It’s been said time and time again that the camera on the iPhone is an excellent camera. In fact, it’s become such a popular camera that there’s a whole genre of photography known as ‘iPhoneography’. iPhone photographers not only use the camera and lens built into their iPhone, but also an assortment of apps to edit, enhance, and show off their work. There are so many great apps out there, so we’ve narrowed it down to a few of our favorites.
KitCam
The first app we’re going to take a look at is a fantastic tool for taking your photos. With it, you can adjust exposure, white balance, lenses, and film before you even take the photo. It also features convenient shooting modes like a timer, multi-exposure, time-lapse, and more. You can also view each photo’s histogram and make adjustments to levels, brightness, contrast, and saturation. If you’re looking to take more control over your iPhone’s camera, definitely grab KitCam.
KitCam does offer some nice editing options, but if you want even more, Photoforge2 is an excellent choice that’s bursting with advanced controls. The most notable is the ability to use multiple layers and masks and make advanced adjustments including curves, levels, color balance, channel mixer, white balance, noise reduction, and more. You can also add over 25 different filters and FX and combine different films lenses, filters, and textures.
Complex and advanced controls are great, but sometimes you want something quick and easy, yet awesome — like VSCO CAM. This gem features a sleek design with minimal processing options, but the options are good. There’s a nice variety and all the basics are covered. VSCO CAM is a great app to have in your grab bag of editing tools.
If you’re shooting portraits with your iPhone camera, then Facetune should be your go-to app for touching up blemishes, smoothing out skin, enhancing eyes, and even reshaping. Seriously, Facetune is amazing. Check out the review for a full rundown.
Collages (or “storyboards”) are an excellent way to show off multiple photos at once. They are a great way to tell a story. The App Store is also flooded with apps that help you build collages, but the one I keep coming back to is Fuzel Pro. It has an artistic design, makes it quick and easy to add photos, and gives you control over the layouts of your collages.
After editing your photo to perfection, you may realize that it would make a great poster, sign, or inspirational message. With Photolettering, you can do just that using fonts from world-renowned type foundry House Industries. It’s free with a few fonts and additional fonts are available via in-app purchase. If you’re looking to mix photography with typography, Photolettering is the way to go.
You didn’t think I’d get through an article about photography apps without mentioning Instagram, did you? Although there are a lot of things I would love to see changed about Instagram (especially forced square crops), there’s no denying it’s usefulness as a way to share photos. Yes, there’s a lot of snapshots of pets and kids (my own included) and plates of food, but there is also a lot of amazing photography being shared on Instagram, as well.
So there you have it! iMore’s best apps for iPhone photographers. Did we miss any of your favorites? What apps do you use to shoot, edit, enhance, and show off your photos taking with your iPhone?
In the past 12 months, we saw the quote-unquote phablet — a.k.a. the overgrown smartphone — rise to dominance, and now it has pretty much become the new face of the Android smartphone market. Gone are the days of phones with modest 3.5-inch screens, dual-core processors, and limited wireless features. Nowadays, you’ll be hard-pressed to find a handset that doesn’t have a 5-inch screen, quad-core CPU, and some form of next-gen wireless networking.
Last year’s phones were great, don’t get us wrong. Who could forget the HTC One X, the first Android handset with a quad-core processor? Or the nature-inspired Samsung Galaxy S3? Again, last year’s phones were awesome. But it’s about time that we all took a look at a new list of the best Android phones ever released so far, and compare them with the stuff that we believe will arrive in the later months. Then we’re going to pick out the very best one out of this selection, just like we did in 2012.
2013 has been an absolute whirlwind of a year for Android. We’re seeing the biggest device makers try their best to exceed consumer expectations, while at the same time, trying to one-up each other by releasing bigger, better, and faster phones. There has been a lot of emphasis on “bigger” there, but we’re not complaining.
There are a lot of great phones worthy of being called the best out there, and we know that more are on the way (Nexus 5, anyone?) so we will update this piece accordingly. But we also know that there can be only one. So without further ado, meet the contenders.
HTC
If you’re looking for reasons why you should not upgrade to the Samsung Galaxy S4 — or purchase any other phone, for that matter — we can give you at least one. The HTC One is, by far, the absolute best Android phone that HTC has ever concocted, and it’s a serious contender for the title of best smartphone of 2013. It’s also a symbol of HTC’s fight for survival.
HTC One Specs
4.7-inch Super LCD3, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels), ~469 ppi
4MP auto-focus camera with LED flash (1080p video recording)
1.7GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait 300 CPU + Adreno 320 GPU
32GB/64GB internal storage (no microSD support), 2GB RAM
Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, upgradeable to Android 4.2.2
2,300mAh battery (non-removable)
We have to admit, the HTC One doesn’t exactly scream “best Android phone ever” on paper. Some of its features might even make it look a bit underwhelming. “4-megapixel camera?” We know, we had the same reaction when we first found out about it, too. But don’t let it fool you.
Although the HTC One might appear to be under-specced, it’s anything but. It’s actually one of the more feature-rich handsets outed so far this year, especially when it comes to the camera. It also offers a unique homescreen experience courtesy of a little something called HTC BlinkFeed, which may or may not be useful depending on how you use your phone.
The bottom line is, in the sea of Android copycats, the HTC One easily stands out. Now if only HTC can get it to the hands of consumers already…
HUAWEI
Trying to capitalize on the enormous amount of work that it did dating back to early 2012, Huawei is now on the verge of convincing many people to change their viewpoints concerning the Huawei brand. Still, though it’s no stranger to catching people’s attention, Huawei has all its work cut out for it.
