Thread: All Things Android

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

While Android OEMs have continually shown a tendency to not support their handsets with updates, either promptly or at all, Apple have just announced that the 3GS will receive its 3rd major update with iOS 6.

And it will still be a pile of shit.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

And it will still be a pile of shit.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Can't wait to hear how Quacky the gameboy is going to justify having to lash out on all new accessories when he slavishly queues outside the Apple shop for his iPhlop 5, only to find it needs a bumper or some other ridiculous novelty just to work. (... ad nauseam ...)

See, this is what I mean about "hate and bitterness" - maybe even with a bit of hostility thrown in. These are the kind of near-endless insult-filled diatribes that do not paint the picture of a mature, well-adjusted induvidual... more like a petulant child maladjusted as the result of when the parent has failed in their responsibilities (that, or a random Australian labourer).

I'm very sorry for you. I'm sorry your parents could never afford nice things, and I'm sorry you grew up in a time where you were denied nice things, and that you chose an avenue of employ that wasn't conducive to this either. It's tragic, but dude, get over it.

At this point, it's well apparent that you are some kind of dinosaur - the type that probably bragged in the 80s about being punch-card savvy - and you haven't made the transition to more modern, more refined ways of operating. Look, it was a fun time in the 70s and 80s, fiddling with hardware, building your own, and I'm sure you think you have some kind of technical qualifications because of that. In fact, heck yes, you would - except they would only be useful if someone booted you back into the 70s with a time machine ;-)

Instead, I would suggest you take a long hard look at yourself, and your place in this world. All that hate and bitterness will only set you down the inexorable path that ENT and other conspiracy theorists are on - alienation from their families, friends, others ... who no longer want anything to do with them.

You really could turn this around. You should try... I mean, look at ENT and the posse he runs with. That'd be your future, otherwise.

(Oh, and I'm not a gamer, as I already pointed out - "ignoring evidence" is just one of the signs that you are sliding down that slippery slope towards irrelevancy)

Android app swipes contactless credit card details

new scientist 22/06/12


Got a credit card equipped with a contactless payment chip? Then watch out next time someone bumps into you in the street - they may have just mugged you with an app.

Contactless cards use near field communications (NFC) chips to exchange your payment details with a merchant's till, and some smartphones also come equipped with NFC chips to let you use them as a wallet. Now security researcher Thomas Skora has written an app that turns any NFC phone into a reader and successfully read card numbers, expiry dates, transactions and merchant IDs from German credit cards.

The app, called paycardreader, was removed from the Google Play store yesterday, but Skora has also placed the source code on GitHub, a code-sharing website, and says the app doesn't actually save the swiped data, it just displays it.

It is possible that more malicious app developers could use similar methods to actively steal data though - an investigation by Channel 4 television in the UK earlier this year revealed it was possible to swipe details via a phone and use them to make purchases on Amazon.

-----

Nice way to get 10 years of free fish head curry

^ ah yes, such a superior mobile phone platform.

Seriously, that's a major issue, all brought about google's cavalier attitude towards security.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Bloody hell it is getting truly ridiculous; not too worried about GPS or Bluetooth with that price and the rest of the spec; wonder what the battery life is like:

How does it compare to this that I am considering?

Agora 10" 8GB Tablet - Powered by Android ICS! - Buy your Agora 10" 8GB Tablet - Powered by Android ICS! from Kogan Australia

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Bloody hell it is getting truly ridiculous; not too worried about GPS or Bluetooth with that price and the rest of the spec; wonder what the battery life is like:

Crappy resistive touchscreen, never listed battery capacity - so expect 2-3 hours of battery life, if you're lucky.

The Agora listed by boatboy is certainly a *far* better deal for the price, providing a more reasonable 1024x768 resolution, and with a listed battery life of 5,000mAh you are probably looking at 3-5 hours of usable time, and a capacitive touchscreen, so you are at least getting decent touch technology.

Of course, it'll still be laggy, but for that price, you can't argue with it, if you're looking for a cheap kit for a project or to tinker with.

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

^ ah yes, such a superior mobile phone platform.

Seriously, that's a major issue, all brought about google's cavalier attitude towards security.

