Search Results for 'google android'
How to Prevent Your Smartphone from Getting a Virus
When smartphones first came out, it was pretty rare for them to get a virus. But hackers simply needed some time to catch up with the rapidly growing platform. Unfortunately, now they have caught up, smartphone users can be susceptible to attacks if they’re not careful. The sad news for Android users is that their phones are considerably more at risk to viruses than iPhones. That said, iPhones certainly aren’t exempt from malware. The idea that hackers can’t infiltrate Apple products was disproved years ago. So, how do you protect your smartphone from viruses that could put your private and precious data in the wrong hands? Here are five suggestions to help protect your phone from harm:
Google Adds Interactive Weather Widget to Mobile Safari
Google has implemented a neat little weather widget to their mobile search pages and it’s actually good enough that I can see people using it rather than dedicated weather apps (at the very least, replacing the default one on iOS). From the Google Team:
We’d been wanting to build a fun, useful, app-like way to display weather information on our search results pages in the mobile browser. So we pulled together a user experience designer and team of engineers and built a new weather search results snippet that lets you actually play with the results. To try it out, just go to google.com on your iPhone or Android-powered device and search for ‘weather’.
Once you search for “weather” on google.com with Mobile Safari (or any other 3rd party browser on iDevice), you can use the “My Location” feature or manually enter the city. The unique aspect of this new widget is that users can move the slider over the next 12 hours to see the change in weather conditions. If you do wish to start making use of this new feature, you can add this search page to your home screen (as an app icon) for quick access. To do this, tap on the action arrow icon in Safari (a ‘+’ sign on pre-iOS 4.2) and select “Add to Home Screen”. Now every time you tap on this “web app”, the browser will open up to your location’s weather. As well, you can create a “Weather” folder in your mobile Safari bookmarks and add different cities you wish to keep track of.
[via Google Mobile Blog]
Google Goggles Now Adds Support for Print Ads, Solves Sudokus
Google Goggles, a neat visual search tool that first made its way into the Google Mobile App last October, has just received some nifty upgrades. Firstly, pointing your iDevice camera at US print advertisements (those from August 2010 onward) will display more info about that product/service online. Secondly, GG will now help Sudoku fiends solve the puzzle at hand with the help of the onboard camera:
Our favorite weekend distraction is a quiet 15 minutes spent solving a Sudoku puzzle. But even that can be an frustrating experience if (like us) you make a mistake and are unable to solve the puzzle. Now, Goggles on Android and iPhone can recognize puzzles and provide answers to help make you faster than a Sudoku champ. So if you ever get stuck, take a clear picture of the entire puzzle with Goggles and we’ll tell you the correct solution. Check out this video to see how it works.
The Google Mobile App is free to download and those who enjoy attacking a Sudoku here and there should definitely give this new feature a try. Check out Google’s demo video below.
Google Mobile, Google Mobile App, 8.6 MB – Free
Start Editing Google Docs from your iDevice
Love using Google Docs, but hate the fact that you can’t edit your word documents or spreadsheets on the iPhone or iPad? Well, that’s going to change in the coming days as Google has announced today that users will very soon be able to edit their precious docs while on the go. For those of you who have yet to use the popular Google Docs service, think of it as Microsoft Office on the web. Using your Google account, you can create text documents and fully functionally spreadsheets online, all without having to worry about saving them on a local hard drive. You can also share these docs with friends and colleagues and even allow others to edit them (collaborate).
According to Google, mobile editing will be rolled out in the next few days and it’ll be available on Android with Froyo (version 2.2) and iOS Devices (v3.0+) , including the iPad. Check out the video demo after the gap.
Freebies Roundup: ReaddleDocs and More now Free for limited time
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ReaddleDocs, easily one of the best and most complete document reader/file managers for the iPhone and iPod Touch (see our iPad review), is now free for the weekend. Aside from the robust PDF reader that supports full text search and text reflow, this all-in-one wonder can also:
- Copy files From Mac or PC via Wi-Fi
- Read Office Documents
- Save Email Attachments
- Share Files With Your Friends
- Read Books On The Go
- Transfer files to iPhone with or without Wi-Fi
- Save Documents From the Web
- Access iDisk, Dropbox, GoogleDocs And Other Storages
Previously at $4.99, ReaddleDocs will allow you to manage your numerous files within one app, making it a central hub for all your data – be it on the actual iDevice or remote PC/Mac. Aside from this awesome freebie, we’ve also rounded up a good number of apps/games that has recently gone from paid–>free. Be check to check out the entire list after the break!