As part of its plan to take on the entire Android market on all fronts, Huawei is expected to launch the still rumored Huawei Edge, a smartphone with an all-aluminum chassis and top-of-the-line features that would make most big brand flagship phones from other companies cry.
Huawei “Edge” Specs
4.9-inch, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels)
13MP camera
1.7GHz quad-core K3V3 CPU + Mali T604 GPU
16GB/32GB internal storage
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean
2,600mAh battery
It’s not clear when — or where — the Huawei Edge is first going to arrive. But once it does, it’s likely to be talked about, pictured, tested, and perhaps even mandhandled as much as possible. We know we would.
LG
LG pretty much gets a free pass to be on this list because of its status as maker of the current flagship Nexus smartphone from Google. And it doesn’t hurt that it did a really great job with it, too. The LG Nexus 4 is one of the most in-demand Android phones out on the market because it offers a no-frills “stock” Android experience, one that won’t leave users annoyed with bloatware and scrambling for ways to flash custom ROMs in order to get some peace of mind.
LG Nexus 4 Specs
4.7-inch IPS+, HD (1280×720 pixels), ~318 ppi
8MP auto-focus camera with LED flash (1080p video recording)
1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait CPU + Adreno 320 GPU
8GB/16GB internal storage (no microSD support, 2GB RAM
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean, upgradeable to Android 4.2.2
2,100mAh battery (non-removable)
Another thing that makes the LG Nexus 4 a must-have is the fact that it gets Google-issued Android software updates faster than any other handset you can buy right now, which is standard operating procedure for all of Google’s Nexus devices. There are some who find the Nexus 4′s lack of support for microSD cards quite disappointing, but the good news is that Android — the default version of the operating system itself, that is — doesn’t really take up too much space to begin with.
With all of that said, the LG Nexus 4 is clearly not the most powerful model that you can get your hands on. People tend to buy it more for the software, and rarely ever for the hardware. It even lacks an FM radio, but buying it will likely to lead to you saving a bunch of money, and that’s a good thing.
MEIZU
Meizu claims a spot for itself in this year’s list of contenders for the best Android phone with the upcoming (still rumored) Meizu MX3.
Very little is known about the Meizu MX3 at this point, so we can’t really tell you much, though we want to. The most interesting bit of info that we know about it so far? It will ship with the exact same processor that’s fitted in the Samsung Galaxy S4. If that’s the case, it’s sure to be a powerful phone, no matter what.
MOTOROLA
Not much is really known about the rumored Motorola/Google X Phone at the moment — though there has been no shortageof rumors that sometimes seem to contradict each other whenever they pop up. But even now it doesn’t look like it’ll have much to offer in terms of specs. Just as with Google’s Nexus line of smartphones, the draw will likely be due to the software, as there is a possibility that the X Phone will launch as the first handset rocking Android version 5.0.
Motorola Google X Specs
4.8-inch LCD, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels)
Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
32GB/64GB internal storage (no microSD card support), 2GB RAM
Android 4.2 Jelly Bean or Android 5.0.1
Even if the X Phone doesn’t launch with what would then be the latest version of Android, it is still more than likely to have other things going for it, though it’s difficult to tell exactly what these will be. In any case, it’s surely something to look forward to if only for the fact that it will mark the first time in a long time that Motorola launches anything new. So keep watching.
SAMSUNG
You can’t have a list of the best Android smartphones without what is currently considered by many as the undisputed king of all: the Samsung Galaxy S4. It has all of the features that made its predecessor, the Galaxy S3, a favorite, plus it also comes with the latest version of Android pre-installed.
Samsung Galaxy S4 Specs
5-inch Super AMOLED, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels), ~441 ppi
13MP auto-focus camera with LED flash (HDR + 1080p video recording)
Exynos 5 Octa 5410 with PowerVR SGX 544MP3
16GB/32GB/64GB internal storage + microSD (up to 64GB), 2GB RAM
On top of all the Samsung Galaxy S4′s standard features, there’s also a number of exclusive software tricks, of which some can be life-changing while the rest are completely useless. Some users have argued that Samsung should have just left these software tricks out in favor of letting users enjoy all the extra storage space, but the die has been cast.
Many people have been very vocal about their disappointment in the Galaxy S4′s apparently limited amount of internal storage (at least in the case of the base model that’s supposed to offer 16GB), but we think that if the urge to purchase this Android-based powerhouse is strong enough, that won’t be enough to stop them. After all, what’s the point of having a microSD card slot?
Also of note from Samsung is the upcoming Galaxy Note 3, which is sure to arrive at some point in the not-so-distant future. Have a look at a quick list of its rumored specs below.
Samsung Galaxy Note 3 Specs
5.99-inch Super AMOLED, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels)
13MP auto-focus camera with LED flash
Exynos 5 Octa SoC with octa-core Mali-450 MP GPU
Uknown amount of internal storage, 3GB RAM
Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean or Android 4.3 with TouchWiz Nature UX 2.0
In many ways, it will be like an upgraded version of not only the Galaxy S4, but also the Galaxy Note 2. It won’t be without issues (Can you imagine how hard it will be to buy pants after this?) but we have a strong feeling that these will be outweighed by all of the benefits.
SONY
Sony has been making a lot of moves in the Android universe lately, and users can’t help but notice. But don’t call it a comeback; Sony has been here for years. The flagship Xperia Z is the product of the vast amount of knowledge and experience that Sony has acquired from working in the mobile industry for so long.
