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Google has released a nifty little device called the Google Chromecast. This device allows the user to make his regular old “dumb” HDTV a little smarter, helping it get closer to what Smart TVs are right now. The Chromecast dongle is apparently a direct competitor to the more experienced, and apparently more capable but more expensive Roku and Apple TV. Instead of going for $100 or more, all you have to get ready are $35. That’s a steal by anyone’s standard, especially if it can do what it promises – to bring the internet’s video content straight to the TV.

The Promise
The promise is that with your $35, Chromecast will allow you to access the multimedia content online much like its competitors Roku and Apple TV. It will utilize “apps” which let you stream media from different sources.
Unfortunately, that promise is...

Have you read that news about the little kid that accidentally caused her dad to pay for a really old and beat-up car that needs a lot time, effort, and more money to restore? Well, as it turns out, the dad left the kid with the tablet alone one day, and a stroke of curiosity got to the little tyke as she explored the Amazon store.

This could happen to anyone. A little kid may just take hold of your device and browse whatever strikes their curiosity. The worst part is what if that little kid wasn’t the guy’s daughter? What if it was a complete stranger? What if it wasn’t a kid? Just about anyone could become you next financial liability nightmare.
So what can you do to prevent such events from happening?
Lock up your Smartphone
This is actually very basic and...

There is a long and seemingly never ending debate about the practicality and the actual purpose of Android Task killer apps. These apps have been out since Android came to be. It has become a staple in some people’s lives, with people often talking about their phones having much better battery life and performance with every use. At the same time, there are others who swear to have stopped using a Task Killer and actually have better performance and battery life than when they avidly did. Then there are those who say they had crappy performance and battery life before they met their perfect task killer.

With all these information swirling around the net, it is no surprise how we can be conflicted as to exactly which one is right, which one is dead wrong, and which one actually has a...

It’s a very sad day when a phone gets stolen. I often come across people in phone enthusiast groups who may have lost their phones due to sheer recklessness or sheer stroke of bad luck. You can’t help but curse the thieves and wallow in grief, agony, and anger. Still, in times like this, you need to really think fast and deal with the situation calm and collected.

Change Passwords
In case your phone gets stolen, the first thing you should think about is protecting your data. A stolen phone not only holds valuable information about you, it also holds valuable access to cloud data as well. You could hold Facebook passwords, as well as entries to other accounts.
There was a guy once who had two Android devices synced up to the same Google Account. The older one got stolen and in...

For a long time now, we have learned to change the way the phone looks, the way we interact with the device, the way it sounds, and even the way it performs. We have touched UI changes time and again. In terms of communication, we have learned how to change ringtones and message tones. Now, we will find out how to change the actual way we see the notifications that come through.

Let’s review. How do the regular notifications go again? Well, once it comes in, the phone will display an icon over at the notification bar. For you to see the details of the notification, you need to swipe down from the notification bar to reveal the notification shade that shows notifications by app.
So what is a variation of a notification? Probably the most popular custom form of receiving notifications...

There is no real 100% safe software, but with everyone’s combined efforts, Android can be made safer for all of us. Unfortunately, the price of an open system is that the vulnerabilities are also open to be explored and exploited by both good and bad alike.

There are people who explore the Android code simply to find vulnerabilities. There are the good guys, who look for it to report and maybe find a way to patch it, while there are those who seek to exploit in in delivering malware and stealing precious information from Android users everywhere. Thankfully, Google watches these developments as well and they patch it as soon as they can.
Unfortunately, while manufacturers are quick to take all the benefits of the open source code when they make an Android device, they are not too keen on fixing the...

While we may be at an era where chatting and instant messaging is the most common form of text based communication, SMS communication remains to be a valuable and irreplaceable communication tool. Unlike Instant Messaging, SMS does not need internet connection and it is even possible to send and receive SMS during emergencies where internet connections may not be available.

Of course, unlike Instant Messaging, SMS communication can be a bit boring. It usually just involves text, and a set of smiles that the manufacturer provided as default and we couldn’t change it… until now. I’m about to teach you how to add a little spice to your SMS smileys with a new of set of smiles.
Here is a very short list of things you may need:

A Computer – most of the stuff we will do here is going to be...

Technology moves very fast. In fact, some device cycles can get as short as a few months to just one year. There is a huge second hand market for smartphones and tablets as well, so you always have a way of at least getting back some of the money you used to purchase your device and use that towards your next purchase.

When you sell an Android Smartphone or Tablet, you are selling a very personal device. For many of us, we have learned to tinker and play with the software of this device. It houses our customizations, our preferences, our designs. In short, it reflects the personality of the buyer. Now, are you really sure you want to sell a part of who you are?
As you can see, selling an Android Tablet or Smartphone is not as straightforward as selling...

Have you ever been a victim of unwanted notifications? Notifications take a very central role in Android devices. With our phones growing from mere text and call to social media and instant messaging, our phones are more of a communication tool than ever. We really rely on these notifications to get us through a day and not miss the important messages in our lives.

Unfortunately, Google introduced a form of advertisement called Air-Push. This pushes advertisements to our devices through the notification bar, which occasionally causes a notification tone to ring. When we look at our phones expecting an important message from a friend, a co-worker, or a loved one, we end up looking at an ad or a message from the developer of an app instead.
I know what you might be thinking. “Why not just uninstall the app that is...

You know what the best thing about the new Google Edition phones is? It uses existing hardware with the best of Google’s pure Android variant. Simply put, the Samsung Galaxy S4 Google Edition is pretty much just a regular international variant of the Samsung Galaxy S4. In the same way, the HTC One Google Edition is pretty much the same as the international variant of the HTC One. The only difference is the fact that the Google Edition variant is pretty much running a different ROM.

As a community, we are pretty much experienced in installing custom ROMs into our devices. The Google Edition is just another ROM to be installed into our smartphones. As luck would have it, the avid developers of XDA and the leak crew at Sammobile have found the ROMs we need to have a taste of...