Save Battery Life by Setting WiFi Off Automatically During Sleep

We know it sounds a negative sort of a tip but then if you have wifi access throughout the day, and use it often, then this tip can help you to save the battery. You can easily control this with a wifi toggle widget on your homescreen.

    Here’s how you can do that:

        tap the menu button -> Settings -> Wi-Fi settings
        look for Advanced settings
        now set ‘Keep Wi-Fi on during sleep’ to ‘Never’

Samsung slows down: Market forecast woes

Samsung has, over the last little while, definitely become one of the leaders when it comes to smartphones, posting record after record. It has even gotten to the point where in some areas, the Galaxy brand is almost synynomous for telephone. However, some speculation as of late has revealed that Samsung might be in store for a slowdown on the global market and might be snapped back to reality.



"Samsung Stock collapses" was the headling over at heise.de, noting the global price drop to the South Korean companies shares over the last few days. In South Korea, the shares have fallen by about 6 percent, on the Frankfurt stock exchange, they've fallen as much as 8 percent. As the website noted: "The [loss of] market capitalization was therefore some 12 billion U.S. dollars."
Galaxy S4 Issues

Some might be skeptical when placing some of the blame of the recent price drop squarely onto the Galaxy S4. I mean, just after having celebrated the ten millionth S4 sale since it's launch and with market observers indicating that it's not completely unreasonable to expect 80 million units to be sold it would be hard to believe that the flagship device would be causing any issues for the company. However, analysst from JPMorgan have downgraded expectations after a slower start to the second quarter of 2013.

However, the opinion of just JPMorgan isn’t the sole deciding factor behind the stocks downward shift. Experts from South Korea have also recently put Samsung underneath the magnifying glass. "It's a general consensus that the profitability of Samsung's mobile business will weaken," Young Park, with Woori Securities, noted in a recent interview with the BBC. And while profitability behind their devices was another cause for concern, the market of low-cost competition, mainly stemming from China, is another driving force. Chinese companies have start to push around more clout in the smartphone market as they make more established brands at a cheaper price, especially in the entry-level and mid-range segments. Samsung, as of late, has been excelling in the high-end segment, but has fallen behind in the other two.

Ongoing struggle versus Apple

As per usual, Apple was another factor. The WWDC will be happening in San Francisco on Monday and is Apple’s most important event of the year. As with every year, the announcement of new hardware (iMac and Macbook Pros anyone?) as well as the latest update to iOS 7 are expected to be announced.

However, there are some other rumors circulating around that Apple will reveal a new repurchase model for used iPhones that will encourage users to give up their older generation iPhone in exchange for a discount on a newer model. As well, more rumors of a lower priced iPhone are swirling around; giving rise to speculation that Apple will try to break into the mid-range smartphone market as well. And so, while the press for Apple soars on rumors of new devices and whatnot, the forecasts for competitor Samsung continue to swirl around the drain.
samsung gaktie kursIt may be just a matter of perspective: Samsung stock price over the last five days (left) and last 3 years (right) / © Wallstreet-Online, AndroidPIT




By looking at the historic stock price graph for Samsung, one can easily dismiss the blip as par for the course. When looking at the 3 year history, Samsun has seen a steady rise, with small ups and downs a normal par for the course as they continue their cyclical release of new products. However, there could be more to the latest drop in price.

Samsung and Apple have become pretty similar over the last few years, despite being considered rivals. The unprecedented success of Samsung following Apple’s triumph over the smartphone industry is definitely something to be proud of, however, they should be aware that other companies are continually vying for the coveted spot at the top of the market. However, as every mountaineer knows: In order to climb to the top, at some points you’ll also need to go back down.

Scary New Android Malware That Is Very Difficult To Delete

A new Android virus has been discovered and it seems to be the most dangerous and sophisticated piece of malware researchers have seen on the Android operating system. The virus has more in common with Windows type infections than anything previously known on Android.
waving android background by the3dleopard d4lgj2dNew more malicious types of trojans are finding their way onto Android / © AndroidPIT



The piece of malware that has caused a great deal of concern within the Android community is called Obad. Part of the reason why this trojan has alarmed many security researchers is that the codes and files that it uses were encrypted and therefore concealed from any prying eyes. To add to this there is also the issue that once the virus has gained administrative priviledges within the Android phone it cannot be deleted.