Google Instant has landed on iOS
Earlier last month, Google brought their new visual search tool Google Goggles to the App Store. Now, they have unleashed Google Instant on iOS’ mobile safari. For those of you who rely heavily on Google’s search engine, it’s likely you’ve already used this neat feature. Basically, results will appear as you type out your queries. Here’s how it works:
In September we announced that we were working to bring Google Instant to mobile, and today we’re making a beta version available to most iPhone and Android devices in the U.S. To try it out, go to google.com in your phone’s browser and tap the Google Instant “Turn on” link beneath the search box (if you don’t see the “Turn on” link, try waiting a moment and then refresh the page).
Like the desktop version of Google Instant, when you type on your mobile device you’ll see predictions of what you might be searching for. If you type [anse], for example, you should see [ansel adams] along with other predictions. Results for the first prediction appear automatically, and tapping on the other predictions will display those results. Pressing the enter key or the search button skips the predictions and will display results for exactly what you’ve typed.
Once you do start using Google Instant, it just feels natural and you wonder why they didn’t think of this sooner. So if you want to check it out on your iDevice, be sure your Instant (beta) is turned “On” on your mobile browser.
Google Docs Editing coming to the iPad
While Google’s Mobile Mail app for the iPad is plenty good and provides all the basic (and necessary) features, the same can’t be said for Google Docs. Currently, users are only able to view their documents. Those who wish to edit gDoc files on their iPad must resort to 3rd party apps like Documents To Go and Quickoffice (TMA Review). Sure they work just fine, but not everyone will want to drop $10+ for this functionality. For Google Docs users, the good news is that editing will be coming soon for the iPad (and Android).
Yahoo! – iAd’s “going to fall apart”
iAds mobile advertising and Big Brother Steve
Yahoo!’s badmouthing big boss, Carol Bartz, may or may not be onto something. iAd, she says, “is going to fall apart for [Apple]“. Apple’s mobile advert platform, while locked into the de facto most popular mobile platform (it still is), is just that: locked in. Jobsian, draconian, whatever you want to call it, it’s got its fair share of detractors. At least it is out of the woods regarding antitrust. Google’s AdMob has shown great income potential for certain developers despite Android Marketplace’s rampant problems with porn and piracy. But back to iAd; we won’t know whether or not it is a success for a while. DaringFireball’s John Gruber tends to think we should wait a year.
OMG, what is the world coming to? iPod, iPhone, iPad… iHTC?
I don’t think anyone would argue that at the moment the iOS is the best OS for a touchscreen device, period. The Android, while having some inarguable advantages like the openness of the platform and the absence of the extraodinary amount of control that Apple has over its product, still has quite a way to go to compare to the polished excellence of iOS. Still, even for the Android fans there is a way out if they’re the owners of an early iPhone – the OpeniBoot project, making it possible to run Google’s entry in the mobile OS space on the Jesus phone. But what if you’re one of those unlucky bunch, wishing for the miracle that is the iOS but stuck with a saintly Android phone? Apparently there is a way out!
Android Marketplace strangled by porn and piracy
The Android Marketplace cracked
The Android Marketplace has real success stories such as Aaron La’s Advanced Task Manager; its open slant gives opportunity to many developers who can’t afford a Mac to join a huge market place. Every day, Android grows, and barring the all-out success of Windows Phone 7, it is destined to remain at the top, at least as market share leader. But, all is not well.
According to the Reg, Google’s hands-off approach allows its Marketplace to drown in oceans of porn just as the App Store was chocked by useless apps (fart and flashlight) in its early days. There is another negative effect: piracy. Despite the fact that the average selling price for Android apps is less than their iPhone, developers are strangled by app pilfering. The net result is that 49% of Android developers are making less than they expected and only 27% making more than they expected. Again, there is no question that Android is the market leader. For developers, it is an attractive platform. But it isn’t the heaven and spice that disgruntled iPhone developers may think it is. Google needs to adapt to keep its most important customer, the developer, happy. Happy, loaded developers make great apps. Currently iPhone Development, while a lot more controlled, has a friendlier, more lucrative face; it also tends to sport much more high quality apps.
