Android rugby

With today’s security craze, phones are our weakest points. Everything that we do on these phones goes through carrier servers, meaning they know everything. Now whether that bothers you or not is a different story, but if it does, CyanogenMod is bringing a more secure texting experience.

Starting tonight, CyanogenMod 10.2 nightlies will contain WhisperPush, a service built into CyanogenMod that uses TextSecure to encrypt your messages. Of course, the other person has to have a texting app that supports TextSecure, but if they do, encrypted messaging will be enabled. If you text someone without it, it’ll just send regular messages.

The great thing about CyanogenMod’s implementation is that it will work with any SMS app. This service is built into the OS itself, so it acts as a middle man much like with its Google Voice integration. CyanogenMod users will be able to text each other securely with no fear of being spied on. And the best part is that this service extends beyond CyanogenMod, so it’s not exclusive.

While this service will get a lot more use with CyanogenMod’s backing, it still won’t be extremely popular without OEM support. I can’t imagine any OEM supporting such a service. Still, it’s great to see it expanding. If the initial rollout goes well, it’ll be integrated into CyanogenMod 11 builds as well. If you want to give it a try, update your build of CM10.2 and tell us how it goes!

Since the introduction of the Samsung Galaxy Note, the XL phone segment has really taken off. Proponents of the sub-genre have even coined a new term: phablet, a hybrid mesh between phones and tablets. (Hint: they’re actually giant phones). With the amount of them that are sold, it’s easy to see that people like them. The question is, why do people like phablets? What drives them to choose a phablet over any other phone?

Obviously, the size is going to play a big part in this. Many who use phablets say that they simply enjoy the massive screens. But you have to go a bit deeper to figure out why they like that big screen to begin with. For some, it comes down to the fact that they watch a lot of video on their phones. In this case, it makes perfect sense as to why they’d choose a phone that can quite literally fit smaller phones inside of its screen. If you’re going to watch a lot of video on your phone, then a phablet is a perfect choice.

Others enjoy the extra screen real estate for different reasons. One of those is the added keyboard space. Physical keyboards on phones are practically extinct in this day and age. For someone wanting a virtual keyboard that’s roomy and easy to type on with two hands, a phablet fits the bill. Plenty of people simply enjoy the extra space to spread out across. For those who love to fill up their homescreens with widgets and folders, phablets provide extra room for just that.

There’s another aspect of phablets that isn’t always considered when looking at reasons to use them. Due to the fact that phablets are flippin’ giant, manufacturers often have a bit more room to work with when choosing internal specs. Phablets are often (not always) equipped with the most powerful processors, large amounts of RAM, quality camera components, larger storage sizes and possibly the most important feature: bigger batteries. And believe us, with the giant screens on phablets, you’re going to be glad of that mondo battery.

Certain phablets also have their own special perks and benefits. For example, the phones in the Galaxy Note line all feature Samsung’s stylus on steroids, the S Pen. But the S Pen isn’t just a new and improved stylus that doesn’t do much; it comes with a whole suite of software designed to take full advantage of its capabilities. For quick digital artwork on the go, the S Pen could be your best friend.

Continuing on that tangent of unique software, some phablets are designed with that exact purpose in mind. We hate to keep bringing up the example of the Galaxy Note series, but it proves this perfectly. Samsung has designed all sorts of applications that take advantage of the large screens phablets offer. These enhancements are designed to help you be more productive and make the most of the extra screen real estate. These same software enhancements help to bring people to phablets.

Now that we’ve talked about this for a little while, we’re bringing the question to you. Why do you use a phablet? We know that plenty of you do. And if you don’t use a phablet, why don’t you? What could be changed with them to make you use one? Hit up those comments, yo.

Want to get into the Christmas spirit, if you’re into that sort of thing? The best way to really feel Christmas, aside from consuming Christmas themed drinks from a coffee shop, is to put up a big Christmas tree and decorate it in your favorite ornaments. But there’s something missing, isn’t there? We have just the thing.

These Android Christmas ornaments are Dead Zebra’s new “Ornamental” collectibles that have special inserts for a hook, so you can hang them on your tree. They’re painted metallic and covered in glitter, and in my opinion, they look fantastic.

These ornaments will be released tomorrow, but will be quite limited in quantity. They will go for $10 each, but you are limited to buying two in any color combination. If you want more, you can get a set of 10, 5 red and 5 blue, for $90 in the “Tree Pack.”

If you’re interested in buying, there will be two releases tomorrow. One will be at 8 AM Pacific/11 AM Eastern, and the other at 8 PM Pacific/11 PM Eastern. You’ll have to hurry before they sell out, because you’ll have quite a bit of competition (from me). Hit the source link to explore the Dead Zebra shop and keep it ready for buying the ornaments tomorrow!

