FIFA's new iPhone, iPad and Android app to offer live World Cup draw

FIFA is preparing for the draw for 2014's football World Cup on 6 December by launching a new app, through which fans will be able to follow the draw live.

The free app has been released for iPhone, iPad and Android smartphones and tablets, with a focus that goes beyond international tournaments to cover 197 leagues around the world.

Besides streaming the World Cup draw live, the app will serve up match schedules, destination guides and team profiles for the tournament, which takes place in Brazil next summer.

However, its central feature is a "World Match Centre" which fans can customise to show results from their preferred competitions and clubs. The app will thus be competing with independent apps like The Football App, which said in October that it was attracting 4.5m active users.

FIFA's app will also show the men's and women's international rankings, and promote the body's activities in grassroots football around the world.

This being an official app, fans should probably expect it to give a wide berth to negative stories about FIFA and its competitions: more "FIFA President offers assistance to Philippines" than articles about abuse of migrant workers, Brazilian stadium protests, or hair-related spats with prominent footballers.

How to uniquely identify your Android device in code

 My last android project involved tracking each device where my app is installed and storing the information to a database, so that customized content can be shown to that particular user.

Now, had it been a PC, it would have been easy to track the MAC-address of the NIC or an HDD serial to track that device. But what is the equivalent for android?

My research first led me to the IMEI number (TelephonyManager.getDeviceId()). The IMEI is quite popular among the masses and is widely used for tracking the cellphones. The android API provides this ready-made function if you want to go this route:

public static String getDeviceIdTm(Context context)
 {
 TelephonyManager tm=(TelephonyManager)context.getSystemService(Context.TELEPHONY_SERVICE);
 return tm.getDeviceId();
 }

But wait, not all devices are equipped with Telephony. What about tablets and amazon kindle devices? It so happens, that this is just one way to track your device, but it is not full-proof. It will work only for phones and for other devices this function will return null.

This led me to another way of tracking an Android device: An in-built variable that the Android system itself provides you: ANDROID_ID. In theory, this variable is all you need to know to identify your device uniquely:

public static String getDeviceIdAndroid(Context context)
 {
 return Secure.getString(context.getContentResolver(),Secure.ANDROID_ID);
 }

But Alas! Even this is not full-proof. It will work on most modern versions of android (HoneyComb and above). Again, due to a manufacturer bug, it will not return a unique value, but a constant value “9774d56d682e549c” on some handsets.

This led me to a third way of identifying my device which was a bit hackish. I would never intend to use this method if any of the above two methods worked.

public static String getDeviceIdPseudo(Context context)
 {
 String tstr="";
 if (Build.VERSION.SDK_INT > Build.VERSION_CODES.FROYO)
 tstr+= Build.SERIAL;
 tstr += "::" +
 (Build.PRODUCT.length() % 10) + (Build.BOARD.length() % 10) + (Build.BRAND.length() % 10) +
 (Build.CPU_ABI.length() % 10) + (Build.DEVICE.length() % 10) +
 (Build.MANUFACTURER.length() % 10) + (Build.MODEL.length() % 10);
 return tstr;
 }

This method computes a Pseudo-id for your device taking reference to some hardware values. If the previous two methods don’t work, then this is all you are left with for device identification.

I then integrated the above three methods to create a generic method called getDeviceIdUnique() that will work on all android devices – irrespective of whether its a phone/tablet or what make it is:

public static String getDeviceIdUnique(Context context)
 {
 try{
 String a = getDeviceIdTm(context);
 String b = getDeviceIdAndroid(context);
 String c = getDeviceIdPseudo(context);

 if (a!=null && a.length()>0 && a.replace("0", "").length()>0) 
 return a;
 else if (b!=null && b.length()>0 && b.equals("9774d56d682e549c")==false) 
 return b;
 else if (c!=null && c.length()>0) 
 return c;
 else
 return "";
 }
 catch(Exception ex)
 {
 return "";
 }
 }

Top 5 Antivirus Apps For Android – 2014

In this world of smartphones and tablets, everything has gone nano. No matter you’re watching a movie, doing online transaction or doing your office work. Everyone now prefers to do it with his/her tablet and smartphones. This facility has made our life easier and hectic. We can do perform these things everywhere is ease, and we’re doing it all the time and ended up being hectic. But, I want to know that are you completely secure while doing all these things? If yes, that’s great and if no, don’t worry. Hence forth you’ll feel secure doing these like never before. Yes, there are some apps for your android smart gadgets so you can be so sure that nothing is going to slip away from your hand and you won’t be part of any bait or trap set by hackers. These apps will surely protect you and your smartly hard-earned money all the way. Here below is the list of top 5 antivirus apps for android.