The Russian security firm Kapersky lab is the company that has discovered Obad.
Virus Not Yet Widespread

One great piece of news though for Android users is that the virus really is not that widespread at the moment, as are a lot of Android threats. Apparently it totals about 0.15 percent of all malware infections at the moment but this doesn't mean it should be taken lightly as it could spread very quickly.
Virus Almost Impossible To Delete

Once the malware is installed and once it has gained administrative priviledges it can download more malware itself, and also rack up your phone bill by sending sms's to premium rate phone numbers (Those shady phone numbers you send sms' to in those shady surveys). The trojan is also able to execute root commands within the Android console and give itself administrative priviledges. It can also hide itself from the list of applications with admin priviledges and this is what makes it almost impossible for the common android user to delete it.

The piece of malware is formally called Backdoor.AndroidOS.Obad.a. It obviously is not available through the Google Play Store but can be distributed through various other means such as text messages, wi-fi and bluetooth. The virus also exploits some previously unknown Android bugs.

According to people from Kapersky, this trojan looks more like Windows infections instead of something Android is used to. This seems to indicate that as Android becomes more and more popular much like Windows before it on the PC, it will become more and more vulnerable to viruses such as these.

Kapersky has contacted Google about the threat but the Mountain View based company is yet to respond.

What do you think of the security threat on Android devices?

Android Jelly Bean review

Instead of jumping ahead a full version number from 4.0 to 5.0 with Android this year, Google has wisely decided to slow down the new feature freight train just a little, instead expanding upon the solid foundation introduced with Android 4.0: Ice Cream Sandwich last year.

We saw the first version of Jelly Bean (Android 4.1) in the middle of 2012, and we've now updated our review to cover the latest incarnation of the sugary treat - Android 4.2 - so feast your eyes on what the latest version of Google's OS has to offer.

Although this decision may have more to do with slow adoption of ICS, the iterative release allows Google to catch its breath while hopefully allowing carriers, developers and users alike the chance to play catch-up.

Android Jelly Bean review

Of course, that doesn't mean Google abandoned its traditional sugary confection-themed naming scheme: The name's Bean… Jelly Bean… and its mission is to hone Android into a leaner, meaner mobile operating system.

Where Android 3.0: Honeycomb was exclusive to tablets and Ice Cream Sandwich attempted to port the slicker UI over to smartphones as well, Jelly Bean is intended to smooth out the platform's remaining rough edges – while hopefully having more success at widespread adoption than its predecessor did.

In the meantime, Google is seizing this opportunity to not only show OEMs how Android tablets should be done but also swat away unwelcome rivals forking its older mobile OS as their own.

Built in conjunction with Asus, Samsung and LG, Google is shipping its own 7-inch Nexus 7 tablet, 10-inch Nexus 10 tablet and powerful Nexus 4 smartphone - all of which have been treated to Android 4.2.

Will the changes in Jelly Bean be enough to finally make the ambitious goals of Google's Mobile Handset Alliance a reality? Or will handset makers and carriers continue to bog down Android with their own skins, bloatware and other encumbrances?

We may not have the answers to those questions, but there's no denying that Android Jelly Bean is the best version yet – assuming your device is capable of installing it in the first place.

Google Android Vs Apple iOS – What is Your Choice

Smartphone market share is rapidly changing, After Nokia lost its leadership in the smartphone market, competition between Apple iOS and Android became more intense. Both iOS and Android are getting more and more popular and for many average mobile users it is a quite a tough decision to decide between iOS and Android. So we tried to put together the advantages and disadvantages of both operating systems to help the users decide on the OS.
Galaxy S II- a Popular Android Phone from Samsung


Variety of Phones
Since iOS is a property of Apple, you find iOS only in Apple iPhones. There are only few phones like iPhone, iPhone 3G, iPhone 3GS, iPhone 4 & iPhone 4S. On the contrary, Android being an open source platform, there are many manufacturers who use android OS. This you will find different phones with vast variety of different options on android phones. Thus it is likely that the feature you don’t find in iPhone may be found in some Android phone.

