Android Ice Cream Sandwich: 10 Tips, Tricks, and New Features

There has been a lot of talk around the Internet about Google and questions as to why it hasn’t yet provided an upgrade for Android users in the latest release of its Ice Cream Sandwich. In general, the complaints revolve around companies being slow in releasing updates to the different formats at the same time. I feel that these complaints are justifiable and I can understand why users are frustrated. However, for those of us who can enjoy Google’s Ice Cream Sandwich, here are a few new features that have been added.

Invert Screen Rendering

Screen rendering inversion allows me to change the background of my Kindle application to black and the text to an easy-to-read shade of blue. This feature makes it easier to read my Kindle apps at night, and is now a standard component of ICS; you can access it by going into the browser’s setting tab and accessibility area.

Within this feature you are also given the opportunity to change the Contrast setting, which can benefit anyone who finds the default colors not to their liking.

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Android 4.1, Jelly Bean: Hands-on impressions

You may still be salivating for Ice Cream Sandwich, but today, there's a new Android dessert in town.

Google officially took the wraps off of Android 4.1, Jelly Bean, at its Google I/O developers' conference this morning. The new OS will ship on the Nexus 7 tablet also announced this week; it's scheduled to roll out to the Galaxy Nexus and Motorola Xoom in July (though upgrades for the Verizon versions of those devices, as you'd expect, will likely take longer due to Verizon's involvement). The Nexus S is also confimed to get the Jelly Bean upgrade at some point in the near future.

I've been spending the afternoon using Jelly Bean on both the Nexus 7 tablet and a GSM Galaxy Nexus phone. Here are my first impressions:

Android 4.1 is a refinement -- not a ground-shifting upgrade.

Ice Cream Sandwich was a massive upgrade to the Android platform. Jelly Bean is far more incremental. It's really more akin to the Froyo to Gingerbread (2.2 to 2.3) upgrade than the Gingerbread to Ice Cream Sandwich (2.3 to 4.0) bump.

That said, Android 4.1 is certainly not insignificant. It has some powerful performance enhancements and some sweet new features, too.

Android 4.1's performance improvements are definitely noticeable.

Google calls its Jelly Bean performance push "Project Butter" because it's meant to make everything run more smoothly than ever. Based on the time I've spent testing Android 4.1 so far, the buttery name is well earned.

So what's "Project Butter" all about? Take a deep breath: Google improved the system frame-rate and display refresh signal and also developed a new touch input system that anticipates where your fingers will land and gives the CPU an extra shot of power when you touch the screen. Blah, blah, blah -- that's all geek speak. What matters is that Jelly Bean is like ICS, only noticeably smoother and faster.

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Similar Apps like Aple Siri for Android Smartphones For free

We get to know that iPhone 4S and iPad(3rd generation) get the the feature Siri. We can see the definition information for the Wikipedia that Siri is an intelligent personal assistant and knowledge navigator which works as an application for Apple's iOS. The application uses a natural language user interface to answer questions, make recommendations, and perform actions by delegating requests to a set of Web services.

                       

Siri make apple users's electronic life more easier. Siri takes place of some typing job from the hands, what the apple users need to do is open their mouth and speak. Android users may want to ask: is there an app like siri for my android smartphone?Yes, there are. Some developers do make it! And there are not only one. I would like to introduce them to you.

                         1 Google Voice Actions

                       

Google's free Voice Actions assistant--part of its Voice Search utility--demands a more consistent approach. Except for playing music,it can send texts and email, make calls, map a location, give directions, write a note, search the Web, and go to a specific site.if you use this app, you have to employ Google's set phrases.For example, you have to say "Listen to james blunt" rather than "Play james blunt." to play music. Google's app is somewhat more limited in what it can do, too.

                                2 Vlingo

                        

Vlingo doesn't rely exclusively on Google's voice recognition system is one of the few Android assistants. Although Vlingo gets its own home-grown processing. My suggestion is to stick with Google.You can find Vlingo's voice recognition disappointing after trying. Vlingo can send tweets and update your Facebook status, but it couldn't perform a number of functions.