Bitdefender Mobile Security

Bitdefender is becoming the giant of android device security with rapid speed. It has various features to keep your browsing and device bug-free all the time. It allows third-party log in services also. It can just scan up your device in ten second only. Now that’s something equal to lightning bolt I guess! It has an anti- theft SMS features also and will turn your phone into a microphone if it is lost. Though, it has fewer customization options available but that won’t bother you as it keep very low-profile approach while performing.

Kaspersky Mobile Security

Kaspersky is one of the famous antiviruses known for PC and laptops. Now it has come to android platform also. It is completely unobtrusive in its nature with very simple user interface. It has a very strong online element of scanning and getting updated by itself. It has stealth contacts feature too with call, SMS blocking and anti theft system. The down part is that it only works until you’ve got the internet on your device provides protection for default browser only. The results of scanning are too not very satisfactory.

Norton Mobile Security

The big fish of the antivirus community works for android in the same way too. Norton has top-tier bug protection. It gives you integrated alert warnings with full powered anti-theft tools and works on SMS commands too. It has almost perfect anti-theft feature and it also needs a very tight user interface to act. The only thing which annoys me is the price. It costs around USD 30 per year.

Avast Mobile Security

Avast is the most reliable and famous of the antivirus present today. It features many popular web browsers with firm control over malware. It has very large customization options available. As it is available for free so it lures a large number of customers to it. While on the other side it doesn’t have very good anti-theft feature and has issues with its lock screen feature.

McAfee Mobile Security

McAfee is the brand name for PC and laptop protection. Now it is also delivering the same services for android also. It also has Norton like top-tier bug protection with back-up and restore features as extra. It also allows to lock any individual app you want with multi profiles to hide your apps. You can customize it up to a great extent too. The only concerns with this are its improper execution and heavy price which is almost near to $3 per month and $30 per year.

Ex-Nokia engineers launch a Linux smartphone that runs Android apps

Just what the world needs -- another smartphone platform. From Nokia, no less.



For two years now, Jolla, a crew of ex-Nokia engineers based in both Finland and Hong Kong, has been working on a smartphone powered by Sailfish, a variant of Nokia's previously abandoned, Linux-based MeeGo OS. Now the first Jolla phone is ready to ship and will go on sale tonight in Finland (pre-orders were €399), with many other territories to follow afterward.

Not much is known about the phone yet, other than that it uses a dual-core processor, sports 16GB of memory and a spare SD card slot, and eschews buttons (save for possibly a volume rocker) in favor of a gesture-based UI. As for Sailfish, it's billed as an "independent, open, partner-friendly" mobile OS that uses the Mer project (itself derived from the earlier MeeGo) for its UI.

It's going to be tough, to say the least, for the Jolla and for Sailfish to make a dent in the smartphone market. But the Jolla, and Sailfish itself, have a feature that may give it a slight edge: Sailfish runs existing Android apps via a third-party runtime. Apps for Sailfish can be built either using the native Qt interface (Qt itself being a former Nokia property) or via HTML5. The Sailfish folks claim to be looking into compatibility with Firefox OS APIs as well.

It's a wise move to allow Sailfish to be compatible with at least one of the existing phone-app ecosystems, given that Nokia has tried and failed before to make MeeGo into a workable platform. The Nokia N9 phone was released in 2011 but made no detectable splash in the marketplace -- and that was right on the heels of Nokia deciding to use Windows Phone as its platform of choice.

Analyst Geoff Blaber, when interviewed by the BBC about Jolla and Sailfish, theorized that Jolla's long-term strategy was to create a phone platform that could be licensed out to other manufacturers. It's an approach similar to what Mozilla is attempting to do with Firefox OS, with the big differentiators being Sailfish's (and Firefox OS's) alleged greater openness over Android.

InfoWorld's Simon Phipps has written before about how Nokia and BlackBerry could have been major competition for Apple had they embraced more open ecosystems. It's unlikely Jolla and Sailfish will make much of a dent in a marketplace already ruled by Android, despite Sailfish's Android compatibility. But given how much ex-Nokia talent is bound up in this project, it'll be worth watching just to see how their approach unfolds and whether it'll become its own animal or just another way to run Android.

Google Play Store now highlights Chromecast-friendly Android apps

Google has lately taken to highlighting tablet-native Android apps; it only makes sense that the company would devote the same kind of love to Chromecast owners. Accordingly, the search firm has recently posted a Chromecast section in Google Play for those browsing from their Android devices. The selection is thin at the moment -- you'll find only Google's media apps, HBO Go, Hulu Plus, Netflix and Pandora. Still, the section should be a handy one-stop shop for anyone eager to stream video on their TV -- and might have a few more entries soon.

Dropbox Updates With Notifications & Sharing on Android, Redesign & AirDrop on iOS

Dropbox is one of the must-have apps on iPhone and it’s just gotten a whole lot better with Dropbox 3.0, which is redesigned for iOS 7 and brings a bunch of new features like AirDrop support. And it’s not ignoring Android either, bringing a new notifications feed and enhanced sharing options.

