Android

Ever since the introduction of AOKP, then the boom of the PACman Roms, AOSP builds with a thousand features from different roms loaded into one has become somewhat of a… well, accepted practice, if not expected. It is the norm to expect an all inclusive rom on your device. Nothing wrong with that, it shows the beauty and evolution of Android’s most creative minds. However, seeing as how they are so status quo now, it kind of makes them boring, because someone filled a niche, and it went into overload. Well, that has changed thanks to Team D.I.R.T. with the introduction of the “Dirty Unicorns” Rom. While this Rom falls under the all inclusive category, it rides in a lane of its own. Now as it’s bio states: This ROM is based on the  by Lucky Savings" href="http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?p=41133681#">Android Open Kang Project (AOKP). This was original made out of pure boredom and for personal use. After sharing it with a few people, we decided to take it a step further and turn it into something special while still having fun. Since then we’ve decided to share this ROM with the community and have ported it over to several devices to include the EVO 3D, EVO LTE, Galaxy Nexus and the Nexus 4. The list of features for this rom is beyond extensive. Now if you are familiar with the Team D.I.R.T. Jellybean AOKP Roms, the sheer awesomeness packed into Dirty Unicorns should be no surprise to you at all, I mean, let’s be honest, look who it’s coming from, quality is always a guarantee from these guys. What makes this so great is that this team emphasizes under the hood tweaks to the limit. This includes maximum level overclocking, linaro built kernels, video and photo optimization tweaks, the whole nine. It really makes the fluidity and end user’s overall experience an amazing one. For those of you that want to know this extremely long list of features, they go as follows: - Facebook Sync Hack - Expanded desktop - Notification icon opacity - PIE along with PIE Control - Dirt Settings (based off root-box) - Vertical CRT, Option to turn CRT on/off - Expanded Sound Option - No reboot needed for UI changes - Circle battery color changer - Deskclock flip action alarm mod - Transparent lockscreen - Launcher settings tab - Customizable Quick Settings - Theme engine - Customizable power menu - Customizable lockscreen buttons and sliders - SMS and missed call breathing notifications - Enable/Modify Build.prop tweaks on the fly - Dotted circle battery - cLock clock Widget - DashClock Widget - Evervolv Widgets - 24 Battery options - Tablet UI and Phablet modes - CM Powerwidget - CM Profiles - CM apps (Apollo, DSPManager, CMFileManager, etc) - CM phone advanced settings - CM changelog in settings - Quick emoji button - Media scanner mod - Show Menu UI Overflow - Power Menu options - Lockscreen camera widget toggle on/off - Screenshot delay options - Multiple custom toggles (volume, dark & dirty, screenshot, etc) - Paranoidandroid lockscreen shortcuts - SlimROMs notification shortcuts - SlimROMs TRDS (built in theme in settings) - Transparent Statusbar and NavBar Options - Hardware keys remap mod - Status Bar Auto-Hide option - Gingerbread style Recents option - Per App Settings / Hybrid Settings - Permissions Management - App Sidebar MOD Pretty good. Now I know that there are people out there that are saying that this isn’t extraordinary, but take it from a guy who has first hand experience of the standard that these guys put into their work. You haven’t tested a rom to you load one of these up. From what I have seen so far, this rom is available on the HTC One (T-Mobile), Nexus 4, Galaxy Nexus, Evo 4G LTE and Evo 3D, each with it’s own set of little issues. Another thing to note about D.I.R.T. though, they never let an issue linger for too long, their roms are typically stable within a couple of weeks or so as they claw away at every issue present. Conclusively