Sony Xperia Z Specs
5-inch TFT, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels), ~441 ppi
13.1MP auto-focus camera with LED flash (HDR, 1080p video, sweep pano)
1.5GHz quad-core Qualcomm Krait CPU + Adreno 320 GPU
16GB internal storage + microSD (up to 64GB), 2GB RAM
Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, upgradeable to Android 4.2
As you can see, the Xperia Z is not just beautiful on the outside. With the kind of specs it has, it’s quite beautiful on the inside as well. Its camera feature in particular is interesting, owing to its use of the exclusive Exmor RS sensor from Sony. And did we mention it’s water-resistant, with the ability to survive being dipped for up to 1 meter under water?
It may not be a Nexus, but Sony has promised to provide plenty of software support for users of the Xperia Z well into the future. In fact, it decided to create an Android Open Source Project for it last month in order to show its commitment. Among other things, it fully works with the latest nightly builds of CyanogenMod as well.
XIAOMI
Although not very big in the West, Xiaomi is one of the few Chinese brands worth keeping an eye on. Its next move is expected to be the launching of the rumored Xiaomi MI-3 or M3 smartphone, pictured above in metallic and glassy form.
Xiaomi M3 Specs
5-inch LCD, Full HD (1920×1080 pixels)
13MP camera
2GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
3,000mAh battery
If you think that the Xiaomi M3 kind of looks like the HTC One, you’re not alone. And if you think that it would be a leading benchmark scorer when it finally arrives, you’re not the first person to think that, either. It looks like the only thing that could hurt this phone’s chances of becoming a worldwide best-seller is if it gets outed with a ridiculously high price tag. That, or if it isn’t made available worldwide in the first place.
Prospective owners of the Xiaomi M3 will probably have some way of importing it into any country somehow. But of course, it would have to actually be for sale first before that can happen. So for now, we wait.
ZTE
Rounding out our list of contenders for the title of best Android phone in 2013 is ZTE, with a phone that is rumored to be the first one in the world to have the NVIDIA Tegra 4 SoC. Here’s a spec sheet based on all of the things that we’ve learned about it so far.
ZTE N988 Specs
5.7-inch, HD (1280×720 pixels)
13MP auto-focus camera with LED flash
NVIDIA Tegra 4 SoC
2GB RAM, unknown amount of internal storage
Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
We still aren’t sure why ZTE might think it’s a good idea to pair a low-resolution panel with such a large display on a device — akin to what they did with the ZTE Grand S — but perhaps we’ll find out soon enough.
The use of NVIDIA’s latest Tegra SoC ensures that it will easily ace benchmark tests and possibly offer unrivaled mobile gaming performance, a la Project Shield. Besides which, it will probably have no trouble running the latest version of Android (and maybe even much later ones), and that makes it worth looking forward to as well.
Which of the above-listed Android phones do you think will win? Did we miss anything? Are there any handsets listed here that don’t belong? Let us know what you think in the comments.
Mother’s Day is less than a week away, and you might be stressing about what to do for Mom. Fret no more; we’ve got some great ways you can use your iPhone or iPad to honor Mom, this Sunday. Be it with flowers, cards, scrapbooks, food, or drinks, iMore’s got you covered. Let’s put your favorite device to work and use it to make Mom feel extra special this Mother’s Day.
Cleverbug Cards App
If there’s one thing your mom will be expecting this Mother’s Day, it’s a card. There are many different cards apps available in the App Store, but Cleverbug Cards Apps has grabbed my attention as a great option this Mother’s Day. It has just been updated with a bunch of great new Mother’s Day card options, and not only can you have the printed and delivered straight to your mom, but you can also choose to deliver them electronically via Facebook, Twitter, Email, or SMS for free.
Cleverbug integrates with Facebook so that you can quickly and easily add photos from Facebook to your Card. Just select your mom as the recipient and Cleverbug will automatically add her most popular photos to the card — you can, of course, also swap out the photos if you prefer to add specific ones.
The other common Mother’s Day gift is flowers. Flower Garden and Flowerly are two great iPhone and iPad apps that let you send virtual flowers to Mom via Facebook and email. Flower Garden is a bit more “fun” in that you actually grow the flowers that you’re going to include in your bouquet.
Since not everyone is into that sort of thing, I’m also including Flowerly, an app that simply let’s you choose a bouquet and card and send it on its way.
Both apps are great options for sending Mom a virtual bouquet on Mother’s Day.
There’s a good chance that Mom has spent a lot of time in the kitchen cooking meals and baking treats for you and the family. Mother’s Day is the perfect day to return the favor. With Healthy Desserts by Green Kitchen, you’ll find delicious treats to present to your mom. And she’ll really appreciate it when, after she’s done enjoying the delectable dessert, you tell her that it was made with healthy ingredients. Moms love yummy desserts, often feel guilty about eating them.
If you want to go all out and cook an entire meal, check out some of our other favorite cooking apps available in the App Store.
Don’t forget to install the app on Mom’s iPhone and/or iPad as well!
What’s a great meal and dessert without the perfect cocktail to go with it? With Mixologist for iPhone, you can find the recipe to Mom’s favorite drink and mix one up with extra love just for her. If Mom isn’t into alcoholic drinks, there are also some tasty non-alcoholic options as well.
Is Mom a scrapbooker? Then she’s going to love ScrapPad. During your Mother’s Day celebrations be sure to take lots of photos, including of the tiniest details, and use them to created the ultimate scrapbook with ScrapPad – Mother’s Day Photo Journal for iPad. The Mother’s Day kit includes fun clipart and graphics designed just for the day. And the best part? Once you’ve created the digital version of the scrapbook, you can order it to be printed as a physical book that Mom will cherish forever.