The app looks cleaner and simpler with its new iOS 7-inspired redesign. “We considered every aspect of the app, took the time to make sure we did a thorough job, and simplified a whole bunch of stuff,” Dropbox said in a blog post.

Dropbox 3.0 for iOS also includes AirDrop support to easily share files between different devices and apps. It also brings full-screen view, saves videos to your library, and is faster than ever before, apart from squashing a few bugs.

On Android, Dropbox now has a new notifications feed to show you an activity log of what people have shared with you. But more importantly, it’s gained a new ability to share files with non-Dropbox users via email. Tap the ‘Share’ button on any file and choose ‘Send to Contact’ to share a link to that file with anyone in your contacts list. Pretty neat!

Of course, just because you can share more doesn’t mean you should. Don’t be a Dropbox jerk and make sure you adhere to some cloud file-sharing etiquette.

Don't clear framework data to force Android 4.4 KitKat update, advises Google engineer

While some may be getting impatient while waiting for the Android 4.4 KitKat update to hit their Nexus 4, methods have popped up that seemingly force the smartphone to fetch the updated. The method involves clearing Google Service Framework data and hitting the Update button. Android engineer Dan Morill has taken to Reddit to explain why doing this may not be the best idea in the world.

According to Morill, clearing the Google Service Framework data changes the primary ID by which Google recognises your device. The company's servers essentially think that the smartphone was factory reset, and this leads to a bunch of side effects, the biggest one being that it invalidates tokens used by apps using Google Cloud Messaging (GCM). All of Google's own apps, along with quite a few third-party apps use GCM, which handles push notifications across devices.

"How apps react to GCM IDs changing varies by app," writes Morill. "With Play Store you have to log out and log back in, I think Gmail usually handles it transparently eventually but won't get new mail notifications for a while, etc." Some apps need users to clear data in order to recover. Overall, all apps will stop getting push-messages from GCM until they get a new GCM ID. Morill also explained how the OTA update is rolled out to devices in a staggered manner to keep track of any bugs that may be affecting the software. The slow rollout means Google can start working on fixes, if any, even though not all devices have received the update. 

The good news here is that clearing the framework won’t exactly destroy your device. It will, however, cause a ton of nuisance, especially if you heavily depend on apps getting push-messages from GCM, which is almost every app with a notification system. The moral of the story here is that being patient is more likely to get your phone updated without screwing it up.

The good news here is th

at clearing the framework won’t exactly destroy your device. It will, however, cause a ton of nuisance, especially if you heavily depend on apps getting push-messages from GCM, which is almost every app with a notification system. The moral of the story here is that being patient is more likely to get your phone updated without screwing it up.

How to Protect Your Android Device from Malware

Part of keeping your Android device safe is learning to recognize questionable apps. Apply the same techniques that you use to identify rogue emails from bogus financial institutions, like pixelated, poorly rendering logos, spelling mistakes, and publisher names that don't match the official spelling or wording -- for example, "Blackberry" rather than the official "BlackBerry."

If you're in the majority of Android users, your smartphone or tablet isn't protected from malware attacks. In fact, Jupiter Research reckons that a full 80 percent of smartphones are unprotected.

Why is that a problem? The answer is that even if your smartphone hasn't been affected so far, it likely will be, and that's because of the vast sums of money motivating criminals to seek out and capture financial data, passcodes, and other potentially profitable information. The more machines, the more money.

Until phone makers address the potential issue more thoroughly, it's in your interest to secure your device with a few easy-to-implement steps.


Step 1: Download apps from trusted sources only.

The Google Play store is a trusted source. It's the official app-distribution channel and it regularly scans apps for malicious code and removes malware apps that it finds. Amazon, meanwhile, says it tests apps before publishing them to its store.

There are other trustworthy sources out there as well, but be aware that most Android malware comes from third-party sites.

Risk Tip: Some app stores may ask you to turn on a device-based setting, which can allow the device to install apps from "unknown" sources. Be aware that this is risky.

Step 2: Avoid sideloading from questionable sources.

Sideloading is the disabling of Android security, downloading and then running of APK files -- look for the .apk extension. APK files are the program files, similar to the EXE files in the Windows OS.

While it's not inherently dangerous to use an APK file rather than the Google Play store to load an app, it is when the source is questionable.

Risk Tip: You can reckon that any source offering paid apps for free is questionable.

Step 3: Learn to identify fake apps.

Apply the same techniques that you use to identify rogue emails from bogus financial institutions, like pixelated, poorly rendering logos, spelling mistakes, and publisher names that don't match the official spelling or wording -- for example, "Blackberry" rather than the official "BlackBerry."

Risk Tip: Some organizations outsource their app development, resulting in mismatched publisher names. Perform a Google search on the labeled publisher and gauge the app's legitimacy based on that.

Step 4: Question apps that don't appear to do much.

