Android 5.0 Lollipop in Nexus 4 Hands on Review

Checking Lollipop version - also you can play game using this

I felt my Nexus 4 is reborn after the upgrade. I was scared to update initially after reading some posts about WIFI connectivity issue and battery issues. I am running from yesterday and did not find any lag or issues.

Here are the features / changes in lollipop

1) Faster

I felt significant improvement in the performance compared to 4.4. Apps are starting faster. Lollipop is running in ART (Android run time) instead of Dalvik and may be one of the reasons for performance

2) Fresh

There are animations everywhere and it is done beautifully. Let it be alarm, tool tips, Google now – all these apps are using the power of animation and material design. The color and font is mild and pleasing.

3) Lock Screen

Lock screen is looking great with new gestures and notifications. It will show estimated time to fully charge. I was using dynamic notifications in 4.4 for notification summary and it is not required in 5.0.

Charging indicator in lock screen

Notifications in lock screen

4) Pull down notification panel

This is one of the best features. More options are available in notification panel to enable wifi, mobile data, flash light etc.

Pull down notification; last set of ugly icons are coming from Notification toggle app

5) Battery Saver mode

This mode will stop most of the background running apps to improve the battery. Apps like WhatsApp, Facebook won’t notify me for every update and it will be refreshed only after opening them. Also most of the animations will be automatically disabled

Orange shade for status bar

I felt 15-20% improvement while running in this mode. Your notification and action panel will appear in orange in this mode. It is similar to using apps like Greenify to hibernate resource hungry apps

6) Recent Tabs

It is highly inspired from Chrome. Recent apps will appear as tabs instead of stack. Looks beautiful and easy to switch recent apps

Recent apps in Chrome style tabs

Multi-user support

This is not a new feature for Android since Android used to support multi users from 4.1. But this was available for Nexus tabs and some other custom ROMs like Cyanogenmod. It was not made available out of the box since phone was considered as personal device and it was not supposed to be shared with others.

Switching users

Things have changed… Line between tablet and phone is getting thinner and people started using phablets.

I can add guest user and allow them to use the phone. Guest will not be able to access any apps or personal data (including gallery). This becomes handy if your kid wants to play some games or colleague wants to make some urgent phone call

7) Screen Pinning

Another useful feature and it is an abstract version of multi user. I can pin one of the app and give the phone to someone. He/she will be able to use only the pinned app

Go to Settings à Security à Screen pinning

Enabling screen-pin option

You will be able to see pin button in recent tabs. Pin any one of the app and it is the only app user will be able to use. Click on back and recent button to un-pin. You can add additional security feature using lock pattern or pin. User will be redirected to lock screen if they tried to unpin and they have to know the pattern to view home screen.

8) Dialer

Dialer interface and gesture animations are good

Dialer with quick search and dial pad

Right gesture to view recent contacts

9) Google Chrome

Chrome works differently in 5.0. Add new tab button is moved to menu and switch tab was missing. Later found that chrome tabs are also listed along with recent apps. It was bit annoying in the start and now I’m used to it

10) Gallery

I am disappointed to see that there is no gallery app and only Google photos app is available. It is difficult to view the folders since the way it is organized is not so user friendly. I was expecting a redesigned Gallery

11) Camera

No improvements in camera even after upgrading. The same camera app used in 4.4 is available in 5.0 as well

12) Battery

I did not find any major improvement in battery life compared to 4.4. I was expecting huge improvement since I read about Project Volta – a project to improve the battery.

Quick recharge - Nexus 6 supports fast charging - charge for 15 minutes and use for 6 hours. Looks like it is not a feature of 5.0

13) Other issues

Most of the apps used in 4.4 works without issues. MX Player did not work and hopefully they will update the app soon

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iPad Mini 2 vs Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact

When it comes to mobile, Apple is always the manufacturer to beat. We can agree or disagree on the winner, but there is no denying the industry looks at Apple as a standard. And with an 8-inch iPad Mini 2 in the market, a whole crowd of tablets is bound to try and take down the Apple from its tree.

Among the most important 8-inch competitors we can find the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, a device that is leading the batch of Android tablets of its size. Can it go up against the almighty iPad Mini 3? Let us tell you right now it can definitely hold its own.

iPad Mini 2 specs

• iOS 8
• 7.9-inch Retina Display (2048×1536)
• A7 processor
• 1 GB of RAM
• 16/64 GB of internal storage
• 5 MP rear-facing camera
• 1.2 MP front-facing camera
• 6471 mAh battery

Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact specs

• Android 4.4
• 8-inch 1080p display
• 2.5 GHz quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801
• 3 GB of RAM
• 16 GB of internal storage
• 8.1 MP rear-facing camera
• 2.2 MP front-facing camera
• 4500 mAh battery

Design, Form and Function – Sony is the Complete Package

Some will say there is no way to compare the iPad Mini 2 against the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact in terms of design. Apple is known for its great looks and I will have to agree that I do prefer the design of the iPad Mini 2. That is not to say the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is bad looking, though.