LoJack, if you’re familiar with their software for computers and laptops, have made the jump into mobile device territory with the Samsung Galaxy S4 as their first supported device. With this software you’ll be able to trace, lock, and of course, remotely wipe your device if you choose to do so. Unlike other soft wares, LoJack stays in your phone no matter what you do to it, such as factory resetting the device. More importantly you’ll get LoJack’s experience with their years of success in the laptop and computer industry, so you know their representatives are highly trained to retrieve your device. So far no date of the release has been set, but we expect it to be around this summer. Prices have yet to be confirmed but it should range depending on the longevity of your desired subscription. Hit up the break for the full press release! Absolute Software Launches an Industry First with a Consumer Theft Recovery Solution for Android Smartphones Available Soon for the Samsung GALAXY S4 Vancouver, Canada: May 21, 2013 – Absolute® Software Corporation (TSX: ABT), the industry standard for persistent endpoint security and management solutions for computers, laptops and ultra-portable devices today announced it is first to market with a consumer theft recovery solution for Android smartphones. This solution is the result of the Absolute Software and Samsung global partnership announced in early April 2013. Samsung has embedded patented Absolute persistence technology into select Samsung GALAXY devices starting with the Samsung GALAXY S4. Leveraging the same Absolute persistence technology used in LoJack for Laptops, once installed and activated it cannot be removed even if the device is restored to factory settings. When a protected Samsung GALAXY S4 is stolen, the Absolute Investigations and Recovery Services team will work with law enforcement globally to get the device back. Users can also remotely lock, locate their device or delete sensitive files to prevent identity theft. Smartphone theft is on the rise, more than 40 percent of all robberies in New York City involve smartphones and other cell phones. Other major US cities have similar statistics, with robberies involving cell phones comprising 30-40 percent of all robberies.* “Absolute’s unique approach to investigations and theft recovery is exactly what is needed to solve this serious epidemic of smartphone and mobile device theft that is sweeping across our nation,” stated Sheriff Leon Lott, Sheriff, Richland County, South Carolina Sheriff’s Department. “With the rapid growth of smartphone use, mobile theft has increased extensively putting consumers at personal risk. I am thrilled we can provide consumers with a solution to address this serious issue,” said Mark Grace, Vice President, Consumer at Absolute Software. “With our consumer theft recovery solution installed and activated on Samsung GALAXY S4s, users can rest assured that their device can be recovered in the event it is stolen with the help of the Absolute Investigations and Recovery Services team, which has assisted in more than 29,000 successful recoveries in 98 countries.” *FCC, Announcement of New Initiatives to Combat Smartphone and Data Theft, April 10, 2012 Availability The consumer theft recovery solution for Android smartphones will be available early this summer starting at $29.99 with several subscription options ranging from one year up to four years. For more information: www.LoJackforLaptops.com/android About Absolute Software Absolute Software Corporation (TSX: ABT) is the industry standard in persistent endpoint security and management for computers, laptops, ultra-portable devices and smartphones. The Company, a leader in device security and management tracking for more than 20 years, has over 30,000 commercial customers worldwide. Positioned as a Visionary vendor in Gartner, Inc.’s Magic Quadrant for Client Management Tools, Absolute’s solutions – Computrace®, Absolute Ma

Twitter is an extremely popular social media site, and like all other popular services, it suffers from its share of security concerns. Well, today Twitter is stepping up to help ease some of those security issues by introducing two-factor authentication for accounts. Basically, you can set up your account to require a confirmed phone number to verify you whenever you log into Twitter from a new location. This cuts down on unauthorized use from someone stealing your credentials and logging into your account miles away. Setup is simple; go to your account settings page, check the option to require a verification code when you sign in, and set up a phone number. Each time you try to log into Twitter after that, you’ll be sent a text message with a six-digit pin number that you’ll have to put in on Twitter to gain access to your account. As always, picking a strong password and not sharing it is the best way to keep your account secure, but accidents do happen, so it’s nice to have a fallback plan if and when they happen. source: Twitter Come comment on this article: Twitter introduces two-factor authentication for log-ins Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Today LG announced their high-end waterproof handset called the Optimus GJ. The device is just slightly larger than the original Optimus G at 131.9 x 68.9 x 8.5 mm vs. 136.9 x 68.9 x 9.9 mm. It can stay underwater up to 1 meter for as long as 3 minutes. It also features a 4.7 inch IPS HD display, Bluetooth 4.0, 13MP rear camera, quad-core 1.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal memory, MicroSD card slot, and a 2,280 mAh battery. The GJ should be available around June for about $600. source: ePrice Come comment on this article: Waterproof LG Optimus GJ E975W officially announced, will be priced at $600 Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Galaxy S4 Samsung's fastest selling smart phone, beating previous Galaxy models handily As predicted last week, Samsung has pushed over 10,000,000 Galaxy S4 units out the door since the phone first became available on April 26. This solidly beats the previous record of 10 Million Galaxy S3s, which took 50 days and puts the S4 squarely at the top of the list for the years highest sellers, at least for now. On behalf of Samsung, I would like to thank the millions of customers around the world who have chosen the Samsung Galaxy S4. At Samsung we'll continue to pursue innovation inspired by and for the people. -- JK Shin, CEO and president of the IT and mobile communications division at Samsung Electronics In addition to the announcement of 10 million units getting sold, Samsung has also said that we should expect more color variations of the S4 during the course of this summer. The new colors are listed as Blue Arctic and Red Aurora (pictured above), followed by Purple Mirage and Brown Autumn. The S4 will also be moving to 45 more countries over the course of the year, bringing the total countries selling the S4 to 155. Source: Samsung