                                  3 Jeannie

                           
Jeannie is for free, but it gets a plus version for $3. If i ask Jeannie to send a message, it asked for the recipient's name, but then just switched me to the texting app without beginning the text or adding the name of the recipient. That's not good. Jeannie doesn't do things to show you how, only result, but it can help you surreal information if you ask it about something

You can download these form android market.These are three main similar siri apps for android smartphone. We can see each of them get their advantage and disadvantages. If you dont know which one to choose form, you can download three of them for a try to find the one that's are suitable for you. Any apps cant satisfy everybody, and the developers are fixing the occur problems by updating its version. I think more excellent similar siri or other apps will rich our fun for playing android phone.

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best live wallpapers for android phone download free

A lot guys may be looking for some excellent images. But there quite a lot these kind of things, you may hope there a site or whatever gets a collection of nice android wallpaper.Now this post lists some really nice free live wallpaper for android, you can download these wallpapers for your android phone free.

1 The coloured night

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Microsoft's First Android Game "Kinectimals" Released

Microsoft has launched "Kinectimals" for Android after releasing this Xbox game for iOS. The company also released Xbox Live for Android recently.

Kinectimals had been released for Windows 7 and iOS for quite a while and now Microsoft made its debut in Android with this game. For those who do not know much about this Xbox game, it's a game where people get to raise their own cuddly virtual pet. Players have to take care of the pet in an island called Lemuria. People interested to take on challenges or interested to earn coins and points can try mini-games. These points and coins can be used for purchasing virtual items.

An interesting feature of this virtual pet raising game is its camera mode. Users can capture their pet's photo in a complete photography studio with lighting equipment. Xbox owners who have already played this game in their console might feel bad as the Android version does not feature storyline mode like its Kinect version. Parents who want to download this game for their children can read the playing manual first to make things easier for their children.

This standalone app is available in Google Play Store now for $2.99. It's rated E which means people of all ages can enjoy this game. So far, the game has received 4.6 average rating. Its only 170 megabyte in size so downloading this app is easy. Android users using Android 2.2 or higher will be able to play this game.

From:mobilenapps.com

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Which do you like better: Android 4.0 VS WP7

As Windows Phone 8 is coming, may be we need to take sometime to consider about Windows Phone 7. The site WMPoweruser did such thing, compare Windows Phone 7and Android 4.0 at details on system.

Better at Surfing the internet - Android
At Android 4.0, we have flash player. Although people may say: there is no need for flash to support. In fact, it is necessary when you are suefing the internet, wp7 can't do this. On the other side, ICS system get the Find on page feature, you can even read off the internet, while wp7 can't do this. General speaking, the arrangement of mobile web pages on Android are better than wp7. Both dont differ much on internet speed.

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Is the Best Android Tablet Available Made for Kids?

         

If you’ve been considering investing in a tablet for your child, you’ve got lots of options these days. Just do a Google search on tablets for kids and you’ll find plenty of comparisons and reviews of the various brands that are currently available. Last November I wrote a review on the Nabi (Korean for Butterfly) — I was very impressed with the tablet, but it was my (then) 4 year old son who really enjoyed playing with it. The Nabi came with over $150 worth of pre-loaded games, ebooks, and other services, and the 7″ tablet running Android had a kid-friendly interface that was locked and prevented kids from installing apps, making purchases, visiting unapproved websites, and much more. This Nabi Mode (as it’s called) could be easily disabled with a password and the tablet would then become a fully functional Android that an adult could use, including access to an app store, YouTube, and much more. With the tap of a single button, the Adult Mode could be turned off and the Nabi returned to the kid version.

Interestingly enough, over the last few weeks I’ve received three emails from three different individuals asking about the Nabi and their inability to purchase one. What I was unable to do at the time was respond to their emails with any specific information. You see, I was provided a test version of the new Nabi 2… and in order to test it out, I had to agree to an embargo to not discuss the tablet until a specific date. Today’s date, actually. So I think there’s going to be at least three people out there who are going to be very happy to hear about the Nabi 2, but hopefully many more — because the Nabi 2 is a solid improvement on the original, with some major upgrades and updates.

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Report: Malicious Japanese Porn App Lands Men in the Slammer

Legal action taken over Android malware? Now that's a first.

Over the weekend, six men in Japan were arrested for distributing a malicious Android app through a porn site, according to Japanese newspaper The Daily Yomiuri.

The Trojan was packaged in an app posing as a free video codec. When launched, the virus harvested users'  phonebooks, email addresses, and other personal information, and sent them to a remote server. It also displayed a screen every five minutes demanding payment of 99,800 yen, the report said.

