5 reasons why you should be looking forward to Android Ice Cream Sandwich

February 19th, 2012

Android has come a long way since its first release – after version 2.1, it became a force to be reckoned on the mobile market, and today it has the largest market share on smartphones, with tablets slowly catching up. This year has marked a new milestone for the OS – the release of Android 4.0, code named Ice Cream Sandwich, which is the most advanced version yet.

There are plenty of new features and capabilities that will benefit users and developers alike, and if you have a dual core smartphone or plan on buying one, you should definitely look forward to the OTA update, which has already started rolling out and should be complete by the end of spring. Here are just a few of the reasons why Ice Cream Sandwich is worth the attention:

It’s the first universal tablet/smartphone version of Android. Ice Cream Sandwich is the first version of the OS that was designed to run on both smartphones and tablets, something that everyone expected to happen with Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Google finally got around to creating a unified API and user interface that fits both small and big displays alike and runs all the apps on the Market equally well no matter what the pixel density of the display is. Of course, there are differences between the tablet and smartphone UIs, but the underlying code is nowhere near as different as is the case with Honeycomb and Gingerbread. All in all, ICS should be faster, more stable and compatible with all your favorite apps on both your tablet and smartphone.

It has a new, distinct user interface. Android Gingerbread introduced some noticeable changes in the UI for smartphones and Honeycomb brought a very nice interface to tablets, but Ice Cream Sandwich beats them both when it comes to it. The new user interface features the biggest redesign yet – dark colors are prevalent (which also saves battery on OLED displays), the text has a new font and different colors, the lock screen got a very nice upgraded look, there are several new gestures for everyday operation and of course, there’s the System Bar – a variable buttons strip at the bottom of the display, which replaces the traditional hardware buttons to make the phone smaller while not sacrificing screen size – the Bar disappears when it’s not needed.

It supports full on-device encryption. This is a big one for corporate users and individuals who want their data to be safe at all times – Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is the first version of the OS to bring full support for on-device encryption – basically, all the data on the phone’s storage is encrypted, making it useless to anyone without the access key. This will allow Android to compete with Blackberry OS, and corporate users will finally start getting the option of a great smartphone that can both work and play instead of the antique Blackberries that currently dominate the sector.

It brings the new Google apps. Google has updated all of their apps for Ice Cream Sandwich and made them compatible with the new features that the OS offers. The mail app, calendar, Google Talk, Search, and others – all have a new interface, new useful features and tighter integration with Google Plus – something that Google is pushing hard nowadays.

It has new useful features for app developers. App developers will also have more opportunities to create awesome and unique apps for Android 4.0, thanks to the new development tools, new APIs and hooks. The advanced multitasking, improved speech engine, deeper hardware communication with the OS and other things mean that developers will have unprecedented capabilities to create new and exciting apps, and that’s great for everyone.

Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich is definitely the top gunner when it comes to mobile operating systems – it has everything you might need and more. With the new user interface, new capabilities for developers, the awesome new features and Google’s long term support pledge, you can be sure that it will perform great for years to come.

5 great Android apps that will help you manage your time and money

February 16th, 2012

Android is one of the top operating systems for mobile devices, and it becomes significantly better every year, with every new version bringing a lot of great features and improvements in tow. The latest version, Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, is by far the best mobile OS yet, but even the previous Android 2.3 and 3.0 are excellent on any device. If you have an Android smartphone or tablet and want to better manage your time, money and everyday life, here is a short collection of the top apps I recommend:

QuickOffice

QuickOffice is one of the top solutions for working with documents on your smartphone or tablet. The suite has support for all of the popular file formats, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint and PDF, letting you view, edit and create beautiful and informative documents from scratch, right on your mobile device. The latest update also brings support for Evernote and Catch notes, access to Egnyte, Google Docs, Dropbox, MobileMe and other online file storage services, with support for synchronization, of course. You can save a lot of time by reviewing your work documents on the go on a small tablet or smartphone as opposed to a laptop or desktop computer.

Evernote

Evernote is the premier note taking app for any platform, and its Android application is just as good as the award winning iOS and Mac apps. You can use Evernote to save all of your ideas for later review in the form of text, photos, video or audio with notes, tags and descriptions. Furthermore, you can create To Do and task lists out of the ideas you previously jotted down, email or tweet anything right from the app, and sync all your data with other devices running Evernote or the remote storage space provided by the service, which is useful if you want to be able to access your notes at all times, from anywhere.