Those are my picks for best iPhone and iPad apps for Mother’s Day. With them, you can send Mom a special card, a bouquet of flowers, make her the perfect treat, mix her a delicious drink, and create a scrapbook that she’ll forever love. Any apps I’m missing out on? Any you’d recommend more? Let me know!
Best Buy Samsung mini stores will be available for you to experience and buy Samsung products in for at least three years from now, as representatives of the two companies have revealed at a recent press event, which took place at the Best Buy location in New York’s Union Square.
According to President of Samsung America Tim Baxter, the partnership to operate the Samsung stores in Best Buy locations has been agreed upon for three years, after which the two companies will decide whether they will extend it or not. At the moment, 200 Samsung Experience Shops have already opened out of the 1400 planned to be up and running by June this year.
Another interesting piece of piece of information came from Best Buy CEO Hubert Joly, as he revealed that the two companies have plans to expand the partnership into Best Buy locations in Canada. He also added that initial feedback from customers has been positive, and that the same can be said in terms of sales.
Asked whether Best Buy’s traditional Blue Shirt employees can remain unbiased with all the Samsung action and employees around them, Joly reassured everyone that their job remains unchanged and that they will continue to give “objective advice”.
As for devices shown and sold in the Best Buy Samsung Experience Shops, you should know that you can now try out Galaxy S 3 and S4 smartphones (Samsung has kept its word, to have the stores available for the flagship’s launch), as well as Note 10.1, Note 8 and Tab 2 tablets, but availability will change as Samsung’s product line-up changes.
YouTube has posted an unexpected video on its own channel earlier today, reminding everyone that for the last eight years the purpose of the website was find the best video around.
Not many users are probably aware of this and many people have probably forgotten about the competition, but today is the last day for submitting your video and hoping for your chance of winning an MP3 player and a 0 stipend to go into your future creative endeavor. The prize will be awarded in 10 years from now, in 2013, when the site will reopen to only show the winning video.
In addition to reminding users about the contest, YouTube further explained how the winning video will be chosen by its team of dedicated engineers. Apparently every video ever uploaded to the site will be reviewed by a team of 30,000 technicians who will choose a short list for the best video on YouTube.
A final panel comprised of film critics, YouTube celebrities and prolific commentators will actually get to choose the best video and views won’t matter that much. Whether is the official Gangnam Style video that got a bazillion hits or the video of a man feeding bread to a dog that got around 40 hits, they all have an equal chance to win the top prize.
A bunch of well-known YouTube personas also appear in Google’s official video, talking about their hopes of winning the top spot on YouTube, see for yourself:
Naturally, since we have an established presence on YouTube ourselves, we surely hope that one of our videos will actually be selected as the winner. Sadly though, you won’t be able to watch our videos after today – except for the one of them in case it does win the contest – so better grab a coffee and check them all out before Google deletes them.
Note: yes, this is one of Google’s April Fools Day jokes that hit the web a day earlier and yes, we’re aware it’s a joke. No, YouTube is not going anywhere, and yes, we’ll continue to put out great videos for you to enjoy, so don’t forget to subscribe to our YouTube channel. And yes, those are Apple iMacs in the video above whose logos have been hidden.
Long gone are the days when only Apple would get special sections of stores to demo its products, and a serious clue is the fact that Best Buy Samsung stores will be established by the time the Galaxy S4 makes its way into the retailer’s stocks.
The battle between the two giants isn’t taking place only on the market share field; even retail space is something to be contested between them. Samsung is making a huge step, because Best Buy locations will also have Samsung stores, along with the Apple stores it already has, as geek.com has found out.
The move will happen in a first batch of high-traffic Best Buy locations by the time the Samsung Galaxy S4 will be available, and the same source says that two aisles in the mobile departments will be cleared to make room for the new, Samsung-branded stores; also, employees who will work there will go through special trainings.
Of course, not only the S4 will be demoed in said store areas – all important Samsung tablets and smartphones will be available there, and, while this only happens for a number of high-traffic stores, the same source says that all Best Buy locations will end up having a Best Buy Samsung store later this year.
Simple put, there are a lot of live wallpapers out there. You can find anything from simple wallpapers that just change color to ones that look and do crazy things. You can even find live wallpapers that have functionality. Finding the ones you’re looking for can be tough since there are so many. We’ve decided to help out by providing a best live wallpapers for Android list that you can start your search from. As usual, if you’d rather watch it, then we have posted our video at the bottom.
Source url To download Android Pro! Live Wallpaper, click on the source URL.
Androids Pro! Live Wallpapers
First on our list is Androids Pro! live wallpaper. This is a simplistic wallpaper with a lot of customization options. There are a few shapes to choose from and you can make them pretty much any color you want. You can also change the background color or pattern. Once you have the objects and colors picked out, you can change the physics, size, and speed of the objects to your liking. So it’s possible to have a hundred little objects floating around or one giant Andy the Android floating around.
As far as live wallpapers go, Androids Pro! is pretty typical. The free version is the same as the paid version except a few settings are locked. People seem to really like the paid version, however, and it has already amassed a 4.9 rating in the Google Play Store. So if you like Androids, customization, and live wallpapers that aren’t overly complicated, Androids Pro! is one to check out.
Source url To download Christmas Rink Live Wallpaper, click on the source URL.
Christmas Rink Live Wallpapers
Christmas Rink Live Wallpaper is our next app and, admittedly, it’s really only worthy during one time of the year. Due to shopping crazes, that time of year lasts like three months, but who are we to complain? Christmas Rink is a very simple background and one of the more elegant live wallpapers on our list. It features an ice skating rink with a Christmas tree centerpiece that people ice skate around. It’s also interactive, as tapping skaters will make them skate faster.