Of the 9,252 downloads since December 30, 2011, around 211 people (two percent) fell for the trick and paid a total of 21 million yen ($266,176). This reminds us of why Android is the fastest-growing target for malware writers—high margins. It's cheap and easy to make, and has a massive user base.

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New redesigned Spotify app for Android 4.0

New Delhi: Spotify, the popular music streaming service is ready to sizzle on Android devices that run on Ice Cream Sandwich. The company has now released a redesigned Spotify app for Android, reveals the official Spotify blog.

The preview of the app was released a few weeks ago. It has been crafted with an array of improvements and new features like a cool new design and faster performance. The app completely supports the latest flavour of Google operating system - Android 4.0 a.k.a. Ice Cream Sandwich.

The app has been released with a facelift, featuring all new slide-out navigation, displaying artist imagery in high resolution and it also offers related artist view on the mobile device.

It also follows the social fad, allowing users to check friends' profile pages and playlists on-the-go, and supports 'Extreme' 320kbps files.

The slew of features further include play queue, Last.fm scrobbling and Crossfade/gapless playback settings. Then, there's the Spotify widget that allows access to the app from the homescreen and also support for folders.

Spotify now provides free access to Spotify Premium on your mobile devices with a trial period of 48 hours. If 48 hours isn’t enough, then users can further extend it by 30 days. Spotify offers instant access to over 15 million tracks, allows online streaming, listening to music offline, sharing music with friends, wirelessly syncing MP3s to Android device, creating and syncing playlists and sending tracks to Facebook and Last.fm.

To read more visit: www.tech2.com

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Securely connect your Android smartphone via VPN

Takeaway: Deb Shinder explains how you can use a VPN to connect your Android smartphone to your home or work network.
You know the old saying: “You can’t take it with you.”  Well, you can, but often you don’t. When you’re out on the road with nothing but your phone and desperately need access to a document that’s stored on your computer at home or at work, what do you do? Because a modern smartphone is really just a small computer, you can securely connect to your home LAN or company network over a VPN connection. Let’s take a look at how you can do this with popular Android phones.

On the server side

First, in order to use virtual private networking, you need a VPN server configured on the network to which you want to connect. Most business networks that allow remote access will have a VPN server set up. At home, you can set up your desktop or laptop computer to be a VPN server (of course, you’ll need to leave it on when you’re gone so you can connect to it). The steps for doing that depend on what desktop operating system you’re using. Here are links to help you with that task:

• Setting up incoming VPN connection in Windows 7
• Configuring Linux VPNs
• Enable VPN server in OS X for remote access

An important consideration is what VPN protocols are used by your VPN server. Most common are PPTP, L2TP, IPsec, SSTP and SSL. Your VPN client software on your phone will need support the protocol(s) used by your VPN server.

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Top 100 Best Android Apps of 2012

                   

Android users drooling over iPhone apps? So passé.

Now that the latest Android devices enjoy blazingly fast 4G LTE networks, top-of-the-line chips, gorgeous displays, and superb cameras, Android apps are more than capable of outshining their iPhone counterparts (example: the Android-only Lightbox app beats Instagram in every way, apart from the size of the photo community). Android users also have unique categories iPhone owners will probably never know, like BitTorrent clients, alternative browsers, widgets, and game emulators.

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Auto Memory Manager
Free

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Best good used app for android smartphone

When we hold a android phone, we may think what the best camera app is , what the best weather app is, what is music app is etc. Now  i would like to introduce some best necessary apps for life, they are selected by users' review and Usability.

best android camera app:Pudding Camera
Like Urbian's Retro Camera, the free Pudding Camera app from KTH offers several different camera types as well as films that you can combine for your desired effect. You also get quick exposure control, support for front-facing cameras, and tap-to-shoot.

The biggest problem I have with it is that your largest photo resolution is 1,280 pixels, but that's fine for sharing online.

                                    

best sms app for android: Beat The Stock

One major difference between a feature phone and smartphone is that the latter is capable of using messaging apps which are a lot more functional and feature rich when compared to the default stock app that comes with the Android OS. The stock messaging apps in general, are pretty basic and don’t offer anything more than just sending, receiving, replying and reading SMSes.

Another issue is that more often than not, you’re stuck with the same boring theme or skin that comes with stock app. You can’t really do much about it and accept what it has to offer. Every Android user knows how customizable Android OS really is. Why compromise when you can customize like there’s no tomorrow?

