Will iTunes be available on Android ? Android App News

Android App News - Will iTunes be available on Android ?

 

Persistent rumors are circulating about Apple making its iTunes music and media streaming services available to Android users. Till now, these services were only available for iPhone, iPad and Mac users but the current rumors suggest Apple is considering making these services available through apps for Android users.

Of course this makes sense since Apple will be able to bill Android users who will consume media through these media streaming services. There are other media and music streaming services already available for Android, from Spotify to Pandora (radio streaming) and Google's own Google Play Music.

However, one of Apple's strong suits is it's being a closed farm, with media, devices, apps and contents all being compatible only with Apple's products. This is one of the things which Apple uses in order to try to preserve its market share of devices such as tablets and iPhones.

No doubt we the users will benefit from iTunes availability on Android but it remains to be seen what Apple will decide. On a side note, we would also benefit from Apple remaining a strong company which keeps making Google and Samsung and all other Android manufacturers strive to provide us with the best apps, operating system updates and devices they are able to produce.

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Google Adds its Own Find My Phone Service

Google calls its new Android device location and remote access service Android Device Manager. This has been a feature that has been missing from stock Android for a long time that has been filled with a host of 3rd party apps, but it is nice to finally see a free stock Android solution.

It is also interesting to note that this did not require any sort of update - Google Play Services is indeed quite powerful and can allow new features and services to be deployed without any updates to the OS itself.

The service allows you to locate your device, cause it to ring for up to 5 minutes (even if it is on silent or vibrate mode), and to wipe the device remotely. In order to wipe the device remotely you must first enable a remote factory reset by going to Google Settings → Android Device Manager → Check Allow remote factory reset.

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Android App Review - Camera360 Ultimate by PinGuo Inc

Android App Review - Camera360 Ultimate by PinGuo Inc

 

Camera360 Ultimate by PinGuo Inc. This is arguably one of the best, the most popular and one of the most feature rich and stable camera and photo editing app out there on Google Play, and it's free, on top of everything. With tons of features, filters, magic colors, collage building and cloud storing, this is really an astounding app that really has almost everything needed for a comprehensive smartphone camera app.

With a clean and neat interface, the user can access almost every conceivable photography and photo editing parameter, from contrast to sharpness to saturation to magic color to exposure time to zoom. 

Additional effect such as scene pictures where a downloaded scene will the the background for a picture you take. Cool features include batch operations for doing the same thing for a group of pictures, say pictures taken on a single day. 

Camera 360 allows to apply effects to a picture during its taking and also afterwards, which really turns into a fast and effective photo editing app. Pictures enhanced with effects can be quite stunning, citing Magic Color, Black and White, LOMO, RETRO, HDR and ENHANCE. Of course, several modes of shooting pictures exist, from self portrait to quick shoot to special effects mode.

Camera 360 Cloud is another great option for saving those albums for those afraid to lose their smartphone during a trip or just running out of place on their SD cards. Naturally, it's also a great sharing feature.

Unfortunately, apparently an app of such complexity must contain bugs and problems. We've had several testers reporting of crashes and freezes, and even some problems with pic management - old pictures stuck inside the Camera 360 folders and the app can't remove them and even rarely, an old picture will appear to be edited instead of the picture that had been selected. We've also had issues with too bright scenes - the Camera 360 light meters seems to take a long time to recover.

• Score:4.5 out of 5. It would have been a perfect 5 if not for the few bugs and problems, rare but irritating. We hope a future update will make us give this Camera 360 a well earned 5 out of 5.
• Description: A camera and photo editing app which lets you pick a filter, camera mode and edit the photo during or after taking it, creating collages, pictures in preloaded scenes or adding special photo effects.
• Good Points:One of the best camera and photo editing apps, rich with features such as camera modes (we liked quick shot in particular), special effects (magic color is another favorite), filters and a useful cloud option.
• Bad Points: A few rare but irritating bugs. Old pics that cannot be erased or that pop up when you want to edit a newer pictures. Several crashes. Adjusting to a too bright scene seems to take too long. Auto save feature that disappeared during the last update.
• Experience:Every tester could use the app within moments after installing, which in our book makes for a good app. The special filters and effects were also very easy to use and even the testers with the least understanding in photography managed to produce outstanding pictures, which explains why this app is so good and why is it so popular.
• Longevity:Excellent. Most if not all of our testers continued using this app, for the filters and special effects if not for the camera modes. Almost none uninstalled it.
• Google Play Link - Camera360 Ultimate by PinGuo Inc
• Google Play Score: 4.4

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Android App Review - AppLock by DoMobile Lab

Android App Review -  AppLock by DoMobile Lab

Score	Under Construction
Description	Under Construction
Good Points	Under Construction
Bad Points	Under Construction
Experience	Under Construction
Longevity	Under Construction
Google Play	Google Play Link -  AppLock by DoMobile Lab
Google Play Score	Score 4.6