There aren’t a lot of customizations with this one. You can change the skaters to elves or Santa Claus if you want to. You can also control the snow that falls. However, that’s about it. If you’re not af an of Christmas or if you want something like this year round, the developer of Christmas Rink has a few other live wallpapers depicting other holidays.
Source url To download Device Info Ex Live Wallpaper, click the source URL.
Device Info Ex Live Wallpapers
If you’re a regular watcher and reader of our app lists, then you’ve seen Device Info Ex Live Wallpaper before. It’s a favorite of ours and happens to also be the most functional of the live wallpapers on our list. Instead of just playing some animations and looking pretty, Device Info LWP shows you a variety of stats about your phone. You can view your CPU and RAM usage, storage, temperature, time, and even things like compass and tilt.
You can customize Device Info in a lot of ways. You can change the colors of the background to match whatever theme you’re using. Also, the stat boxes are modular. So you can click and drag them which allows you to arrange the boxes in any order you like. You can also delete categories you don’t want or use. None of the other live wallpapers on this list have the functionality and usefulness of Device Info LWP.
Source url To download Gold Future Interface Live Wallpaper, click the source URL.
Gold Future Interface Live Wallpapers
Gold Future Interface Live Wallpaper is a simple app but it looks glorious. It has a Dues Ex kind of flavor and that cyberpunk look is totally awesome. It features a gold color scheme with a clock, some moving spotlights, and some spinning circles that move when you change home screens. It has a lot going on but it really is a simple live wallpaper.
Unfortunately, there aren’t a lot of customization options. You can change the position of the clock and the clock itself. Other settings include the speed of the animations and where other graphics are placed. However, unlike most of these live wallpapers, you can’t change the color scheme of Gold Future Interface. So if you don’t like gold, you probably won’t like this.
Source url To download Koi Live Wallpaper, click on the source URL.
Koi Live Wallpapers
Of all the live wallpapers on this list, Koi Live Wallpaper is among the most beautiful. It’s essentially a pond where a bunch of Koi fish are swimming around. When you touch the screen, the water will ripple. When you touch the fish, they’ll get scared and swim away, and if you double tap, it’ll drop little blue flakes that the fish will eat. If you’re a fan of nature, then you’ll just love this wallpaper.
There is nothing in this live wallpaper that can’t be customized. You can change how many fish there are and pick their colors individually. The water ripple effect can be controlled. There is a healthy supply of background images to choose from. So if nature, water scenes, and fish are your thing, this is one of the best live wallpapers on the list for you.
Source url To download Snowfall Live Wallpaper, check out the source URL.
Snowfall Live Wallpapers
Snowfall Live Wallpaper has been around so long that it can be considered a classic. It was released during the very first waves of live wallpapers when the feature first became available and it’s still among the most popular and highest rated live wallpapers to date. It features a tree line view with falling snow. It’s a calm live wallpaper for those who don’t like a lot of action going on.
It also happens to have a decent amount of customization options. Our favorite is the feature where you can have it switch from night to day based on what time it is. So it’ll be dark at night and bright during the day. You can also control snow fall, the trees swaying, and a number of other variables. If you want some more color, you can even add aurora borealis. If you’re into the Christmas spirit, you set Santa Claus to fly at random intervals across your screen.
Source url To download Thunderstorm Live Wallpaper, click on the source URL.
Thunderstorm Live Wallpapers
Like Snowfall, Thunderstorm Live Wallpaper was around back when live wallpapers were a new feature. Also, like Snowfall, it continues to be among the highest rated in the Google Play Store. As the name implies, Thunderstorm shows people a thunderstorm on their devices. It’s complete with rain, moving clouds, and lightning strikes. It’s another one of our favorites on the list.
It has a surprising amount of customization options as well. Really, you can make this do whatever you want. One of our favorites is the ability to set off a lightning strike by touching the screen. You can control the intensity of the lightning strikes as well. Perhaps its most unique feature is the ability to change the color of everything. You can do a black sky with red lightning if you want to. Or green lightning on a purple sky. It really is up to you and makes this among the best live wallpapers on the list.
Source url To download Vortex Galaxy Live Wallpaper, click the source URL.
Thunderstorm Live Wallpapers
No really, Vortex Galaxy is probably the most beautiful live wallpaper on this list. It’s a space scene. So if you like space scenes, you can appreciate this live wallpaper even more. When you set it up, it fades in with a myriad of beautiful colors and stars. Then it will pulse and rotate and otherwise just sit there and be pretty. There is little to no interaction, though, so people who like slow wallpapers without a lot of action will enjoy this one.
It also has very few customization options. What few options there are will be barely noticeable if you change them. So with Vortex Galaxy, what you see is pretty much what you get. This is no big deal because it looks very good and because it is very colorful, it can go with a plethora of themes already.
Leaderboard and Wrap Up
If you check out our leader board, you can see how all these apps rank up against one another. We at Android Authority do not have a ranking system. These are simply sorted by how they’re rated in the Google Play Store. So there is no bias by us. This is how the people who use these applications rated them.
Also, an obligatory shout out to the live wallpaper Magic Butts. It didn’t rank high enough to be on the list itself but it was insisted that we include it somewhere. So here is its honorary shout out. If you like jiggling badonkadonks, then you can give Magic Butt a try in the Google Play Store.