You obviously don't get the CVE reports for Apple shit, do you.

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

And it will still be a pile of shit.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Can't wait to hear how Quacky the gameboy is going to justify having to lash out on all new accessories when he slavishly queues outside the Apple shop for his iPhlop 5, only to find it needs a bumper or some other ridiculous novelty just to work. (... ad nauseam ...)

See, this is what I mean about "hate and bitterness" - maybe even with a bit of hostility thrown in. These are the kind of near-endless insult-filled diatribes that do not paint the picture of a mature, well-adjusted induvidual... more like a petulant child maladjusted as the result of when the parent has failed in their responsibilities (that, or a random Australian labourer).

I'm very sorry for you. I'm sorry your parents could never afford nice things, and I'm sorry you grew up in a time where you were denied nice things, and that you chose an avenue of employ that wasn't conducive to this either. It's tragic, but dude, get over it.

At this point, it's well apparent that you are some kind of dinosaur - the type that probably bragged in the 80s about being punch-card savvy - and you haven't made the transition to more modern, more refined ways of operating. Look, it was a fun time in the 70s and 80s, fiddling with hardware, building your own, and I'm sure you think you have some kind of technical qualifications because of that. In fact, heck yes, you would - except they would only be useful if someone booted you back into the 70s with a time machine ;-)

Instead, I would suggest you take a long hard look at yourself, and your place in this world. All that hate and bitterness will only set you down the inexorable path that ENT and other conspiracy theorists are on - alienation from their families, friends, others ... who no longer want anything to do with them.

You really could turn this around. You should try... I mean, look at ENT and the posse he runs with. That'd be your future, otherwise.

(Oh, and I'm not a gamer, as I already pointed out - "ignoring evidence" is just one of the signs that you are sliding down that slippery slope towards irrelevancy)

I'm flattered you should spend so much of your valuable time trying to write such a feeble assessment.

Especially if you had to do it on a iFad.

Originally Posted by boatboy

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Bloody hell it is getting truly ridiculous; not too worried about GPS or Bluetooth with that price and the rest of the spec; wonder what the battery life is like:

How does it compare to this that I am considering?

Agora 10" 8GB Tablet - Powered by Android ICS! - Buy your Agora 10" 8GB Tablet - Powered by Android ICS! from Kogan Australia

It's cheaper and it's got USB ports, among other things.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Especially if you had to do it on a iFad.

aN iDuck on an iFuck.

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

^ ah yes, such a superior mobile phone platform.

Seriously, that's a major issue, all brought about google's cavalier attitude towards security.

What is the major issue here for google? after all this is nothing to do with compromising the security of the phone itself

Oh, don't get me wrong - yes, it doesn't affect the user of the phones.

I meant that this is endemic of Google's "openess", which resulted in a platform for hackers and scammers. The average phone consumer doesn't care if the platform is "open" (despite it not actually being so), they care about a secure and reliable experience.

^ If that's the case, why is Apple so renowned for security holes? Outside Microsoft, the only company worse is Adobe.

Truth is, Apple just do their best to cover up their flaws.

The beauty of open source: Everyone can critique it, no cover ups.

Not sure why this is supposed to be so brilliant, but at least iFad users might now have a replacement for that shitpile called Safari.

Quite appropriate to name it "Firefox Junior" as well.

Firefox for Android to get massive updates at Google I/O

By: Stuff Staff

Firefox for Android is set to get a massive upgrade at this week’s Google I/O conference, so says Mozilla that teased the following on Twitter, “#Firefox for #Android. Something BIG is coming your way next week. mzl.la/KqFX3n”. Click the link, and you’ll see a picture of the Firefox logo on a Nexus handset, along with the words fast, smart and safe.
Google is expected to pull the wraps off Android 4.1 – Jelly Bean – at Google I/O, although it’s widely expected that the Big G will announce its mobile version of Chrome will be pre-loaded on all future Android devices. Is Mozilla working with Google? Or launching a competitor to one of the best browsers available for Android?
Either way, Mozilla is also due to launch a new iPad browser in the next few names, codenamed ‘Firefox Junior’. Expect all the usual mobile bells and whistles, including history and bookmark syncing across your desktop and mobile devices, along with an Apple-esque ‘Reader’ view.

