For just $35, users can stream Netflix, HBO GO, YouTube, Hulu Plus, Pandora, Google Play TV & Movies and more, from their favorite mobile apps and websites right to their big screen TV sets - much like AirPlaying through Apple's $99 media-streaming box, the Apple TV.

While Google's been adding new Chromecast content sources, the device's true potential remained largely untapped because Google would only open up Chromecast to select few developers.

But not anymore. As of today, the official Google Cast Software Development Kit (SDK) is available to developers wishing to enhance their iOS and Android apps and websites with Chromecast integration...

Guy impersonates Apple Store employee, tells shoppers to go Android

Christian Zibreg ∙ February 3, 2014

A new prank is making rounds on the web as comedian and YouTuber Tyler Fischer impersonates an Apple Store employee at four different locations in New York City, telling unsuspecting customers to switch to Android because the iPhone is too pricey.

He can be also seen convincing customers that new iPhones are coming tomorrow and that the iPad has "400 megapixels" - megapixels, not megabytes - of RAM and "300 Skype units"...

Nintendo confirms it’s working on mobile ‘service’ apps

Cody Lee ∙ January 30, 2014

It's been an interesting week regarding Nintendo news and its plans for the mobile market. With the company expected to report its second straight year of profit loss, and its hardware sales tanking, pundits are hoping to see it enter the mobile space.

Earlier this week, a report from Japan's Nikkei claimed that Nintendo was working on 'mini games' for mobile devices. The company has since denied the rumor, but during a strategy briefing earlier today, it confirmed it is working on mobile apps...

Samsung and Google agree to 10-year patent deal

Cody Lee ∙ January 26, 2014

Huge news coming out of Mountain View this afternoon. Google has announced that it has reached a global patent cross-licensing agreement with Android heavyweight Samsung, covering a broad range of technologies and business areas.

Few details are known about the agreement at this time, but the companies have said that it's a 10-year deal and that it covers all current and future technology patents. The move will bolster the patent positions for both Samsung and Google...

DOJ files first ever criminal charges against mobile app pirates

Cody Lee ∙ Updated April 16, 2018

The US Department of Justice has long taken issue with large-scale copyright infringement. It's gone after pirates of various different kinds of content, including music and movies—who could forget the FBI raid on the home of Megaupload's Kim Dotcom.

But up until now, the DOJ has never gone after mobile app pirates. That changed this week, though, when it filed charges against 4 men behind Android app piracy websites Snappzmarket and Appbucket for conspiracy to commit criminal copyright infringement...

Christmas Lumia sales collapse, Nokia schedules media event to – unveil Android device?

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated February 9, 2016

After reading a Forbes article two days ago highlighting 24 countries where Windows Phones outsells the iPhone - which disregards the fact that Microsoft is gaining traction in markets where the iPhone doesn’t compete because Windows Phone sales are most in the low-end - I wanted to write a reality check type of an article.

Today, both Nokia and Microsoft were served a reality check after the struggling Finnish handset maker reported a whopping 29 percent lower handset revenue in the Christmas quarter. Worse, sales are decelerating at an alarming clip: Nokia said it sold 8.2 million phones during the Christmas quarter versus Wall Street consensus of ten million units. And they only sold 30 million handsets during 2013.

The company has now scheduled a press conference at the upcoming Mobile World Congress in February amid persisting rumors of a budget Android phone with the Nokia logo on it, the ambitious project apparently code-named Normandy...

Phil Schiller points to new mobile security report criticizing Android

Cody Lee ∙ January 21, 2014

Phil Schiller doesn’t tweet very often. But when he does, he tends to make good use of his 115,000+ followers. Early last year the executive tweeted a link to an Android-slamming mobile malware report, and today he's pointed to another report that highlights Android's security flaws.

This afternoon, Schiller tweeted a link to Cisco's 2014 Annual Security Report, which was released last week. The report notes that overall vulnerabilities are the highest they've ever been (since tracking began in 2000), and that 99% of all mobile malware is targeted at Android devices...

CES 2014: Pebble announces next-generation ‘Pebble Steel’ smartwatch

Cody Lee ∙ January 6, 2014

For weeks, Pebble has been hinting that it had a big announcement coming up at CES, and today it finally let the cat out of the bag. The smartwatch-maker unveiled its next generation wearable, the Pebble Steel, with an all-new band and face design.

The Steel features a stainless steel body with a leather or steel band—a huge upgrade from the plastic used in the previous model— and a face covered with Gorilla Glass. The new Pebble is lighter, and has a thinner profile thanks to slimmer bezels...

CTIA launches Know My App web tool detailing mobile app data usage

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated September 26, 2016

The App Store hosts a myriad of utilities to measure your favorite app’s cellular data usage after downloading, ranging from DataMan Next to Apple's own per-app measurements in Settings > Cellular. However, no tool existed to estimate an app’s data usage before downloading it.

That's where a new solution called Know My App comes handy.

A website launched by CTIA on Thursday, an industry trade group that represents the international wireless telecommunications industry, Know My App features a growing list of popular mobile applications with their respective data usage broken down in several useful categories.

This lets folks on metered cellular plans educate themselves on how much data their favorite app is using when it's downloaded, at initialization, during active run time and during background time. The website also includes information about how smartphone and tablet owners can conserve data...

iOS five times as popular as Android for Christmas shopping on mobile

Christian Zibreg ∙ December 27, 2013

In something of a repeat of 2012 when the iPad crushed Android tablets in Black Friday mobile revenue, this time around U.S. shoppers used their iPhone, iPod touch and iPad gadgets to racket up a whopping five times the amount of mobile Christmas Day sales as Android devices did, accounting for more than an 83 percent take of mobile-oriented sales compared to Google's mobile platform.

That's the gist of yesterday's survey by IBM providing insights into the nation's mobile holiday shopping patterns. Read on for the full breakdown...

In Motorola’s Moto G phone, Apple’s iPhone 4S has more than met its match

Oliver Haslam ∙ Updated April 14, 2018

Apple has a problem. It's not a problem that pertains to its high-end iPhone 5s, and it's not even a problem with the mid-range, somewhat superfluous iPhone 5c. It's actually the iPhone 4S that is an issue for Apple. Sitting at the bottom of the company's smartphone range and being offered for peanuts if not free, the iPhone 4S was previously thought of as a rather capable budget handset. And it still is.

The problem that Apple now faces is that all those cheap Android phones that we've all laughed at over the years are starting to get a bit big for their shoes. In fact, some are downright great handsets, with one in particular doing its best to shake up the way we think about smartphones and what we should be paying for them.

I am, of course, talking about the Motorola Moto G...

AllCast Android app streams content to Apple TV, Roku and other set-top streaming boxes

Christian Zibreg ∙ Updated August 26, 2017

I'm loving my Apple TV and AirPlay, an Apple media technology which streams content from the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and Mac devices to television sets through the company's $99 set-top box.

Unfortunately, AirPlay is a proprietary technology that only works with Apple hardware. Don't you just wish the industry finally settled on a single cross-platform streaming media standard?

That's the issue a new application for Android devices is attempting to tackle. Created by CyanogenMod developer Koushik Dutta, the AllCast app lets you stream online (Dropbox, Google Drive and so forth) or locally-stored content to your Apple TV, Roku and a number of other set-top boxes and DLNA-compatible devices such as the PlayStation 3 console.

Currently in beta, the software works surprisingly well and I've included a video to show it to you right after the break...