It’s hard to believe that the hardware/software menu button is still around. Google made it absolutely useless a long time ago with a wonderful implementation of on screen buttons, yet manufacturers insist on putting menu buttons everywhere. HTC’s single menu button takes up as much room as software buttons at the bottom of the display, LG’s software menu button replaces a far more useful multitask key, and Samsung slaps a hardware menu button everywhere it can, whether it’s a phone or a tablet.

If an app detected that your device had a hardware menu button, the action overflow key that displays menus would disappear from Holo apps, forcing you to use the menu button and not giving any indication that a menu is even present. However, on phones with no menu button, it would appear and indicate that a menu is present.

Google was unhappy with that implementation apparently, because Google engineer Adam Powell changed this behavior in KitKat. Instead of appearing depending on the hardware of the phone, it will always be present in KitKat. I used to use a mod on my rooted Note II to show overflow menus despite the curse of a physical menu button, so this new implementation is actually incredibly useful to me. This change was paired with this comment:

Always show overflow buttons on action bars

The menu button is not pining, it's passed on! This button is no more!

It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! It's a

stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to a

flagship device it'd be pushing up the daisies!

THIS IS AN EX-BUTTON!!

It’s just sad to see how many devices still have menu buttons in this day and age. Google moved away from them starting back with Honeycomb, foregoing them completely with Ice Cream Sandwich. Why do manufacturers keep insisting on using them? Either way, this new change will be a big help to the many people who have devices with menu buttons. What do you think of this new change? Leave a comment!

Heads up, T-Mobile Galaxy Note II owners, because you’ve got some Jelly Beans headed your way on this fine Monday morning. Several T-Mobile Note II owners are now reporting that the device’s update to Android 4.3 is rolling out over the air, weighing in at 614.55MB in size and bumping the device up to baseband version T889UVUCMK7.

Neither Samsung nor T-Mobile have posted any support documents for the Note II’s update yet, so for now the full changelog is still a mystery. Obviously a bump up to Android 4.3 is included, and Samsung announced back in October that this Premium Suite update would also include support for its Galaxy Gear smartwatch, updated versions of Easy Mode and Multi-Window, advanced camera options and more.

Ready to treat yourself and your T-Mobile Note II to some fresh Jelly Beans? The update is now rolling out over the air to users, and it’s likely available through Samsung’s Kies computer software as well. Over the air updates usually take some time to hit all users, so if you’re really jonesing for some new software to play with, it might be worth looking into Kies or manually checking for the update on your phone by going into Menu > Settings > About device > Software update.

Ever heard of a tablet with the model number LG-V510? Us neither, but if a new leak is to be believed, it’s definitely an identifier that you’ll want to keep on your radar. According to @evleaks, the LG-V510 is a tablet device that is an upcoming Google Nexus product. An image shared by the prolific leakster shows a database entry containing both the model number “LGV510″ as well as a Buyer listing that reads “USG/GOOGLE_OPEN_16G (UNITED STATES).”

So what exactly is the LG-V510? Unfortunately, much of the device’s true identity is shrouded in a thick, Android-green fog. The V510 was spotted getting its Bluetooth SIG certification back in October, and at that time it was suggested that it could be a variant of the LG G Pad 8.3, which launched a few months ago with the model number LG-V500. However, we’ve yet to see any concrete evidence to support that theory. The news that the V510 may be a new Nexus tablet is definitely enough to get our ears to perk up, though, and you can bet that that model number is one that we’ll be keeping an eye out for in the coming weeks.

Via: Blog of Mobile!!

Source: @evleaks, Bluetooth SIG

It’s only been a few months since ASUS took the wraps off of its latest Padfone model, but it appears that the company is already preparing to add another member to its family of smartphone-and-tablet-dock combos. An image posted by @evleaks has revealed the ASUS Padfone mini 4.3, a device that’s expected to be a smaller entry in the Padfone family. The Padfone mini 4.3′s name suggests that it’ll pack a 4.3-inch display, down from the 5 incher on the Padfone Infinity, and a recent leak has shown that it could also feature a display resolution of 960×540, a quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor and Android 4.3. The Padfone mini’s tablet dock will reportedly sport a 7-inch display.

Releasing “mini” versions of flagship handsets has become something of trend in mobile, with HTC, Samsung and Sony all having introduced shrunken smartphones in the past year or so. Now it looks like ASUS will be getting in on the action as well. It’s kind of disappointing to hear that ASUS may be planning to stick low to mid-range specs like a 960×540 display and Snapdragon 400 chip into its Padfone mini, especially considering that the Padfone Infinity sports a 5-inch 1080p screen and Snapdragon 800 processor, but we’ll hold off on making any final judgments about the mini and its performance until we can actually use one. ASUS has scheduled an event in Taiwan on Dec. 11 to officially unveil its latest docking wonder, so stay tuned for more details as we get ‘em.

Via @evleaks, Engadget