Read through the app reviews in the Google Play store. Make sure that the user reviews indicate that the app does what it says it does.

Risk Tip: Apps that request your email can be the source of annoying promotional mailings.

Step 5: Install security software.

Major PC security vendors like AVG and Norton make antivirus apps for Android too. The apps detect and remove viruses, malware and spyware. They often also have additional benefits that make handing over any money more palatable, like phone locating via Google Maps and locking or wiping functions.

Want to Ask a Tech Question?

Is there a piece of tech you'd like to know how to operate properly? Is there a gadget that's got you confounded? Please send your tech questions to me, and I'll try to answer as many as possible in this column.

Shelved Android Code Hints That Way Better Camera Apps Are Coming

  

Android has come a long way as a platform in the last couple of years, but one drawback of the phones is that for the most part their cameras lag behind what’s available for Windows Phone and iOS ). A batch of comments discovered in the Android source code hints that the cameras might be getting a lot better soon.

The Android documentation hints at a new Camera API for the platform. It was discovered by enterprising Google+ user Josh Brown and initially reported by Ars Technica. In short, it appears that Google started working on a new API to be launched with KitKat but that it couldn’t be completed in time, so an entry was added the documentation hiding it it from the final product.

The most intriguing part of the new API, some of which is documented here, is that it appears the camera application will be able to access RAW image sensor data rather than merely data that’s already been processed to JPEG. Beyond letting you write RAW files to your phone’s flash memory so that you can edit them later in programs like Adobe Lightroom, the RAW camera support opens the door for more sophisticated on-board editing, as well as new, better processing developed by third parties. There are also signs of a burst mode in the offing, something that it’s always surprising to remember Android doesn’t already have by now.

RAW files on a camera certainly isn’t a new idea. Back in October, Nokia announced that it’s building RAW support into its Pro Camera app. Still, adding it to Android — with its much larger user base — would be a huge deal. 

Galaxy Gear Update Allows Notifications for All Android Apps

One of our—and pretty much everyone else’s— biggest complaints with the Galaxy Gearwas its extremely limited functionality. Samsung’s smartwatch felt extremely rushed at launch, and could only display notifications from a handful of pre-selected apps. The wearable device took a huge step forward today however, thanks to a software update that lets you pick and choose which apps will sync with the Galaxy Gear.

The new Gear Manager app is available through Samsung’s app store as a free update as long as you’ve already downloaded the latest firmware update. Once you’re all updated you can pick and choose which of your favorite apps will send notifications to Samsung’s smartwatch, from Hangouts and WhatsApp to eBay and Facebook. Literally any Android app that uses notifications can now be synced with the Galaxy Gear.

There are still plenty of problems with Samsung’s smartwatch, from the bulky design to its extremely limiting user interface, but this is a solid first step for the Galaxy Gear. If the South Korean company wants its first major wearable device to be a success giving more control to the users is a good first step.

BlackBerry updates Android runtime with support for native code, Bluetooth, spellchecking, and more

BlackBerry today released Android Runtime for BlackBerry 10.2.1, featuring a slew of new features. The was announced on November 13 (two days ago) and released on November 15. The release notes are here and the previous article from November 13 follows below.

BlackBerry today announced what developers and users can expect in the next Android runtime update for BlackBerry 10. Both highly-requested features and APIs are “arriving soon” as part of a BlackBerry 10.2.1 SDK OS release for developers, the company promises.

More specifically, BlackBerry 10.2.1 will feature the following increased compatibility improvements:

Android Native Support: Android apps that use shared libraries written in native-code, such as C and C++, will now be supported on BlackBerry 10. Support is limited to the recommended system headers and APIs as documented by Google. Headers and APIs outside this scope may not function correctly.

Bluetooth: Android applications using Android Bluetooth APIs will now work on BlackBerry 10. Bluetooth Low Energy for Android is planned to be supported in a future OS release. As a reminder, Bluetooth LE is supported in the BlackBerry 10 Native/Cascades SDK.

MapView v1: Applications that use MapView from Google Maps v1 API are now supported using OpenStreetMaps. Support for MapView v2 API is being planned for a future release.
Share Framework: Android applications that register with the share framework in Android will now also appear as share targets on the BlackBerry 10 share menu.

Spellcheck: Applications that use text input can now leverage support for spell checking and correction, and the ability to add words to the BlackBerry 10 dictionary.

Developers will see the benefits of these additions first, and they’ll be able to test and submit their new apps to BlackBerry World. Once that happens, BlackBerry users will start being able to benefit as well.

For those who don’t know, the BlackBerry Runtime for Android apps (or just Android Runtime for short) lets you run Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 apps on the BlackBerry 10 operating system. While the process isn’t seamless (developers must first repackage their Android apps to a BAR file, the file format required by BlackBerry 10 OS), it certainly speeds up the app porting process from Android to BlackBerry.