The best way to enhance the SMS functionality of your Android phone is through third-party messaging apps which offer more flavor, functionality and better looks than the default messaging app. Here, we’ve rounded up the best messaging apps available for Android.

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Android hits 900k activations per day

View Photo Gallery — The many faces of Android: Depending on which phone company is doing the marketing, an Android phone can be masculine and futuristic, like a shoot-’em-up video game, or friendly, like a stuffed animal.

Apple’s on tap to reveal the details about its next smartphone operating system, but there’s some new buzz about its main competitor.

Google’s Android platform sees 900,000 activations a day, according to a tweet from Android head Andy Rubin. The statistic, of course, doesn’t distinguish between smartphones and tablets, so it’s hard to get a clear picture of the Android ecosystem.

he announcement came from Rubin after rumors surfaced that he may be planning to leave Google. In the message, the Google executive said that he has “no plans” to do so.

Apple and Android have been wooing developers as it’s become increasingly apparent that the company that can command the widest, most useful breadth of mobile applications will have the edge in the smartphone war.

A study released last week by the team at the analytics firm Flurry revealed that developers still prefer Apple’s iOS to Android by a large margin. Of new project starts, 69 percent of developers went with Apple’s system over Google’s, though that was down from 73 percent in the previous quarter.

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Use Windows 8 on your Android tablet using this Splashtop app

Splashtop was in the news, a while back and they’re in the news, again. Back in April, they released an app that would let you access Windows 8 over the network on your iPad and it came with the ability to use gestures, and so on. Now, they’re at it again and this time on Android tablets. The app is called Win8 Metro Testbed and is available for download on theGoogle Play store. It’s priced at Rs. 1,383, which makes it a tad expensive, but it’s still way more affordable than buying one of the Windows 8 tablets, when they arrive. The app is most handy, as of now to developers who want to test their Metro UI apps on a tablet without having to wait and buy a Windows 8 tablet, when they eventually do start entering the market. The setup requires you to install the app on your tablet and a server software called the Splashtop Streamer software on your Windows 8 PC. After doing an initial security verification, you should be able to access the Windows 8 Metro UI on the tablet. 

 

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iOS is better than Android in 10 ways

Since ios and android have their in mobile device, their fans never stop for a battle. Fans will try their best to speak highly of the products they are using, the advantange is countless - especially the android os which get support from google development experience and  the free open source. But iOS is not bad. Now I'd like to introduce 10 aspect which ios is better than android.

No.10 iTunes store

iOS cant support sync with wifi, but we can use wifi to buy or downlaod music, videos,books. iOS user can enjoy bigger entertainment store when android user share their amazon media product. And only for a few clicks, the shopping products will sync to the consumer's personal computer. So as for shopping for media source, ios ranks best.

No.9 AirPlay

Without support from apple device, Airplay is not that much used, but we can take some ways to make other deices compatiable with Airplay. At Airplay, we just need simple double click to make videos play fluently, it's awesome. Android doesn't get this cool features so far.

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ebrary Announces New Android App

Less than six months after launching a dedicated iOS app, ebrary®, a ProQuest business, today announced a new Android™ app that will be freely available on Google Play this summer. With the increasing popularity of smart phones, tablets, and other devices, researchers will have a more optimized way to discover and use e-books, online and offline, on any Android device in addition to the iPad®, iPhone®, and iPod touch®.

“There are an estimated 300 million active Android smartphones and tablets worldwide, with 850,000 devices activated daily. Android has proven popular among the students, staff, and faculty who use ebrary for their research,” said Matt Barnes, ebrary’s Vice President of Marketing. “The launch of our Android app is a direct response to the many requests we’ve received from users who want a way to utilize scholarly e-books from trusted publishers on the device of their choice.”    

ebrary’s Android and iOS apps work with e-books acquired under all of ebrary’s acquisition models including the 75,000 titles available through Academic Complete™, the industry’s first and only aggregated e-book subscription to be designated as a CHOICE Outstanding Academic Title. The apps also provide optimized access to local content uploaded by libraries via DASH!™ (Data Sharing, Fast), a unique feature of Academic Complete and other ebrary products.    