Applications
Although Apple App Store has more applications than Android market, you find so many freeware on android market. However for game lovers, Apple App Store has better games compared to Android market. But an average user would not find any problem in finding the software they want as both markets are rapidly growing.
Apple iPhone 4S
Web Browsing
Safari browser found on iPhone is considered to be more user friendly than the stock android browser. However android has so many alternatives for the default browser like Firefox for android. Therefore the gap between the browsing experience is rapidly narrowing.
Google on iPhone Safari

Camera & Video
Well phone cameras are advancing at an amazing speed. 5MP camera introduced today becomes  outdated within months. Current Apple iPhone 4S has 8MP camera & video recording capability at 1080p@30fps. On the other hand android phones from other manufacturers also have similar capabilities. Apple is facing a sever competition from Sony Ericsson & Samsung who are generally famous of making great cameras. Although iPhone seems to have a slight advantage of the camera quality, it may be for a very short period as android phones are coming to the market at a rapid pace.

Affordability
Android is most of the time much cheaper than iPhone. Latest iPhone 4S currently costs around Rs.100,000 in Sri Lanka, which is beyond the reach for most Sri Lankans. On the other hand you find Androids for very cheap prices. Specially Chinese android phones are sold at very cheap prices.

Conclusion – Your Decision!

You need to consider what phone features you most want and see which phone has those features. Also it is important to have a hand on the phone and see how you feel it before you should decide on the phone. So it all depends what you expect from a mobile phone.

How to Set Passcode Lock on Dropbox Files in Android Smartphone

Dropbox is one of the most famous app which is used for storing files in the Cloud. It has clients in all mobile platforms, PC and Mac OS X as well. It is available in Google Plays Store for all android smartphones.

How to Set Passcode Lock on Dropbox Files in Android Smartphone How to Set Passcode Lock on Dropbox Files in Android Smartphone

If you are a regular user of Dropbox and use it to store, sync and share your personal file or most important file, then you are advisable to protect them with passcode.
Here is the instruction to set the Passcode for Dropbox files:

    First open the Dropbox on your android device by choosing it from the app drawer.

    Then press the options or menu key on your phone for the menu to open up. Now choose settings from the list there.

    In the first column of dropbox settings category, choose Passcode lock.

    Now, within the passcode option you should first check the passcode lock button and turn it on.

    Dropbox will now ask you to set your four digit passcode, after which you will have to enter it again for confirmation.

    Once the passcode is set, you will have your passcode options enabled which will allow you to turn it off, change your existing passcode to a new one or erase all the data in your dropbox account when entered incorrectly in 10 attempts.

That’s it. Now, everytime you are opening the app, it will ask you the passcode without which your files won’t be displayed. Make a note that, choosing the erase all data option on Dropbox, it is quite a risk as all data from the device will be deleted. So, do consider before choosing this option and make the best use of this by choosing a strong passcode instead of poor ones like the consecutive numbers (33333) etc.

How to Access Power Saver Settings in HTC One X

Secret Power Saving Setting is available for HTC One X smartphone. It is quite easy to access that option. Just follow the given below instructions for that. Full credits will goes to the XDA Member knightrocker. Because, he only found that setting accidentally using the application called “Minimalistic Text”.

You don’t need root access to enable it. So, let’s start directly:

HTC One X How to Access Power Saver Settings in HTC One X

    Disclaimer: Best Android Blog should not be held responsible for any damages that might occur to your device while following this rooting procedure. So, do everything at your own risk.

Instructions:

    First download and install the “Minimalistic Text” from Google Play Store.

    Then add a 1 x 1 Widget to the Home screen.

    Next select “Predefined Layout” and choose Custom.

    Then again select “Custom Layout” and select Static text and enter the value “Power Saver Settings” and click back button.

    Then, under the “Tap Behavior” Check “Start Another Activity”.

    Open “Select an activity or a shortcut.

    Next scroll down the settings app and tap to open it.

    Pick the “Power Saver Settings” intent.

    Then press OK to place the widget.

    Now you can access the “Power Saver Setting” by tapping on the Widget.

Here is a screenshot of how it will look like:

HTC One X How to Access Power Saver Settings in HTC One X

There are few options you can manipulate in there. But don’t forget changing these option can affect your battery so make sure you remember what options you choose so you can revert it back in case if that affects your battery.

How to Adjust the Screen Timeout on Android Phone

How to Adjust the Screen Timeout on Android Phone

To conserve the battery life your android phone turns off the screen after a certain period of time. But this feature of the android phone usually cause irritation especially if you are reading long business articles or referencing data on your phone.