Samsung Galaxy S4 for AT&T receiving Android 4.3 update

The Android 4.3 update rollout to Samsung Galaxy phones continues – this night AT&T users may have seen their Galaxy S4 handsets notify them of a new update available. The download is a hefty 720MB, but it's well worth it.

If you haven’t gotten a notification yet, you can manually check for an update (from About in the Settings menu). The build number is JSS15J.1337UCUEMJ9. You'll have to be patient though, users are reporting that the update takes a while to download.

The changelog includes support for the Galaxy Gear smartwatch, speed improvements (TRIM support, less lag in the launcher, better RAM management), KNOX enterprise security, better color reproduction on the screen and a new camera software.

PS4 launch prep begins now: Day 1 update, iOS and Android apps are ready to download

Just as promised, Sony has delivered the mobile companion apps on iOS and Android for its PlayStation 4 console ahead of launch. Another thing to know for gamers that have already pre-ordered a system or plan to pick one up Friday, is that the v1.50 day one update is also out. The mobile apps (found in Google Play and Apple's App Store) can pull in info about games or your friends latest activities, with links to check out trophies, invitations and game alerts, all without even turning on (or owning, yet) the newest system. The apps have a pretty bare bones design however, with basic layouts and the need for a separate web browser to log in. One final treat for those already camping outside their local retailer: the apps contain a link to the PS4's web-based manual so you can get every detail possible right here.

We've downloaded the 323MB patch on a system ourselves, while forum posters on NeoGAF point out a link (update: it's official, check out the instructions here) to Sony's servers where you can nab a copy in case they're completely crushed on launch day. Unlike the Xbox One you'll still be able to play games without the update, but features like logging onto the PSN, playing games while they download or watching Blu-ray movies require this patch. One way or another, all the software is lined up for the PS4's big debut in two more days, now all we need is the green light to purchase hardware (or a retailer with an itchy "ship now" trigger finger).

Android dominates 81 percent of world smartphone market

For the first time ever, Android has hit more than 80 percent market share for smartphone shipments worldwide.

The new Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker was released on Tuesday by IDC, which detailed third-quarter numbers for all smartphone shipments worldwide. A total of 261.1 million smartphones were shipped during this quarter, 81 percent of which run Google's operating system. A study by Strategy Analytics last month revealed nearly the same numbers, showing that Android gobbled 81.3 percent of the global smartphone market in the third quarter.

There are several smartphone manufacturers that run Android on their devices. Of these vendors, Samsung gained the most market share. The Galaxy S4-maker ruled 39 percent of all Android smartphone shipments in the third quarter. The majority of the other vendors saw market share within the single digits or less.

Not only must Google be giving itself a pat on the back, but Microsoft should also be pleased by the third-quarter numbers. During the quarter, Windows Phone shipments jumped 156 percent year-over-year. While Windows Phone market share is still small -- less than 5 percent -- these numbers do show that people are purchasing the smartphones at a rapid rate. Kantar Worldpanel ComTech reported similar numbers in September showing that Windows Phone is increasingly gaining in the world market.

For Windows Phones, Nokia appears to be the smartphone maker of choice. A whopping 93.2 percent of all Windows Phones shipped in the third quarter were made by Nokia.
"Android and Windows Phone continued to make significant strides in the third quarter. Despite their differences in market share, they both have one important factor behind their success: price," IDC's Mobile Phone team research manager Ramon Llamas said in a statement. "Both platforms have a selection of devices available at prices low enough to be affordable to the mass market, and it is the mass market that is driving the entire market forward."

Overall smartphone shipments were up 39.9 percent year-over-year in the third quarter. According to IDC, average smartphone selling prices have decreased as of late as demand for cheaper phones grows. The average price is now at $317, which is 12.5 percent lower than last year.

One exception to the lower price is for large-screened smartphones, or phablets. The average phablet price is currently hovering around $443; however, this is still 22.8 percent lower than last year's average phablet price of $573.

"Almost all successful Android vendors have added one or more 5- to 7-inch phablets to their product portfolios," IDC's Worldwide Quarterly Mobile Phone Tracker program director Ryan Reith said. "And Nokia's recent announcement of the Lumia 1320 and 1520 put them in the category as well. In 3Q13, phablet shipments accounted for 21 percent of the smartphone market, up from just 3 percent a year ago. We believe the absence of a large-screen device may have contributed to Apple's inability to grow share in the third quarter."
And, this brings us to Apple. While iOS does well in the US, it's not as popular in the world market. In the third quarter, Apple held 12.9 percent of the market share, which is a 1.5 percent decline from last year. However, the company's shipments were up from 26.9 million during last year's third quarter to 33.8 million in this year's third quarter. According to IDC, some of this market share decline could be due to soft demand in the weeks before the launch of the iPhone 5S, iPhone 5C, and iOS 7 in September.