Key features and benefits of ebrary’s apps include:    •      Freely available with any ebrary library product    •     Online and offline reading    •     Seamless downloading of full titles    •     Simple and advanced search    •     Multiple navigation controls    •     Table of contents with relevancy rankings    •     Early check-in of ebrary’s e-books    •     Copy and paste with automatic citation for offline documents    •     User configurable download size warnings    •     Import and use documents from other sources    •     Supports English and Spanish (UI)    •     Optional sign-in with Facebook user name and password Learn More at ALA To see a demonstration of ebrary’s new Android app, visit us at ALA, June 22-25, in Anaheim, CA (ProQuest booth #2000).

About ebrary (http://www.ebrary.com) ebrary helps customers acquire e-books strategically through a three step approach: Transition, Diversify and Streamline™. The company believes that by challenging the e-book status quo, organizations can effectively serve the diverse and growing needs of researchers and maximize their budgets. Founded in 1999, long before e-books were popular, ebrary is a ProQuest business located in Palo Alto, CA, USA.

From: http://www.prweb.com

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Droid Razr Ice Cream Sandwich Update to Begin Rolling Out June 12

The Android 4.0.4, Ice Cream Sandwich upgrade will be rolling out for the Motorola Droid Razr and Razr Maxx around June 12, according to a recent report from CNET.

                                        

The site also stated that Ice Cream Sandwich could have been available on the Droid Razr as early as last month, but was delayed due to a change in servers that send out the update from Android 4.0.3 to Android 4.0.4.

Motorola released an updated timetable last month that showed a Q2 update for the Motorola Droid Razr, and a June 12 roll out matches up well with that report.

The company also announced when it would roll out updates for some of its other tablets and smartphones in that timetable including the Droid Xyboard 8.2, 10.1, the XOOM WiFi + 3G MZ600, the Atrix 2, the Atrix 4G MB860, Droid 4, Droid Bionic and the Motorola XOOM Family Edition.

The Ice Cream Sandwich update for the Droid Xyboard models will roll out in the early part of the third quarter of 2012.

The update for the XOOM WiFi and 3G MZ600 model will begin rolling out in the second quarter.

Both the Atrix 2 and the Atrix 4G will get Ice Cream Sandwich in the third quarter of 2012. The Droid 4 will receive it around that same time along with the Droid Bionic.

ICS will come to the XOOM family edition in the third quarter as well.

Some of these dates are subject to change due to Google's purchase of Motorola Mobility. However, many fans will be happy to see that the company has finally revealed the dates for the software upgrade since many Android device owners have been waiting a long time for Android 4.0.

          

From:http://www.christianpost.com

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The best office apps for Android tablets

With the right set of apps, your Android tablet can become an indispensable part of your mobile work arsenal. Here are the tools you need

The best Android tablet word processor
Think all word processors are created equal? Think again. Android's top tablet office suites run the gamut from magnificent to meh in their word processing capabilities -- and if you don't get the right app for your needs, expect a lot of headaches, especially when supporting business users who find your app of choice falling short of theirs.

Documents to Go

Documents to Go may be one of the biggest names in mobile document management, but when it comes to Android tablets, it's also one of the biggest disappointments. The app's interface has not been optimized for tablets or even updated to meet Google's basic Android 4.0 design standards. As a result, you're forced to use a legacy menu icon in order to access basic commands that should be presented as on-screen options. Worse yet, most commands are buried within layers of menus, making them even more arduous to access and difficult to find.

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Latest Android Phones and Tablets Get Enhanced Sync Features

Latest Android Phones and Tablets Get Enhanced Sync Features and Ice Cream Sandwich Support Added to 2.0 Update to The Missing Sync for Android

Mark/Space releases The Missing Sync for Android 2.0 with Android 4.0 compatibility, enhanced video and podcast options, more powerful sync features for phones and tablets, and 3 licenses for the price of one. www.markspace.com/android

Los Gatos, CA (PRWEB) May 08, 2012

Mark/Space has released the newest update of its award-winning synchronization software for Android phone and tablet users, The Missing Sync for Android 2.0. The new version is fully compatible with Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich), features enhanced video, support for more tablets, a dynamic podcast plug-in, and various fixes and enhancements. The release of 2.0 also means that each purchaser receives three copies for the price of one.

The Missing Sync for Android 2.0 synchronizes Android phone and tablet users' information, files and media with their PCs or Macs via Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and USB. Busy Android users save precious time because The Missing Sync for Android 2.0 syncs contacts, calendars, notes, tasks, music, video and photos automatically so that they don't have to manually update their information, files, documents, playlists, photo albums, and more.

                    

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