Android

The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) announced this week that it has filed a petition with the U.S. Librarian of Congress and the Copyright Office to extend and expand the exemption that makes rooting an Android device or jailbreaking an iOS device possible without violating the Digital Millenium Copyright Act (DMCA) in the United States.
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CyanogenMod has rolled out a new software update for the OnePlus One today which looks to resolve a few issues that have been troubling the device for the past few months. CM 11S 44S tackles some potential security flaws and looks to resolve a longstanding touchscreen problem that affected typing or just about anything that involved using the phone’s display. There’s also a fix for the “black bar” issue that would occasionally cause lines to appear across the OnePlus One’s screen.

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The second-generation Moto X has been on sale for about two months and while we love the Moto Maker’s customization options for the Lenovo-owned company’s flagship smartphone, Verizon has just raised the stakes. Today, the carrier announced a new football leather Moto X as a Big Red exclusive. Available now for $120 under a new two year service agreement, this stylish option gives the Moto X’s wooden backing a run for its money.

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When it comes to Android, Samsung has some ambitious goals. Each year, the company cranks out an unfathomable number of smartphones and tablets, but Google’s latest and greatest software appears to reserved for its top-shelf hardware. We’ve already seen Android 5.0 running on a Galaxy S5 and today the folks at SamMobile are giving us a look at Lollipop on a Galaxy S4.

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While the wait continues for Google to release Android Lollipop as an over-the-air software update and post official factory images of the latest operating system version, a number of developers over at XDA-Developers have taken it upon themselves to take the Lollipop source code and create builds for the Nexus 4, 5, 7, 10 and other devices.
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With preorders for Google’s new Motorola-made Nexus 6 smartphone going live late last month, the only option or getting a device so far has been Google Play. That hasn’t gone so well for everyone, however, as the store is fast running out of stock despite Google’s best efforts to restock the device every week. Now there is at least one more option with Motorola kicking off sales of the device direct through its website. That doesn’t mean you’ll get your hands on one faster than units shipping from Google Play later this month, though, as the site currently lists all models of the phone as “backordered.” 
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Are you in the market for a new tablet, but a $400 Nexus 9 might restrict you to a diet of ramen noodles and tap water? If so, Verizon’s new low-cost slate might be more appealing to your wallet and less taxing on your grocery list. Today, the carrier announced the availability of the Ellipsis 8, an entry-level tablet that features an 8-inch 1,280 x 800 HD display, a 1.5GHz quad-core processor, 16GB of storage, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera and a 5,000mAh battery.

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Motorola just announced additional hardware options and software features for its Moto 360 smart watch including new metal, slim and interchangeable watch bands.
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Google is continuing with its focus on guiding developers through the process of creating successful apps for Android. Today, the company released a new digital playbook that outlines the best practices to help software producers get the most out of their applications when publishing them on Google Play. Available as a free download, “The Secrets to App Success on Google Play,” is broken into seven sections that walk devs through some critical steps to make their software stand out.

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Motorola and Google may have officially split up, however the search giant has retained the interactive short film brand known as Spotlight Stories that was featured on the Moto X and Moto G smartphones. This newer filmmaking technology pushes stories from the big screens of the theater to a person’s mobile device and features engaging cues that impact the way the story told and heard. For example, if a helicopter were to follow a vehicle as part of a car chase, a viewer would be able to lift their phone upward to get a closer look at the iron bird in hot pursuit.

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Microsoft announced today that it’s rolling out a preview of its Office apps for Android tablets after releasing Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps exclusively for iPad earlier this year. Microsoft has an “Office Mobile” app that integrates some features of all three Office apps for Android smartphones, but today’s release of standalone Word, Excel, and PowerPoint apps for Android tablets is the first time the platform gets access to the full-fledged, standalone Office mobile apps.
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OnePlus co-founder Carl Pei confirmed to Forbes that OnePlus One smartphone sales have eclipsed the 500,000 mark to date, adding that the Chinese company has a lofty goal of selling 1 million units by the end of the year. “It’s going to be hard,” said Pei, speaking at the Dublin Web Summit taking place this week. “But I think it’s possible.”
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Although this isn’t an actual update to the app, WhatsApp is now sporting a nifty new feature that—although small—might make a big difference in how users of the messaging app stay in touch with their friends. The Facebook-owned app, which would previously show double check marks if a sent message had been received, now goes one step further and turns those check marks blue if the message has been read.

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The Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today released a report examining three dozen messaging services and ranking them based on what it deemed are seven “security best practices.” While Apple scored the best among what the EFF called “mass-market options”, it along with Google and others didn’t do as well when compared to all 36 messaging services included in the report. Specifically, EFF noted Google’s services “lack the end-to-end encryption that is necessary to protect against disclosure by the service provider.”
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Google appears to be feeling generous yet again. Last week, the search giant treated a few of its subscribers to a free digital copy of Sandra Bullock’s critically acclaimed Gravity and now the company is continuing its push of complimentary films with free access to Fox’s X-Men.

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