Of course, there are hundreds of live wallpapers in the Google Play Store. So it’s very possible that we may have missed one or two. So feel free to leave a comment below with your favorite live wallpapers if you think we missed one. Caring is sharing, is it not?
We love our pocket powerhouses (easy, now), but the battery life can be dismal. Aside from buying a Motorola Droid Razr Maxx, which has a battery about the size of the device itself, what options are we left with? The increasing trend of non-removable batteries is troubling, as no new technology for battery life has come to light. Same batteries we’ve always had, but the technology it powers keeps getting more powerful. We’re screwed, right?
Nope! There are plenty of things we can do to mitigate the drain on our devices. Some of them require little to no work on our part, while others are a stopgap for those inevitable times our batteries just plain run out. Whether it’s a change to your device from the ground up or a simple app from the Play Store, we’ll go over some good ways to make your battery last.
Be smart
We love having our phones on and working all day, but do we need that? Think about how and where you use your phone, or more importantly, where you don’t. If you’re in the office all day, does your phone need to be on? Perhaps a Google Talk message will do instead of a text message (you can even text from Google Voice on the desktop, if you like). If you can’t answer those calls anyway, there is no point in having a phone on, ready to receive them.
Take a minute to consider how you accomplish things, and you may find there are better solutions to tethering yourself to your mobile phone all day. Most of what you want your phone for can probably be accomplished right from a browser like Chrome, with a few extensions or apps. Breaking out of our mold is often the first step towards a better way.
There’s an app for that
Sometimes, we just can’t turn our device off. Rather than accept hopelessness, we should search for solutions. Apps are usually the best way to reduce battery drain, and can be used on just about any device. We’ve found one that is simple, works great, and best of all… free!
Deep Sleep
The deep sleep battery saver app is probably the most robust of its kind. Essentially, it puts your device into hibernation when the screen is off. All connectivity is halted until you wake up the screen and unlock your phone (the way you always do, no tricky unlock feature here). There is a free version with a few presets, like slumber which puts your device to sleep as described above. Others, like “aggressive”, hibernate the device for a few hours, then turn the signal on for a few minutes to download messages.
In hibernation, the alarm clock and call functions work, so you’ll never oversleep or miss a call. I’ve been testing this on my Nexus 4, and am pleasantly surprised. Whereas I would normally struggle to get through a day on a single charge, I’ve now been able to get two days battery life routinely, with a max of almost four days.
There are many other battery saver apps, but DS is easy to use, less fussy than many others, and does a solid job. The basic version has some great customization options, which let you better manage your battery by choosing the times of day (and days) you want the settings active. This is particularly advantageous for those of us who have a pretty set routine to life, and know when we can and can’t check our device. There is a pro version of the app which lets you customize the individual app settings to suit your needs, and better manage your battery.
Rootin’
If you’ve got your device rooted, or are interested in doing so, a custom ROM can help with battery life. Many custom ROMs will help with essential battery functions, because they tend to strip away all the unnecessary fussiness of stock ROMs and skins. By choosing a ROM that best suits your needs, and a theme that doesn’t suck juice with things like live wallpaper, you could end up saving a lot of battery life and getting a device makeover! Why do I feel like I just came up with a new idea for a reality show?
If you’re interested, check out CyanogenMod or Paranoid Android. They’re two of the largest ROM developers, and have some excellent products. They also have a stellar support community, so if you need help, just ask. As always, be safe before you make any changes to your device and make sure you’re not violating any warranty or insurance language in your contracts.
Battery!
Sometimes, things just happen. We run out of juice… maybe we forgot to charge the device, or maybe we just used it a bit more than we thought we would. However it happens, not having our device when we need it sucks. If this sounds like something you may run into, or currently do, a backup battery pack may just be your best option.
On test are two options from New Trent, the Easypak and the iCarrier. The Easypak is a 7,000mAh pack, while the iCarrier is a monster 12,000mAh pack. While all battery packs may seem the same, these two are very different from one another.
Of the two, the Easypak is meant more as a portable solution. It’s a slim design with two ports, one for tablets (2.1A) and one for phones (1A). There are also two pre-existing cables, a USB meant for charging the Easypak (it was possible to use a wall plug from a Galaxy Nexus), and a micro USB meant for charging your device. Charging was fairly quick, and of course slowed down with more than one device charging at the same time. Charging a Nexus 4 & 7 simultaneously was a breeze, and was finished in about 2 hours. It also had enough juice left over to charge the Nexus 4 to about half two days later.
A bit heftier than it’s cousin, the iCarrier is a daunting 12,000mAh battery pack. Unlike the Easypak, it charges via a DC cable and power source. It has two ports, with no pre-existing cables present. If you will be in need of charging a phone 5-6 times on the go, this is your best choice. It’s big, it’s powerful, and it performs.
Conclusion
We tend to want it all with our mobile devices. Our desire for a powerful, fast device that lasts all day and night is often at conflict with reality, but it doesn’t have to be. With the methods we discussed here today, you can make your battery last quite a bit longer, and not run out of power while away from a power source. We often think of our devices as toys, but they’re also lifelines. Not being able to make a call at a critical time is a scary thought, and a factor we should consider when thinking about managing our constant drain.
Battery life is partly measured in how many times you charge the device, so extending your battery life also prolongs the life of your device a bit. Buying a new device every year or two is fun, but the diminished capacity of your battery shouldn’t be a factor in a new purchase. We like these options, but if you have another you’d like to add, please do so in the comments section below.