Both look great, they are just different. The iPad Mini 2 will offer that slim and now-classic Apple look so many of you love. The aluminum body also gives it a very sleek and solid feel. Meanwhile, the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is made of mostly plastic, but it’s good plastic.

The back of the Z3 Tablet Compact is much better for keeping away fingerprints, for example. Furthermore, that matte finish does look very good. There is one thing Apple jsut won’t be able to beat Sony on, though – resistance.

The Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is a mouth-full, but it is lighter, slimmer and it is waterproof. Sony wants you to take your tablet with you everywhere, just like the rest of their Xperia Z line-up. They realize devices have to be rugged, stylish and usable in a world where stuff happens. You might not be the kind of person to take your tablet in the pool, but if you get caught in a rain storm you can be sure that your device won’t care.

Hardware – A Story of Two Tanks

TABLET	APPLE IPAD MINI 3	SONY XPERIA Z3 TABLET COMPACT
Screen	7.9-inch IPS LCD (324ppi)	8-inch TFT LCD (283ppi)
Weight	331g	270g
Processor	Apple A7	Snapdragon 801
Storage	16/32/64/128 GB	16/32GB + microSD memory card
SIM?	Yes, 4G	Yes, 4G
Camera	5-Megapixel	8-Megapixel

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How to root Nexus 5 on Android 5.0 Lollipop [updated]

The Android 5.0 Lollipop glue has not even set on the Nexus 5 yet, but there is already an exploit out to provide you with beautiful root privileges. Here's how to root the Nexus 5 on Android 5.0 Lollipop. Update: I've added the modified kernel boot image to the instructions below. Apologies for any confusion.

How to root Nexus 5 on Android 5.0 Lollipop :

1. Make sure your phone has USB Debugging enabled in Developer Options. If you don't have this option in Settings already, go to Settings > About Phone and tap Build Number until the notification that Developer Options have been enabled pops up. Then back out a step and you'll see it at the bottom of your Settings menu.

2. Make sure you have the Nexus 5 USB Drivers installed on your PC.

3. Double check your Nexus 5 battery is charged, and if not, charge that bad boy!

4. Open the ADB Tools folder on your PC. If you don't have it installed already download ADB Tools here.

5. Ensure Fastboot lives in the ADB Tools folder once you're done installing. If it doesn't, download Fastboot for Windows.

6. Download SuperSU on your PC too.

7. Copy the SuperSU zip file to the root directory of your Nexus 5. To do this, connect your Nexus 5 to your PC with a USB cable and copy the file to the place where all the root folders are: not in a folder.

8. Download ClockworkMod custom recovery to your PC and put it in the Platform Tools directory as well as the modified boot image with the modified kernel patch for Lollipop. Extract the zip file and put the boot.img in the ADB Tools folder.

9. Restart your Nexus 5 in Fastboot. Turn it off, then press and hold Power and Volume Down until you see the Fastboot menu. You should still be connected to the PC with a USB cable.

10. Open a Windows Explorer window and head to the Platform Tools folder.

11. In a blank space in the window, hold Shift and right click your mouse. You'll want to click on Open Command Window Here.

12. Type in the following command:

13. You'll now be rocking ClockworkMod recovery. Next you want to enter the following ADB comand:

14. And now you'll be rocking the modified boot image with custom kernel. Use the volume keys to select Recovery Mode on your Nexus 5 and hit Power to enter it.

15. From CWM, use the volume keys to select ''install zip'' and hit Power to confirm, then select ''choose zip from SD card'' – no prizes for guessing what comes next.

16. Locate the SuperSU zip you copied over earlier (mine appeared in /sdcard/0/Alarms) and press power to confirm your selection, reconfirm and wait until you see the notification at the bottom of the screen that says ''Install from SD card complete''.

17. Back out to the main menu and reboot your Nexus 5. make sure you tell SuperSU to fix root!

18.The first boot may take ages (this is why you charged your battery) – don't freak out. Go have a cup of tea and let it do its thing. Do NOT unplug your phone from your PC or winged monkeys will fly through the window and do all kinds of terrible things to you.

19. Once your Nexus 5 has rebooted, that's it. You're rooted and ready to roll with SuperSU installed and requesting superuser access. Install RootChecker from the Play Store to double check your root status. If you have the gren light you're all sorted.

20. If you get stuck in a bootloop (meaning after a long time your phone still hasn't booted up normally), you can switch it off, reboot into Fastboot, go to Recovery and wipe data, wipe cache partition and reboot again. That should do the trick.
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Zend Delivers Mobile App Enhancements to PHP Developers

PHP developers will get new goodies for building mobile apps with the latest release of Zend Technologies' integrated development environment, Zend Studio 12, which was unveiled last week at the ZendCon conference in San Francisco. The company also unveiled a beta of Zend Server 8, which becomes generally available on open systems platforms next month.