Google I/O 2012: What to expect
Updated at Mon, Jun 25, 2012 at 13:05

After Apple and Microsoft, Google is now geared up to put its best foot forward at the Google I/O event that begins on June 27 and will run up to June 29. Apple flaunted the new iOS 6, Microsoft finally pulled the wraps off the new Windows 8 for tablets and Windows Phone 8, and now Google is all set bring to the table its new advancements to the Android OS along with a few other announcements. There is a lot of buzz about the newest iteration of the Android and also the new Nexus tablet, so going by the latest buzz on the Internet, we decided to put what all we could possibly expect at the Google I/O event under one roof.Jelly BeanApple just showed off the iOS 6 and its arch rival Google is speculated to put forth the Jelly Bean operating system at the Google I/O event. Google apparently plans to call the Jelly Bean its 4.1 version and not Android 5.0, as many may be expecting. This nomenclature is likely to make it a true successor of the Ice Cream Sandwich. This also leads to the speculation that Jelly Bean could just be a minor update to ICS and the possible reason why ICS didn’t make it to many handsets. However, it is clearly unjustifiable why ICS didn’t reach handsets and waited for its successor which emerged almost after 8 to 9 months. So, we can expect the next major update to the Android operating system to feature on the Google Nexus tablet. Then there may be some smartphones which might receive the Jelly Bean update too.

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Oh, don't get me wrong - yes, it doesn't affect the user of the phones.

I meant that this is endemic of Google's "openess", which resulted in a platform for hackers and scammers. The average phone consumer doesn't care if the platform is "open" (despite it not actually being so), they care about a secure and reliable experience.

you really are on one aren't you. you do relies that all of apples, we only let you run what we like vetting is bypassed if you simply get the source code and compile and ins tall it yourself on your own iPhone and iPad.


What is it about TD and religious fanaticism Cthulhu, mao, sabang, git.....

Have a laugh Hazz, the Note advert from Canada is hilarious.

Samsung's new Galaxy S III ads: Apple fanboy now owns Samsung

Three ads for Samsung's new Galaxy S III suggest a confidence on the part of Samsung. Any Apple-bashing is implied, rather than expressed. However, look closely and he who played an Apple fanboy now has a Samsung.
by Chris Matyszczyk
June 24, 2012 10:48 AM PDT

(Credit: Samsung Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)
And so the Apple fanboy is now a Samsungite.
(Credit: Samsung Screenshot: Chris Matyszczyk/CNET)
Sometimes, you can tell when a company rather likes the product it's advertising.
It manages to restrain some of the baser impulses of its marketing department and displays the product with a certain understatement.
I have a feeling Samsung rather likes its Galaxy S III phone.
There have now been three ads to accompany the launch. While you couldn't say they necessarily hang together as a whole, you can definitely say that Samsung is over trying to tell you that you're a sad little Apple fanboy sheep, working part time as a barista.
Well, almost.
There was a time -- even this year -- when Samsung decided that Apple needed to be tweaked. Slapped over the head with a wet hammer, actually.

A succession of ads featured Cupertino Cultists standing in line outside an Apple store, waiting for the latest, allegedly lame, coming.
This culminated in a Super Bowl ad that both laughter and tears were entirely appropriate reactions.
For the Galaxy S III, though, the act is, well, no longer an act.
Samsung tried to reach for humanity , which goes all cuddly-feely by showing not merely lovers sharing through a glass window, but a baby's little hand grasping that of its parent.
Original, it isn't. But claiming some of Apple's emotional territory, it most certainly is.

The latest two ads that launched this week offer the long and the short of it. The longer ad is so redolent of Apple's tone that, if you played it to a focus group of the only slightly inebriated and put an iPhone 5 logo at the end, many would find it entirely consistent.
The "What if?" construction of the copy and the confident, reassuring tone of voice feels very Applesque. It's as if Samsung has decided it has every right to step into that emotional territory.
The shorter ad, a 15-second little thing, simply tells you that you can watch the game, while texting the love of your life.