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Android App Review - Flow Free

Android App Review - Flow Free 

Score	Under Construction
Description	Under Construction
Good Points	Under Construction
Bad Points	Under Construction
Experience	Under Construction
Longevity	Under Construction
Google Play	Google Play Link - Flow Free
Google Play Score	Score 4.7

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Android App Review - Temple Run 2

Android App Review - Temple Run 2 

Score	Under Construction
Description	Under Construction
Good Points	Under Construction
Bad Points	Under Construction
Experience	Under Construction
Longevity	Under Construction
Google Play	Google Play Link - Temple Run 2
Google Play Score	Score 4.6

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Android App Review - Facebook Messenger

Android App - Facebook Messenger

Score	Under Construction
Description	Under Construction
Good Points	Under Construction
Bad Points	Under Construction
Experience	Under Construction
Longevity	Under Construction
Google Play	Google Play Link - Facebook Messenger
Google Play Score	Score 4.4

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Android App Review - Candy Crush Saga

Android App - Candy Crush Saga

Candy Crush Sage is one of the most popular games on Android right now, and Facebook is filled with cries of "How do I get past level 99?" or "Awesome! I finished level 199!". A candy crushing puzzle, you go through a world where the puzzles are made off candy, just waiting there to be crushed.

 
A very addictive game, Candy Crush Sage promises hours of fun but also some frustrating levels if the necessary upgrades and power ups are not bought with real money. Changing levels with tons of colorful, sweet candy to crush, the Candy Crush addiction is here.

• Score: 4.5 For an enjoyable and addictive if a little repetitive game.
• Description: This is a puzzle solving game with fun and cheery graphics, if a little over too 'fruity', tons of levels and special items that can help solve the more difficult levels and generally make the game a little more interesting. The feature of buying stuff in mid game can be turned off, which may be a good feature for some who find it irritating. In general, Candy Crush Saga is a fairly addictive game for those who have kids, some spare time in boring meetings or on public transportation and are not afraid of cheerful music and bright colors. Of course, this is a must for all lovers of candy!
• Good Points: Very addictive and fun, lots of levels, probably one of the best puzzle games out there - quite challenging on the higher levels.
• Bad Points: Sometimes it's difficult getting past some levels (upwards of level 180) without paying for power ups, there are rare instance of the game not loading and spending lives, the update policy seems a bit strange and there are rare instances of freezing up - especially when trying to get things sent by friends.
• Experience: Installed it about two weeks ago and played it extensively. The game does seem to have some problem receiving tickets from friends and it did freeze once and did a forced closure two or three times. Our testers were fairly addicted and one even paid to have higher levels open up. They all think this is a great free game, just needs to have the several kinks and bugs fixed.
• Longevity: Fair - Been playing it for two weeks now but will probably uninstall it in another two weeks or so.
• Google Play Link - Candy Crush Saga
• Google Play Score: 4.4

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Android App Review - Subway Surfers

Android App - Subway Surfers

Score	Under Construction
Description	Under Construction
Good Points	Under Construction
Bad Points	Under Construction
Experience	Under Construction
Longevity	Under Construction
Google Play	Google Play Link - Subway Surfers
Google Play Score	4.7

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Android App Review - Skype - free IM & video calls

Android App - Skype - free IM & video calls

Score	Text 1C
Description	Text 1C
Good Points	Text 1C
Bad Points	Text 1C
Experience	Text 1C
Longevity	Text 1C
Google Play	Google Play Link - Skype - free IM & video calls
Google Play Score	4.0

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Android App Review - Viber : Free Messages & Calls

Android App - Viber : Free Messages & Calls

Score	Text 1C
Description	Text 1C
Good Points	Text 1C
Bad Points	Text 1C
Experience	Text 1C
Longevity	Text 1C
Google Play	Google Play Link - Viber : Free Messages & Calls
Google Play Score	4.4

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Android App Review - Facebook

Android App - Facebook

Score	Text 1C
Description	Text 1C
Good Points	Text 1C
Bad Points	Text 1C
Experience	Text 1C
Longevity	Text 1C
Google Play	Google Play Link - Facebook
Google Play Score	3.7

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New Chrome Devices - Chromebooks and Chromebox

I was very fortunate in receiving one of the original CR-48 chromebooks when Google was beta testing them. I still use it every day - it is a wonderful device for browsing the internet, email, even watching online videos. It can start to stutter a little with 1080p quality video, or with lots of media heavy tabs open, but other than that it is amazingly powerful and versatile. It is the only thing I take when on trips - the built in 3G is very nice. Now that google drive is being implemented into the OS its even better.

I am very excited about the announcement of the new chrome hardware today. I am thinking about getting a Samsung Series 3 Chromebox for a cheap home theater PC. I think the onboard graphics should be plenty to play online HD video.


Update: found this review from Engadget of the chromebox. Looks like it handles video well!

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