Zend Studio 12 brings a mess of new capabilities for building Web applications that are housed on servers and features user interfaces for mobile devices like smartphones and tablets. Chief among them are support for three open source frameworks for building mobile Web apps, including Apache Cordova (i.e. PhoneGap), Ionic, and AngularJS.

Zend is also now supporting its Z-Ray code inspection facility with Studio. Z-Ray, which was introduced earlier this yea with the introduction of Zend Server version 7, is designed to provide "unprecedented" visibility to what's going on inside of applications in real time. Studio 12 also brings support for PHP 5.6, Amazon Web Services (AWS), and the Eclipse 4 Luna development platform, which supports Java 8.

IBM i shops will be happy to see updates to the XMLService Toolkit, a built-in library for that helps developers extend PHP code to IBM i resources, including making RPG and COBOL program calls, accessing DB2/400 and data queues, utilizing native system APIs, and accessing spool files. The toolkit, which Zend initially introduced back in 2012, is part of the Zend Server for IBM i product.

In other news, the Cupertino, California, company used the conference to unveil a new release of the Zend Server runtime with Zend Server 8.

Chief among the new features in Zend Server 8 is Z-Ray Live, which the company says broadens the scope of Z-Ray to include debugging of mobile and web services APIs. Z-Ray has also been bolstered to provide real-time visibility to PHP's inner-workings within several common applications and frameworks, including IBM i, Magento, WordPress, Drupal, ZendFramework, and Symfony.

Zend Server 8, which becomes available in December, also brings support for running Linux on Power8, in addition to running on X86 servers with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. You can expect to see support IBM i on Power 8 when Zend Server 8 ships at a later date.

Zend Studio 12 pricing starts at $189 for new users. It's $29 for students and free to teachers, classrooms, and open source project developers. For more info see www.zend.com. 

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The power will wallet charge your smartphone, one click to learn its features

• The Mighty Power Wallet looks just like a normal-sized leather wallet
• It conceals a micro USB port and slimline 3000mAh battery
• Device holds enough energy to recharge a smartphone one-and-a-half times
• It costs £75 ($119) from Firebox and a larger Power Purse is on sale too

MIGHTY POWER WALLET SPECIFICATIONS 

Material: Italian Saffiano leather with slots and compartments for money

Concealed components: A battery and micro USB cable

Battery: 3000mAh - with enough power to charge a smartphone one-and-a-half times

Connections: Micro USB adapters and 1.5A output

Size: 4 inches (11cm) wide, 3.5 inches (9cm) long and an inch (2.5cm) thick

Price: £74.99 ($119).

The days of discovering your smartphone is about to run out of battery at the most inconvenient times may be over thanks to a wallet that doubles up as a phone charger. 

The Mighty Power Wallet resembles a typical leather wallet, but it conceals a battery and micro USB port that can be used to charge devices such as tablets, smartphones and e-readers.

It also has all the usual pockets and slots for notes and cards, as well as a separate sealed area for coins.

Made from Italian Saffiano leather, the wallet is a regular size so it can be easily stashed in a pocket.

When it is opened out, the wallet is approximately 4 inches (11cm) wide, 3.5 inches (9cm) long and an inch (2.5cm) thick.

It comes fitted with a built-in 3000mAh battery, which has around one-and-a-half times the amount of energy needed to charge a smartphone.

The time it takes to charge a phone varies depending on the model and its age, but an iPhone 6, for example, would take approximately two to two-and-a-half hours to charge it from dead to 100 per cent.   Read More .....  http://goo.gl/w7PhXE

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Android Apps Development Business with New OS Version Android L

As the release of new operating system all of we want to grasp it because definitely it has been arrived with new features. Google recently released the Android L for better Android Apps development  if you have a growing app development business then, it’s necessary to influence the features of new technology.

Android L for Android Apps Development

Everyone have a question in their mind that what about this L OS update? What is the new in this OS update? And why it’s helpful for apps development business? Let’s discuss here about all these questions?

Features:

#Notifications:

This OS update has been arrived with better notifications. Now you will get all your notifications on the lock screen and automatically organize as per priority. You can swipe them or tap to open it. The Notification bar is looking quite different from before.

#Lock Screen

It has been arrived with new lock screen design which shows you notifications. You have to swipe up to unlock the lock screen. Now will get dialer as swipe right and launch camera to swipe left.

#Multi-Tasking

Google carries the card layout styles its completely new in this OS update. This layout will able to show you separate cards for each open tab. So you can manage your multiple tasks easily.

#Security

For every Android users security is a very important thing. In this feature, unlock the smartphone near at other device like Android Wear.

#Battery

Now users can see the all detail battery information from settings menu in the battery section. Now it’s allows developer to identify that how each applications using battery.

All given above features will helps developers to better Android Apps Development. Now developer will make more user friendly application with the help of all these advance features. So what are you waiting for? Grow your business with these new features of Android L like Silicon Valley Mobile App Development Company focusing to build user friendly apps with modern technologies.

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