More Technically Incorrect

• Professor to 'hack' into Stephen Hawking's brain
• Your new nightmare: Facebook ads everywhere
• Man's sex legal, cell phone pics of sex illegal
• Red Sox pitcher's millions gone after gaming firm collapses
• Great news! You might have to buy all new Apple accessories

The implication is clear: your iPhone can't do that. However, the confidence of the tone is also very clear.
It says: "We know this phone is a really good competitor. We know that when people see it and feel it, they are moved by it. So we realize that we don't need to bash Apple any more. People might actually like this phone just for its little self."
But then you look a couple of times and see that the anti-Apple message still lives. Some might notice that .
You see, there is redemption. It just takes a little self-confidence.
Rob the barista from a previous Samsung ad captured with fellow Apple fanboy Peter Bryce.
(Credit: David Carnoy/CNET)

Originally Posted by hazz

you really are on one aren't you. you do relies that all of apples, we only let you run what we like vetting is bypassed if you simply get the source code and compile and ins tall it yourself on your own iPhone and iPad.

Are you drunk....?

So, they are now also copying Apple's advertising? No surprise.

It sure isn't making their court case any better for them.

Originally Posted by Cthulhu

Originally Posted by hazz

you really are on one aren't you. you do relies that all of apples, we only let you run what we like vetting is bypassed if you simply get the source code and compile and ins tall it yourself on your own iPhone and iPad.

Are you drunk....?

not at all, I don't need to drink , but as I said if you have the source code you can run anything you want on an iPhone and iPad which makes all this talk about apple's vetting system moot point really

Asus Nexus 7 specs revealed: Is Google finally taking control of Android updates?

June 25, 2012 9:51 am



by Adam Bunker




Longing for an Android-powered iPad killer? A proper one, we mean… Not one of an army of also rans. That’ll be the Nexus 7, then – the much-rumoured iPad killer that Google’s working on with Asus. It’s still a few days away from officially being announced, but have all its biggest secrets just spilled online? And, more importantly, is Google making steps to sort out Android updates for good?
According to a leaked staff training document, what you see above is the Nexus 7, a 7-inch Asus-built tablet that will first see the light of day at Google’s I/O conference this month. It’s certainly a handsome beast, but the good news doesn’t start and end with its looks.
Underneath the 1280×800 pixel display there’s a 1.3-GHz quad-core Tegra 3 processor with 1GB or RAM. Which should, by all accounts, make the thing fly. There’s NFC, a 1.2-Megapixel front-facing camera (although, strangely, no rear-facing one), and 8 or 16GB of storage.

Nexus 7: Seven things it needs to have

And the price? Just $199 and $249. That translates directly to £127 and £160, although we’d eat our hats if the price makes it across the Atlantic that untouched.
But that spec sheet and the low price aren’t the best bits of news to come from the leak. Also on the document is word that Google is to take control of all future Android updates. The Nexus 7 is due to launch on Android 4.1 (Jelly Bean), but will receive any further updates directly from Google, to try and avoid fragmentation and delays.
It’s unclear whether this applies just to the Nexus 7, or to all Android devices running on Jelly Bean and up, but if it’s the latter, it’ll mark a huge change in the way Android updates become available. If Google takes it all in-house, it could spell the end of lengthy update delays for good. We’ll keep you posted on the Nexus 7 as we hear more.

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Longing for an Android-powered iPad killer? A proper one, we mean… Not one of an army of also rans.

*chortle*

I must admit, if I had a dollar for the number of times I've heard the phrase "ipad killer" I'd be quite wealthy.

Look! An ipad killer!