Google Maps taking the back seat to Apple’s Maps

 Remember back when Apple introduced their first maps app with navigation? Recall all the complaints and poor service? As we fast-forward to today, it seems as though Apple has made a huge comeback. Not too mention Google at first telling every iPhone user they would not develop an iOS Google Maps app after Apple cut them out of the default mapping app on iOS devices. Shortly after Google changed their mind and everyone rejoiced. After all, Google Maps was king for so long in the free mapping apps and especially Android having navigation support for so long before Apple finally got the long awaited Apple Maps. 

Long story short, according to some research there are a ton more Apple Map users versus Google Maps users for iOS. As a matter of fact, 23 million iPhone users dropped Google Maps last year! In September results revealed that 35 million used Apple Maps compared to just 6 million users on Google Maps. A key item is out of the 6 million, 2 million of the users were on older model idevices and cannot update to the supported iOS 6 at the minimum.

Personally, I have had experience with both Apple Maps and Google Maps as an iOS user as well as an Android user. From the experience it would be safe to say I prefer Apple Maps over Google Maps. For the most part Apple Maps always seemed to give better directions. Not too mention when using an iPhone it’s just easier to use Apple Maps because it is fully intergrated into the OS. It also saves space by not having an extra map app that does the same thing Apple maps does (generally).

How Google May Be Planning To Make Android Apps Faster With ART

Android apps run in Dalvik. We know this as sure as the sun rises in the morning and water is wet. It is the foundation of how Android apps can run on a variety of devices with different amounts of RAM and processors. 

In the near future, Google may be getting rid of Dalvik for a new standard that runs Android apps called Android Runtime (ART).

Dalvik is the virtual machine that compiles the code that make your Android apps work. Typically, Android apps are written in the Java programming language and compiled into bytecode—the generic numeric code that is submitted by developers to app stores like Google Play (the same code makes it less processor intensive to run on a variety of devices). That bytecode is then transferred from a Java Virtual Machine file to a Dalvik executable file. 

You may think that all your apps and the code that makes them live in a happy place somewhere inside your smartphone. Really, they don’t. That happy place doesn’t exist. In reality, every time you run an app, the bytecode that comprises the program is run through a compiler that makes it work. In Android, this is done through a process known as a “Just In Time” (JIT) compiler that translates the universal bytecode into machine code, which in turn becomes a hardware-specific program known as an app. This is essentially what Dalvik in Android does. 

Imagine: every time you open an app, all the different parts of the smartphone responsible for making that app work have to scramble to assemble the code for the app to make it work on your device. You close the app and all those parts relax. You open it and they scramble again. This is not a very efficient way to run apps but it allows those apps to run basically anywhere (it was one of the reasons it was so easy for BlackBerry to port Android apps to the BlackBerry 10). 

With Android Runtime, Google will attempt to change this process so that apps run faster and are more tied to the hardware of the device than ever. 

What Is ART?

I first ran into Android Runtime—ART—earlier this week when diddling with the developer settings on the Nexus 5. It is presented in the Developer Options settings of the device as “Select Runtime.” “Use Dalvik” or “Use ART” are the options. 

There has not been a lot written about ART but Android Police seems to have the scoop. ART has been secretly in the works from Google for about two years. ART uses an “Ahead Of Time” (AOT) compiler instead of JIT. It is like a Web browser pre-caching websites to be able to load them faster. The AOT compiler translates the bytecode into machine code when an app is downloaded on a device. This machine code may take up more storage memory on a device, but it will make apps open faster and run smoother than before. 

The important note here is that ART is an experimental setting for developers and device manufacturers. It can lead to instability of the operating system, cause apps to crash constantly and basically turn your Nexus 5 into a worthless hunk of attractively lasered plastic. 

Are we soon to see the end of Dalvik in favor of a more efficient runtime that could make Android apps perform much, much better? Probably not quite yet. Google will test ART with its manufacturing partners and developers for the foreseeable future. If ART works like it is supposed to, all that scrambling within a smartphone to make an app work will stop and the code that runs the app will just be there on your device, waiting for you to open it.

BlackBerry 10 devices may get to install Android apps directly from Google Play

It's always been easy to port Android apps for BlackBerry 10 and BlackBerry PlayBook OS, and users can even side-load certain Android apps on devices powered by these operating systems.
 
However, a new rumour now suggests that Google's Play Store app marketplace could soon land on BlackBerry 10, opening the door to the world of Android apps for BlackBerry users.
 
With BlackBerry 10.2, BlackBerry updated the BlackBerry Runtime for Android Apps and Plug-in to be able to  run Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean apps, enabling almost all modern Android apps to work on BlackBerry 10. Now, n4bb.com reports that BlackBerry is in talks with Google to bring the Play Store to BlackBerry 10 devices. It also posted a few screenshots of the Play Store running on a BlackBerry Z10, but later informed that the images were fake.
 