Lengthening the timeout period keeps the screen on for a longer period of time, so you need not to repeatedly press the unlock or power button to turn the screen back on. Android 2.3 and 3.0 have a screen timeout feature, but this option is adjusted on Android 4.x through the sleep menu.

Screen timeout How to Adjust the Screen Timeout on Android Phone



But keep in mind that, the longer timeout periods will reduce your battery life. For optimal battery performance, select the shortest timeout period that’s comfortable for your activities.
Android 4.x:

    Press the Menu button and tap “Settings”.
    Next touch the “display” from the device section.
    Then tap the sleep and select your preferred timeout before turning off the screen.

Android 3.0:

    Tap “Settings” from the Home screen
    Touch “Screen”
    Tap ”Screen Timeout” and then your preferred timeout period.

Android 2.3:

    Launch the “Settings” from the Home or Menu Screen.
    Tap “Display” and then “Screen Timeout”.
    Touch your preferred timeout period.

Why Android Phones Are Great For Games

Gaming – such as playing casino games like slots and blackjack at online casino sites – has become one of the major functions of mobile phones for many users of these devices, which means that it is big business for all concerned. The two cutting edge operating systems, the iOS one developed by Apple and Google’s Android OS, both have considerable merits when it comes to games, but iOS and Apple tend to attract more media attention. So what is it that makes phones using the less publicized Android OS good for games?

Android Phones Games Why Android Phones Are Great For Games

Well certainly choice is pretty good, as the Google Play-store competes with Apple’s App Store all the way when it comes to the number and variety of games apps available, while virtually every top mobile casino site offers casino games apps for Android phones. However, given that there is probably only negligible difference between the amounts of games apps available at the two rival stores, there has to be more than choice to recommend gaming on an Android phone.

Indeed there is, as for a couple of different reasons, it is generally a cheaper option to do so, than to use iOS phones. The first reason for this is that there are simply a lot more phones that use Android – indeed almost all of the major models outside of the Apple universe do so – which means that there will be greater variety of pricing when it comes to the actual phone itself, with more or less all Android powered phones offering good gaming.

Secondly there is the fact that there are more games apps that can be downloaded for free from the Google Playstore than there are from the App Store, which means that – even though many of the same games are available for both systems – you will likely get them for less money if you use an Android phone.

An Overview of the Updated Chrome Beta for Android

Chrome Beta for Android recently got updated, much to the delight of the Android user community. Most of the hitches that had plagued the previous version have been corrected, and the new browser is not only better, it is distinctly faster as well. The annoying bugs have been eliminated, and the browser is now fully reliable.
Continued Support:

Android users are spoilt for choice when it comes to the variety of browsers they have. While the native one provided on all Android smartphones performs just as well, most users feel more at home with third party browsers. The Chrome Browser for Android is one of this, and it has a wide receivership, since it offers, or at least promises to offer the same seamless performance as the PC version, but on a reduced scale. It has not been smooth sailing so far, but the new update has fixed most issues to make it an even more user friendly browser without any obvious shortcomings.

chrome droid An Overview of the Updated Chrome Beta for Android
What are The Updates reflected in Chrome Beta for Android?

The latest update of the browser is the third this month alone, and it aims at addressing the instability elements of the Beta.

The biggest improvement on the updated browser is the page rendering. The rendering response is noticeably faster with no annoying lags, and the overall rendering performance is significantly better.

You can also now scroll images after zooming in. The bug that hindered this has been removed, and the blue line that would sometimes spontaneously display below the search box has also been removed.

Huawei tablet users would experience a black screen as the browser loaded, and this too has been fixed. There are no more accidental crashes on the updated version and the dreaded black screen that appears during loading is now a thing of the past.
Are there any shortcomings in Chrome Beta for Android?

Granted, the Google Chrome Beta browser is far from perfect, and it has even been described as being a little rough around the edges, but it is good browser nonetheless. With the enormous support it is receiving from Google and the frequent updates that seek to improve or perfect its different aspects, it is a very solid choice. It, for one, offers more abundant options than the one provided on stock Android.
Availability:

The updated Chrome Beta for Android is available for download from the Google Play Store. You could alternatively visit the Google Chrome blog and download it from there.