News & Reviews:   Android

The Samsung fingerprint scanner cum home button has been in place since the Samsung Galaxy S5 was introduced, and the shape and design has been maintained ever since. However a new patent spotted online may change everything as the company may change the shape into a circle, ala Apple iPhones.

The Nexus program is Google’s take on setting benchmarks for Android-powered smartphones. Even so, it seems Google is not satisfied with the output of the program, and may be producing their own Google-designed phones by the end of the year.

One of the biggest smartphone makers in the world may soon find themselves considering to wean off the dependence on Google's OS and instead turn to their own home brand. Samsung's Tizen is not new – with their Samsung Z model available in select market, and their smartwatches running on their own OS. The fact that they may just turn away from Android could be a game changer. 

Even as we get more advanced flagship smartphones - some with crazy amount of memory, others with great camera and processing power – the new VR platform from Google may just be too much for them.

A feature that can be replicated by either web services or downloaded apps, Android notifications will soon able to be addressed by Windows users straight from their desktop. Just download the Cortana app, and your notifications will be popping up on your desktop in no time.

If you do not like the presence of ads in the Android apps you download from the Google Play store, the next time you want to download an app, look out in the descriptions. Google recently activated a feature that tells if the app you are downloading comes with ads or not.

Have you ever wished you could turn your smartphone into a laptop? Well, apparently you can do that with Superbook, a laptop shell that transforms your Android smartphone into a working laptop. Just attach your smartphone to the Superbook via an MHL cable that can utilize either the USB Type-C or microUSB port. Superbook itself includes an 11.6-inch LCD screen running at 1366x768 resolution, a battery that can last up to 8 hours, a multi-touch trackpad and a full-size keyboard. 

As we predicted back when the Geeksphone Revolution was first announced, it was only a matter of time before someone else would come up with another dual-OS smartphone that would probably use a mix of Windows Phone and Android. This has proven to come true as Karbonn has just announced that it will be coming out with smartphone that will use the two aforementioned mobile operating systems. The Indian company says that the dual-OS Karbonn device will target office users and techies but there was no mention of other tech specs or features. The device is expected in June 2014 but there is still no specific Malaysia release date or pricing just yet. Stay tuned and we'll keep you posted as to any new developments.

While initially Microsoft was rumoured to have approached HTC about loading Windows Phone on Android, it appears that HTC wasn't the only one Microsoft talked to. According to reports, Microsoft have also approached Samsung and Huawei with Windows Phone OS for smartphones and Windows RT for tablet for free as an incentive. They have also supposedly added on compensation for the required adaptation costs. While none of the above parties have really confirmed anything, a rumoured 12.1-inch Samsung Galaxy Tab which can dual-boot between Windows RT and Android is supposedly on the way. Tech specs for this device include very high pixel resolutions, a super thin plastic chassis made to look like metal (probably a chrome finish) and is supposedly very fast. Most of this info comes from Russion blogger Eldar Murtazin, who has mostly been accurate when it comes to Nokia - Microsoft related rumours. However, he was wrong about Tizen so take this rumour again with a pinch of salt. No Malaysia release dates or pricing just yet though.

Exabytes Network Sdn Bhd has recently launched the EBiz Power Hosting plan targeting SME Users looking to take advantage of the growing boom in mobile and smartphone customers. The new EBiz Power Hosting plan is designed for businesses looking to create robust eCommerce capable online solutions that are secure, easy to manage and affordably priced. It allows users to set up a mobile-ready business domain, run eCommerce using the built-in tools and provide comprehensive IT security of their main Internet site in one shot. Tools and features available to EBiz Power Hosting plan users include:

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