If the rumour turns out to be true and talks between the two giants do materialise into a done deal, BlackBerry would be able to solve the scarcity problem for the BlackBerry 10 app ecosystem, something faced by all late-entrants, including Microsoft's Windows Phone 8. The ailing smartphone maker's new devices based on the OS have not been embraced by users at the level that it expected, resulting in the company suffering financial losses and taking an inventory write down due to unsold devices. However, access to the Play Store may infuse a new lease of life into the platform.
 
BlackBerry has said that it's moving its focus from devices to services and software targeted at the government and enterprise segments. However, it will continue to operate its handset business. So, bringing the Play Store would the best option for the company wherein it could keep its BlackBerry 10 OS, on which it spent a large amount of resources, and still embrace Android in a big way, keeping consumers happy.

The Best News Reader Application for Android

Android has several great news readers, and while many of them have gone by the wayside now that Google Reader is no more, others have stepped up to take center stage. If we had to pick one that fits the needs of most people and packs in a ton of useful features, it would have to be the free, cross-platform, cross-device syncing Feedly.P

FeedlyP

Platform: Android

Price: Free 

Download PageP

FeaturesP

A customizable interface with four views depending on how you like to read the news, the "full-article view" for each article in your feed, "cards view" that arranges articles in tiles on-screen, the "magazine view" which includes images along with titles, and the "list view" that emulates the Google Reader style with only headlines and text.P

Feedly Cloud two-way syncing, so your saved articles, unread/read articles, and feeds follow you on all of your devicesP

Support for Android phones and tablets, including 7" and 10" tablets.P

Download full and partial feeds and view the original articles with one tap.P

Lets you save articles in Feedly (and syncs those saved articles to Feedly Cloud) for future reading.P

Supports Pocket and Instapaper for saving articles for future reading, and lets you set a favorite as the default.P

Supports sharing articles via Twitter, Facebook, Google+, Buffer, Email, and through Android's built-in "Share" function, and lets you set a favorite as the default.P

Allows you to add, remove, and rearrange feeds from your phone or tablet.P

Supports finger gestures to open/close/save articles (double-tap to close, long-press to save, swipe to go to next article) and can use your volume up/down buttons for navigation.P

Hide or show read articles to minimize clutter.P

Can automatically mark items as read as you swipe through them.P

Features "day" and "night" reading themes, and three transitions (stack, swipe, and scroll) used when you switch articles and feeds.P

Easy import from OPML (or your old Google Reader data, if you still have it).P

Large and small home screen widgets.P

Where It ExcelsP

Feedly's biggest benefit is that it's fast, free, and flexible. When Google Reader went under, Feedly stepped up quickly to give Android users a seamless way to move their feeds over and get access to them all on their phones and tablets, with the same two-way syncing experience they had with Google Reader. To that end, it's been very successful. The look and feel of the Feedly Android app is consistent with its desktop and iOS cousins, and while it's not the prettiest, it is customizable to suit your preferences. If you like reading your articles with big, beautiful images over each one, you can—at the expense of screen space. If you prefer skimming headlines only and don't want the clutter of images or videos, you can minimize the interface to show you only the things you're interested in.P

It's that flexibility that makes Feedly's native app a winner. Since Feedly is by far your favorite Google Reader replacement and our pick for the best alternative, too, it probably won't bother most of you that the only syncing engine that Feedly supports is its own. Beyond that though, the options explode—you can share with virtually every major social network, save articles to almost every major "read it later" style service, and since you also get access to Android's built-in share menu, your options are only limited by the apps you have on your phone. If you're serious about your feeds, Feedly even supports Android logins, so if you have a Google account configured on your phone, you can use it to log in to Feedly. You can even log out and switch Google accounts if you need to.P

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Where It Falls ShortP

Feedly's native apps aren't perfect. Right now there's no offline support, and that's a huge bummer. Offline support has been "coming soon" for ages now, and it has well over 12,000 votes in Feedly's UserVoice forum. Beyond that, while the layout of articles and feeds are customizable, the app only has two themes, and it would be nice to have a few more. Its layout is functional, but it's also a bit spartan and can be a bit boring at times. Feedly also doesn't stream podcasts, and while it'll recognize that some RSS feeds are media, it won't always play them back in the mobile apps.P

The CompetitionP

If you're looking for some alternatives to Feedly's native apps, or even its syncing and feed reading engine, you do have some alternatives for Android. Here are a few:P

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Press ($3) is probably my personal favorite feed reader for Android. It supports Feedly Cloud, so if you already use Feedly, all you have to do is connect Press with your Feedly account. If you don't use Feedly, Press also supports syncing via FeedBin and FeedWrangler (and Fever is coming soon). Press also supports offline reading, so you can save your articles and catch up when you're on the plane or subway. It's design and layout is also leaps and bounds better, and it sports a beautiful interface that we've highlighted before. Press also supports YouTube's API, so it can pull in videos from your favorite channels, supports Dashclock Widget so you can see how many unread articles you have from your lock screen, looks great on phones and tablets, lets you change the text size and alignment, and more. Overall, Press offers a ton of options to customize and control your reading experience.P