So if you somehow haven’t heard, Google Reader is set to be discontinued on July 1st. To put it bluntly, it sucks. While not as many people use Google Reader as there used to be, those of us left that do use it do so religiously. So the hunt begins for a Google Reader replacement and we’d like to help by putting together a list of the best Android Google Reader replacement apps. Word on the internet is that the Google Reader link is no longer available on Google+, but it’s available on every other Google service. So this list may be a temporary solution as Google+ may be getting its own news service. That’s strictly conjecture, but hey, just saying. As usual if you’d rather watch than read, there’s a video posted at the bottom!
Source url To download Feedly from the Google Play Store, click the source link.
Feedly – Google Reader Replacement
We start our Google Reader replacement list with Feedly. The reason is because a whole bunch of people have already chosen Feedly as their replacement. According to some reports, over half a million people have already migrated. Feedly was among the first to offer a solution to the Google Reader replacement problem as they’re developing their own back end service called Normandy. Many of us here at Android Authority are big fans of Mass Effect references.
As an app, Feedly looks very good. It’s got a polished interface with a variety of views that will make anyone feel at home. There is a card view for people who like to look at pictures, a magazine style view, and a list view for those pros who like to view a lot of content very quickly. Also, there are a couple of themes, it’s free in the Google Play Store, and come July 1st, it’ll still be running. All great things going for Feedly.
Source url To download Google Currents from the Google Play Store, click the source link.
Google Currents – the unofficial Google Reader replacement
If you’re trying to stick with Google built applications when replacing Google Reader, then Google Currents is the unofficial Google Reader replacement. This really didn’t make a lot of people very happy at first, but depending on what you use RSS readers for, Google Currents could actually be a pretty decent replacement. By that, we mean if you’re one of those types that uses RSS to find something fun to read while waiting for an appointment, Google Currents could be for you. If you’re one of those people who blaze through content quickly, you may want to find another alternative.
Google Currents has a very nice interface, but it’s definitely geared for the casual reader. You can swipe left and right to change feeds and up and down to scroll articles. That’s pretty much all there is to it. It’s very simple and quick. However, as stated, getting through a lot of content really fast takes a lot of time. Also, as mentioned above, Google+ has been estranged from Google Reader specifically, so Google may not be going with Google Currents as its main news source. Again, though, that’s just conjecture right now.
Source url To download Flipboard from the Google Play Store, click the source link.
Flipboard – the Google Reader replacement for casual users
If you are a casual reader, there are few readers better than the popular Flipboard. It features a magazine style layout with large pictures, big text, and an ease of use that many readers on this list don’t share. When Google Reader goes dark, Flipboard will still be around so switching over now and getting used to it means come July 1st, you won’t have to worry about Google Reader replacement.
Getting around the app is pretty simple. Pretty much everything is controlled with up and down swipes and screen taps. Swipe up and down to view feeds, then select a feed and swipe up and down to view articles. Click and article and read. For those who like to chew through content in their RSS apps, Flipboard will be frustrating as it takes a lot of swipes to get anywhere. The casual reader, though, should really enjoy the polished interface.
Source url To download gReader Pro from Google Play, click the source link.
gReader Pro – the Google Reader replacement for pros
So far our list has been dominated by beautiful applications that, while gorgeous, aren’t great for pros who like to get through a lot of content quickly. gReader Pro is nothing like that. It features a much more traditional interface for an RSS app and one that much more closely resembles Google Reader itself. In their app description, gReader Pro throws their bid into the pile for Google Reader replacement as they plan on continuing service after July 1st.
As stated, the interface is simple and traditional. It features list views, a much more minimalist app structure, and getting through a lot of content very quickly is very simple. So if you’re a blogger who is looking for the big stories going on or just someone who likes knowing everything that’s happening, gReader Pro could be the best replacement.
In addition to being simple to use, gReader Pro also has a variety of settings to customize your experience. There are a few themes, a few different ways to set things up, and it really tries to make their users feel at home. The casual user may balk at the simplicity of the app and it’s lack of flash, but the pros will feel right at home once Google Reader kicks the digital bucket.
Source url To download News360 from the Google Play Store, check the source link.
News360 – a different kind of Google Reader replacement
So far, most of the apps on this list more or less perform the same task. You select some RSS feeds, then shuffle through them every day looking for news. News360 differs in this area. While there are some feeds available and you can select your areas of interest (i.e. Technology, Android, Sports, Cooking, etc), News360 actually takes a different approach. When you use News360, you have an option to like and dislike articles that it shows you. Based on which feeds you choose to read and what you like and don’t like, News360 adjusts the content to your liking. This makes News360 the most unique Google Reader replacement app on this list.
Using it is very simple. You load the app, swipe left and right to view new stories, and click to read the article. Inside the article, you can actually select different blogs that covered the same stuff. So if you’re reading an article from The Verge, there may be an option to read Ars Technica’s write up of the same event. This is great for article comparisons and seeing more than one point of view on a topic. Due to manually built feeds taking a total backseat in News360, this will appeal to the casual reader more. Still, it’s a really cool concept.
Source url To download Press Reader from Google Play, click on the source link.
Press Reader – the Google Reader replacement app aimed at everyone
Press Reader is kind of like a mix between Feedly and gReader Pro. It has a little flash to it to appease the casual reader who wants to read their news on something that looks good. However, it also has it’s content well laid out for the pro who wants to fly through content quickly. It isn’t the highest rated app on the list, but for people who want a little of column A and a little of column B, Press can be a decent Google Reader replacement.
Press has a simple enough UI. You start with a categories list followed by a feeds grid. Where it starts to get interesting is when you select a feed you get a list of articles. Select an article and a page slides in where the article appears. You can read it and there are two buttons in the bottom that let you go back and forth between articles. Then you swipe the page away to go back to the list. So it’s a little flashy but still functional. However, it definitely has that jack of all trades, master of none quality that may chase people to other Google Reader replacements.