Astrid

This free task and To Do list management app combines simplicity with advanced features like no other application, and if you value your time and want to be able to quickly plan and schedule tasks, you should definitely check it out. The interface is clean and uncluttered, giving you just enough functionality to be able to plan most of your tasks, but if you need to set up an advanced reminder, share a task, create a list or do something else, you can easily do it using the features hidden under the various menus and tabs.

5 awesome 3D games for Android that will give any gaming console a run for its money

February 13th, 2012

For the past couple of years, the iPhone ruled in multimedia and gaming matters, however 2011 was the year Android finally stood up to the task, as well. Initially, Google’s mobile OS was pretty restricted in multimedia – you couldn’t even find a good music player on the Market, but today, there are plenty of awesome media players, as well as some pretty wicked games.

If you have an Android smartphone or tablet, here are a few 3D games you should check out to see just how great the platform has become at gaming – their quality is easily comparable to that of PSP and Nintendo DS games and it supersedes the PlayStation One and Two, and that is definitely nothing to scoff at.

Modern Combat 3: Fallen Nation.

The Modern Combat series is one of the most successful first person shooters for Android and iOS, and Fallen Nation is by far the best game yet. The premise and story is very similar to the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare series for PC and the Xbox, but what’s really impressive is the graphics and sound quality – Modern Combat 3 looks and feels amazing for a smartphone game (in fact, it’s even better than many PSP and older PC titles). The touch screen controls aren’t bad either, and you’ll go through the 13 missions in a breeze – if you like FPS games, Fallen Nation is a must have.

Asphalt 6: Adrenaline

If you’re a fan of racing games, you’ve most probably already heard of or even tried Need for Speed Shift – the best game in the series for smartphones. Well, Asphalt 6 is even better! You can race 42 cars in 55 events and 11 leagues, collecting the cars in your own 3D garage along the way. The graphics quality is nothing short of amazing, as are the audio and special effects. The accelerometer and touch screen controls are also the best in class – everything is smooth and precise, unlike many other games. At the asking price of $1, this game is a must have for anyone with an Android phone.

Shadowgun

Shadowgun can easily be called THE smartphone game of 2011. It came out for both iOS and Android and it has shattered everyone’s view of just how good smartphone/tablet games can be. The graphics and special effects quality are at the top of the charts, with the story and gameplay following close behind. You play as the galaxy’s most infamous bounty hunter, sent to hunt down a maniacal scientist with his own personal army of cyborgs and genetically enhanced mutants, and with the latest weapons and your own AI assistant, SARA, you’ll have to fight your way through several levels and hack terminals to get to your target. This game is a must have on any compatible Android smartphone and especially tablet!

Top 10 media players for Android

January 22nd, 2012

Android may not have been very good at multimedia when it was first released, but today it is one of the most capable mobile operating systems out there. With over 300,000 apps on the marketplace, you are pretty much guaranteed to find whatever app you need, and of course, there are lots of music and video players available, as well. To make it easier for you, I’ve compiled a selection of the top 10 media players below:

Spotify. Spotify is one of the best music streaming services available today, according to the millions of users worldwide, and it’s hard to disagree. Their Android app looks very nice, has an intuitive interface and lets you stream the music you like when you want it. You can also save the music on your phone or tablet for listening offline (useful if you don’t want to waste money on your data plan), share the music you like, create a favorites list, sync your own MP3 list with your phone, send the tracks you’re listening to Facebook and Last.fm and more.

Pandora internet radio. Pandora is also a music streaming service, only they’ve been in the game for a longer time than Spotify and are only available in North America. Their Android app is more mature, has a great user interface and a lot of features. In the free version, you can create “radio stations” based on the artist you like and stream the tracks straight into your headphones. The paid version lets you select the albums or tracks you want and save the music offline for later.

VPlayer. VPlayer was created as the player to top all players. It can playback almost any video you can throw at it, and you don’t even need to have the latest processor in order to do it (unless you’re watching movies in HD format). No more manually transcoding your files before sending them to your phone or tablet – just copy the video file, and open it with VPlayer.

MixZing. MixZing is being marketed as the most advanced player around, and looking at the impressive features sheet, it is hard to argue. The player has a pretty good interface (though it’s nothing special) and has more features than you’ll ever need. There’s the automatic ID tag retrieval, graphic equalizer, custom listening sessions based on your mood, lyrics playback along with the song, recommendations for similar music, batch editing for playlists, and much more.

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