The only major drawbacks to Press are that it doesn't support in-article search (something Feedly doesn't support either), and while it supports Readability, it doesn't offer the same wealth of sharing and saving options that Feedly's native apps do (although you do get access to Android's share feature, which opens that door back up a bit). Still, if you have three bucks to spend and that's not important to you, buy Press. You won't be disappointed.P

Flipboard (Free) made waves when it was launched because of its beautiful, magazine-like view of the news and snappy gesture controls. It's still a great app, and you can even add your favorite sites to stay on top of the sites that you follow. Flipboard was one of the first apps to let you pull in your Google Reader feeds, and while it still tends to organize and prioritize news from its own selection of sites, it's still a good option if you're looking for an attractive news reader. You can connect your Twitter, Facebook, Google+, and up to 12 other accounts to incorporate topics and articles your friends are sharing, select topics you're interested in to have them pre-populated with news, and you can search for and add sites you like, but trying to use it as a full-on RSS reader might be a little tricky just by virtue of the interface. If you're a control freak and only want to read the sites you love, you may not like Flipboard, but if you're a little more adventurous, it can surface stories you may never have otherwise seen. You can save content to Pocket, Instapaper, or Readability for future reading, explore the "Staff picks," or use your Flipboard account to build a "custom" magazine on the web to read on any device.P

Google Currents (Free) is a lot like Flipboard, only Googlier. You can import your own feeds to Currents (and before Google Reader's shut down, Currents was a fully-featured Google Reader client), view your articles in a beautiful tiled view that emphasizes images but doesn't skimp on the content, and explore new articles from some of Currents' featured sites, like The Financial Times, PBS, Saveur, and more. Currents can push breaking news to you, translate articles from sites in 44 different languages into ones you can read, and lets you "star" stories you want to read later for future reference. By comparison, Currents is a little lighter on features than some of the other apps available, but it does what it does exceptionally well.P

Pulse (Free), like many of the apps here, is more of a news reader than a straight feed reader, but it functions pretty well as both. You start out with a curated selection of categories and sites in each, but you can always add or remove content as you see fit and customize those categories so you see the articles you want to see. Pulse also has its own syncing engine, and to use the app you'll need to sign up for an account at Pulse.me, which gives you more control over which sites and feeds you see and which you don't. If you see an article you want to read later, you can save it to Instapaper, Readability, Pocket, or Evernote, and you can save articles for offline reading if you're about to get on a plane or train. Plus, using your Pulse account syncs your settings and sources so you can pick up where you left off on the desktop or another mobile device. Pulse's visual approach to its layout makes it fun to use, but if you're yearning for a simple all-text list view, you might be out of luck.

This App Gives You an iOS 7 Notification Center on Any Android Phone

Want iOS 7's notification center but don't have an iOS device? No problem. There's a new app called Control Center that will gives you a clone of that feature any Android phone.

The updated notification center lets you access several apps and settings by simply swiping on the bottom of the screen of your iPhone or iPad. With the duplicate app, you get pretty much the same experience on your Android. Once you've installed the app, you can swipe to turn Wi-Fi on or off, adjust volume, and other basic controls, or load up core apps like clock or camera. Plus, design-wise it looks just like iOS 7. So if you want some of the best parts of iOS 7 without actually having to buy an iPhone, here's your chance.

Google changes Android app policy to ensure use of its in-app purchasing service

Google has updated its Google Play Developer Program Policy to ensure Android developers use its in-app purchasing service as well as including new rules on ads behaviour

Google has issued changes to its Google Play Developer Program Policy for Android developers to comply with for existing or new apps. Google have included a section specifically referring to in-app purchases stating, "Developers offering virtual goods or currencies with a game downloaded from Google Play must use Google Play's in-app billing service as the method of payment." This rule also refers to virtual goods or currencies unless the payment is "primarily for physical goods or services," or "for digital content or goods...consumed outside of the application itself." There are also changes to ad policy stating that ads must not force the user to click on them or submit personal information. Developers should also limit their apps descriptions, titles, or metadata to ensure that no "irrelevant, misleading, or excessive keywords" are used. Additions have been made to Illegal Activites, Hate Speech and a new System Interference section has been added. The new section states that an app must not make changes to the user's device outside of the app without consent, it must not replace or redorder a user's interface, it must not add shortcuts/bookmarks/icons, it must not send system level notifications, and must not push a user towards removing other third-party apps. Android developers have been given 30 days to ensure that existing Android apps comply with the new rules published in the Google Play Developer Program Policy. Any newly published apps must practice all the updated content policies in order to be display in the Google Play Store. Existing apps that are not updated accordingly could be removed from the Play Store.