Ummm, what? You read it right folks, Jennifer Lopez has launched her premium wireless retail center dubbed “Viva Movil” which directly aims the Latino community. Viva Movil is teaming up with Verizon to provide the phones, tablets, and of course the cell phone service for their customers. Viva Movil is no different than going to any other Verizon store or retailer and acquiring their service. Viva Movil will have the same prices, and their devices will be exactly the same as Verizon’s, even branding and all. So one may ask, what’s the difference? Well, J-Lo wants Viva Movil to make cell phone service purchasing a less painful task for the Latino community by having (I’m assuming) bi-lingual representatives and even having a play area for kids when they shop with their families. You can expect this to launch in large metro areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Miami. For now no exact launch dates have been announced, but we expect that to come soon enough. I honestly have no idea why there was a need for this. I obviously have my own opinions on this, but I’ll hold off and ask you guys what you think about this. Good idea, bad idea or are you just as confused as I am? source: Viva Movil Come comment on this article: Viva Movil, a mobile service focused on Latino consumers by Jennifer Lopez Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Google‘s magazine discover app received an update today, changing up the design to match the their Music and Books apps. Version 2.0.0 switches up the navigation menu that matches other publication-reader apps. While it is still missing some of the features of other readers on the market, the Card UI is a definite step up from the previous design. Version 2.0.0 also took care of some “bug fixes,” but the UI seemed to be the primary change. In future releases, we may hope to see some fixtures of other readers, like copy/paste integration, organizational components and specific download locations. You can check out Version 2.0.0 of Google Magazines on Google Play. Google Play Magazines Play Store Link

Opera for Android recently updated their mobile browser and dropped their beta tags, and today Chrome answered with some updates of their own. Updates include performance enhancements and some bug fixes. Search queries are now included in the omnibox. Users can view and refine more results in their query directly in the omnibox, previously displayed in a long URL. On tablets, users can long press the browser’s back button to view the tab history. This update also brings fullscreen viewing. The location bar becomes hidden when you scroll through a page, showing the webpage in its entirety. The Chrome for iOS updates add voice search, a feature already available in Chrome for desktops and Chrome for Android. You can find the update for Chrome on Google Play. Google Chrome for Android Play Store Link

With hectic schedules, it can be hard to keep track of everything in your news feed. That’s why we created the TalkAndroid Daily Dose. This is where we recap the day’s hottest stories so you can get yourself up to speed in quick fashion. Happy reading!! Accessories Qi wireless charging solution for Samsung Galaxy S 4 now available for pre-order Apps Google updates Play Magazines user interface as part of design streamline Google Drive mobile app updated; Brings forth Androids card UI Full screen browsing comes to mobile Chrome with new update Google Google passes IBM to become second most valuable brand, still behind Apple Hardware Qualcomm previews next-gen 2,560 by 1,440 Mirasol display Phones HTC Desire 600 Dual-Sim shows up in benchmarks, mid-range device headed for Europe Sprint announces the Kyocera Hydro Rise smartphone GoldGenie offers Samsung Galaxy S 4 plated in gold, platinum, or rose gold Samsung Galaxy S 4 smartphone headed to Cricket on June 7th Miscellaneous Samsung buys 10% share of Pantech worth $48 million Hi Hey Hello musical short film from Samsung released Surprise!!! Samsung secretly working on fingerprint protection technology behind the scenes HTC’s Chief Product Officer departs and former Product Strategy Manager tells everyone to quit Come comment on this article: TalkAndroid Daily Dose for May 22, 2013 Visit TalkAndroid for Android news, Android guides, and much more!

Samsung announces that the Galaxy S4 has officially sold more than 10 million units worldwide, making it the most successful and quickest selling Android device to date.