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700












Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 Review: Stylish, High-Performance Android Tablet

Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 Review, by Melissa J. Perenson June 25, 2012
Once again, Asus delivers a complete package with its Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 Android tablet. The long-awaited Infinity maintains the slim, stylish, multipurpose tradition of its predecessor, the Asus Transformer Prime, while bringing an improved Nvidia Tegra 3 processor and a 1920-by-1200-pixel display along for the ride. This tablet blasts ahead of the pack to establish itself as the best-performing Android tablet we've seen to date, on all of our metrics except battery life.
The 32GB version of the Infinity also offers double the memory of the third-generation 16GB Apple iPad, at the same price, $499. Meanwhile, the 64GB version of the Infinity costs $599, which is $100 less than the 64GB iPad. Asus expects the Infinity to be available for sale, at the earliest, during the week of July 16, in two colors: Amethyst Gray and Champagne Gold.
On the outside, the Infinity is a virtual twin of the Prime: At 10.4 by 7.1 by 0.3 inches and 1.31 pounds, it measures a mere 0.08 inch (0.2mm) thicker, and weighs just 0.03 pound (12g) more than the Prime. That makes the Infinity one of the lightest and slimmest Android tablets on the market today. By comparison, Apple's iPad measures 9.5 by 7.3 by 0.4 inches, and weighs 1.44 pounds. The extra 0.12 pound makes a bigger difference than you might expect, both for casual use and for long-term use. I found the Infinity more comfortable to hold, especially when I held it in one hand instead of two.
The Infinity has some minor physical difference changes from the Prime. Asus moved the volume rocker from the top left edge (when held in horizontal orientation) to the upper edge, at at right. The Micro-HDMI port moved lower along the left edge, and below the Micro-HDMI port now sits the headphone jack (a more convenient location as compared with the Prime's upper right edge location).
High-Resolution Display

As soon as you turn on the Infinity, you'll notice a difference between this model and its older brethren. The Infinity is one of two high-resolution 1920-by-1200-pixel Android tablets aiming to compete with Apple's third-generation iPad Retina display; the other, the Acer Iconia Tab A700, is now shipping and just edged the Infinity across the finish line to market.
Like the iPad's Retina display, the Infinity's high-resolution, 10.1-inch display dramatically improves the overall tablet experience. Text is clearer, images are sharper, and everything on the screen pops. The Infinity's pixel density of 224 pixels per inch matches that of the Iconia Tab A700. The iPad's 2048-by-1536 pixel resolution delivers an even higher pixel density of 264 pixels per inch, but the difference in screen quality between the iPad and the two Android tablets was not overwhelmingly obvious. The difference was obvious, however, between the Infinity and the Prime, as illustrated by the two screenshots below.
A Web page as displayed on the Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700's high-resolution 1920 by 1200 pixel display.
The same Web page as displayed on the Asus Transformer Prime TF201, at 1280 by 800 pixels.Text quality seemed noticeably smoother on the iPad than on either high-resolution Android tablet, which is unsurprising considering the iPad's higher pixel density. However, the degree of superiority seemed to vary considerably depending on the font I was looking at, which leads me to wonder whether the observed difference may be less about the Android tablets' lower pixel density and more about inherent differences in the way Apple's iOS and Google's Android handle text rendering.
Our test images looked great on the Infinity, too. As expected, images generally looked sharper and clearer, and had better color reproduction than on such 1280-by-800-pixel tablets as the Asus Transformer Pad TF300, the Asus Transformer Prime, the Toshiba Excite 10.1, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 2. At maximum brightness, images viewed on the Prime looked more washed out than corresponding images on the Infinity--even though the Infinity's Super IPS+ display has the stronger maximum brightness measurement at 630 candelas per square meter to the Prime's 564 cd/m2.
The Infinity's images were similar in sharpness to the iPad's, though both the iPad and the Iconia Tab A700 had an ever-so-slight edge in that regard; also, the Infinity's images looked overly bright--likely a consequence of the brighter display (iPad's display maxes out at 445 cd/m2). Dialing down the brightness helped a bit, but both the Acer A700 and the iPad outpointed the Infinity in color and skin-tone reproduction and saturation. That said, the Infinity clearly topped its predecessor, the Prime; the Prime's images lacked the contrast and clarity of those on the Infinity.
The glass panel is composed of Corning Gorilla Glass 2, an upgrade over the first-generation Gorilla Glass used on the Prime. But like the Prime--and unlike the Microsoft Surface, introduced last week--the Infinity offers optical bonding on the display to minimize glare and improve image clarity.
High-Flying Performer