Source url To download Taptu from the Google Play Store, click the source link.
Taptu – A better looking Google Reader replacement
The last two apps on our list, which is Taptu and Pulse, have a very similar layout and it’s wildly different from the other Google Reader replacement apps. The first we’ll talk about, Taptu, has the advantage of being a very good looking application and a very functional one. Taptu does focus more on the flashy side of RSS reading rather than the functional side.
In the unique layout, users select feeds as they would any normal RSS app. The feeds are listed vertically and the articles are listed horizontally. So you scroll up or down to find the feed you want. You can then scroll left and right to view content from that feed. What makes Taptu truly fun is the ability to merge feeds. So if you wanted to merge, say the popular hockey blogs Puck Daddy and Down Goes Brown into a single NHL feed to save space, you could do that. Of course, the most important feature, is that Taptu remains alive after Google Reader dies in a few months.
Source url To download Pulse from Google Play, check out the source URL.
Pulse Reader – the Google Reader replacement Steve Jobs would recommend
Yes, you read that right. There was a point when Steve Jobs once recommended Pulse to everyone as an RSS reader. Even though we’re not always fans of iPhones around these parts, a recommendation from the guy who saved Apple is worth looking into. As it turns out, Pulse is not only Apple approved, but it’ll also outlive Google Reader. It features an interface similar to Taptu’s but a little more flashy. At it’s core, it’s the same vertical feed list with the horizontal article scrolling.
The good news is that Google Reader content is very easy to port in. Once it’s in, it becomes Pulse content so when Google Reader bets the digital farm, Pulse will have your content waiting for you. The bad news is that there are some serious limitations to this app. During testing, I maxed out my Technology category and had to create a category with the brilliant and original name of Technology 2. So if you’re a pro user with a whole bunch of content, you’ll either have to make multiple categories to house the same type of news or find a different Google Reader replacement. For the casual user, though, Pulse should work really well.
Wrap Up
As you can see from the leader board, some of these apps are better than others. If you’re wondering what our rating system is, keep guessing because we don’t have one. These apps were ranked based on their overall rating in the Google Play Store. So this is how the people who use these apps every day have rated them. We’d also like to give a honorary mention to Pocket. Pocket is an application that saves articles from most of these RSS feeds for offline reading. It doesn’t aggregate news on it’s own, but it seems to be working on just about all these apps so it’s worth mentioning. You can find it in the Google Play Store here.
It’s an unhappy time that Google Reader is leaving. Some people never got into Google Reader and didn’t use it. Some used it religiously. Even some of our writers and editors here at Android Authority used Google Reader to help find great content to bring to you guys, our readers. However, it’s about that time to spend a few final days with Google Reader and find a replacement.
As always, if there’s a great Google Reader replacement that we missed, feel free to leave a comment below telling us about it. Also, there is a very high probability that more Google Reader applications will continue to run after the service goes dark and just hasn’t announced it yet. So if your favorite reader happens to be on that list and it’s not on ours then, again, feel free to drop a comment and let us know.
Sony upped its game in the Android smartphone arena with the Xperia Z and Xperia ZL flagship smartphones. But, the company hasn’t forgotten the fact that it has been its low-end and mid-range offerings that have helped the company gain popularity over the past couple of years, especially in emerging markets like India. Today, along with the Sony Xperia SP, the company also unveiled its mid to low-end smartphone, the Sony Xperia L.
Here’s a look at the specifications of the Sony Xperia L -
4.3-inch FWVGA display
1Ghz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor
1GB RAM
8GB internal storage, expandable via microSD upto 32GB
8MP rear camera with HDR mode for both pictures and video, 0.3MP front camera
dedicated camera button
1,750 mAh battery
Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
While the specifications of the Sony Xperia L aren’t surprising for devices in this category, Sony has packed the device with an amazing camera, with the 8MP camera featuring Sony’s “Exmor RS for mobile” sensor technology and HDR (High Dynamic Range) mode for both pictures and video, to ensure clear and stunning images, even at night, or against a strong back light.
Other key features of the Sony Xperia L include one-touch functions with NFC to display content on your TV, or easily share music and photos between devices, and battery STAMINA mode, to ensure optimum battery life. Continuing the trend started by the company last year, the Sony Xperia L also comes pre-loaded with Sony’s WALKMAN, Movies, and Albums applications.
Check out the introduction video of the Sony Xperia L below -
The Sony Xperia L features a beautiful design and is a must-have for anyone looking for a budget-friendly smartphone with a great camera. The price point of the Xperia L hasn’t been announced yet, but considering the specifications, this smartphone won’t strain your wallet too much. Like the Xperia SP, the Sony Xperia L will be available from Q2 2013, and will come in black, white, and red color variations.
What are your thoughts? What do you think of the specifications of the Sony Xperia L? Would you consider buying this device? Let us know in the comments section below.
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Long gone are the days when only Apple would get special sections of stores to demo its products, and a serious clue is the fact that Best Buy Samsung stores will be established by the time the Galaxy S4 makes its way into the retailer’s stocks.
Simple put, there are a lot of live wallpapers out there. You can find anything from simple wallpapers that just change color to ones that look and do crazy things. You can even find live wallpapers that have functionality. Finding the ones you’re looking for can be tough since there are so many. We’ve decided to help out by providing a best live wallpapers for Android list that you can start your search from. As usual, if you’d rather watch it, then we have posted our video at the bottom.