We tested a shipping version of the tablet supplied by Asus, but the company said that it would have an over-the-air firmware update available at around the time of retail launch, providing Hulu certification and other optimizations.
The Infinity comes loaded with Android 4.03 Ice Cream Sandwich, 1GB of DDR3 memory operating at 1600MHz (an improvement over the type of memory used on the Prime), and a quad-core 1.6GHz Nvidia Tegra 3 T33 processor. When in single-core operation, the new Tegra operates at 1.7GHz. By comparison, the Prime's Tegra 3 processor operates at 1.3GHz for two to four cores and at 1.4GHz when a single core is in use; for its part, the processor in the Acer Iconia Tab A700 runs at 1.3GHz/1.2GHz.
Among Android tablets, the Infinity roared past almost all comers on our suite of tablet tests. It outperformed other Tegra 3-based models running at a slower clock speed (and with slower system memory) to grab the crown as our top scorer on Geekbench and AndEBench, and it posted the best frame rates on our two GLBenchmark tests (Egypt Offscreen and Pro Offscreen). It also delivered 2.9 frames per second, matching the Toshiba Excite 7.7's frame rate, on WebVizBench.



The high-resolution display saps battery life faster, and that drawback is visible in the Infinity's battery performance. On our updated battery life tests, the Infinity lasted 7 hours, 58 minutes, versus the Prime's 8 hours, 22 minutes and the iPad's 10 hours, 46 minutes. But it was super-fast at recharging, requiring just 2 hours, 32 minutes to juice up.
Elsewhere, Asus has made a few other evolutionary improvements. Like the Prime, the Infinity has a rear 8-megapixel camera, but now the camera has a slightly wider aperture for low-light shooting--f2.2 instead of the Prime's f2.4. Asus updated the camera software, too, as well as the sensor and flash; but in my casual shooting the benefits of these enhancements were minor in low-light and daylight shooting. In side-by-side comparisons, I preferred the images captured by the Infinity; the color and clarity was simply better than the Prime. (Another note: The high-res display made it easier to capture images, too.) The front-facing camera has been updated from 1.2 megapixels to 2 megapixels, so you can now obtain high-definition video chat.
The Infinity also bumps up the Bluetooth support to Bluetooth 3.0. Ports remain the same as on the Prime: a Micro-HDMI output, a MicroSD card reader, and a proprietary connector to use with the charger/USB transfer cable or the optional keyboard dock. Like the other models in Asus's Transformer line, the Infinity morphs into a clamshell-style netbook when you snap the tablet into its $150 Mobile Dock; it uses the same dock as the Prime.
Software Customizations

Asus retains some of its now-standard Android customization features, including a custom keyboard that includes white keys with black text and a number row, and a control panel for quick access to the tablet's power settings, display controls, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth toggles, rotation lock, and other settings.
Preloaded apps include Polaris Office, SuperNote, App Backup, App Locker, Asus Sync, MyNet (for streaming 1080p content across a network), and Asus Webstorage (with 8GB of free storage space for the "lifetime" of the unit, up from the Prime's one-year of free unlimited storage followed by paid storage).
As with the Retina-display Apple iPad, your experience with how apps look will vary. Apps that have been optimized for the high-resolution display can look great, while those that lack higher-resolution assets may be a pixelated mess. Case in point: Riptide GP looks great on the Prime but looks garbled and outdated on the Infinity. Other apps, including Amazon's Kindle app, looked good.
Sadly, I did encounter some odd behavior while transferring media to the Infinity from my Windows 7 PC. For example, I got error messages on the PC that the device was in use when I queued up more than one folder transfer; that alone is not entirely unusual among tablets, but then I received follow up error messages that aborted the copy. I also had several apps, including the browser and the camera, close unexpectedly; hopeful these glitches are ones that Asus will clean up with its first over-the-air update.
Bottom Line

The Asus Transformer Pad Infinity TF700 takes over from its predecessor as the top Android tablet available. You get high performance mixed with high style, and you don't have to make a lot of sacrifices to get both. Other tablets--including the Prime, which is expected to drop in price once this model gets into the market--may provide better value, but no other Android tablet will give you the full package that the Infinity does.