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Google really shook the market with their latest announcement for the mobile industry. Rather than introducing a new Nexus smartphone as a successor to the aging Nexus 4, the company designed a new radical program that bridges the gap between Google’s ideal software and their OEM Partner’s ideal hardware.

The new Google Edition smartphones, namely the Stock Android loaded Samsung Galaxy S4 and HTC One, are the first smartphones in this program. Apparently, Sony is also looking at a Google Edition device, but that is news for another time. For now, let’s evaluate this Google Edition smartphones and figure out if we really should be excited for it, and if we really should get one.
A Dream Finally Fulfilled?
As a community of Android users who love to Root our devices as well as install custom ROM, this is like a dream program...

There are literally thousands of apps in the Play Store to choose from. Sometimes, these apps may have one or two nifty features we want, while other features are only available in a similar app. We end up installing a lot of apps to make sure all our bases are covered when we need it. The fact is, these apps are becoming variedly useful. Many apps can do similar things or also respond to similar actions. Why, sharing a photo from the gallery is sure to unleash a load of apps that can take the action initiated by your gallery.

While it may be necessary to keep all those apps ready just in case that the next time you perform an action, it you will have the option to use that app, there are cases when we want only one app...

It used to be that Sony was the reigning king of waterproof smartphones in the market. It started with their Sony Xperia Z, which evolved into a tablet, and now, into a phablet as well. Still, the Sony Xperia Z was one of the things that put Sony back in the game thanks to the premium glass materials as well as the waterproofing it provided.

Unfortunately, Samsung has a habit of trying everything, especially something that a competitor has tried. Samsung recently released a variant of their main Galaxy S4 flagship device, which is aptly named the Samsung Galaxy S4 Active. Meant for active people, the Galaxy S4 Active is also a waterproof device that features the power of a flagship smartphone.
So the big question this summer is: which one should you pick as the perfect pool and beach buddy smartphone?...

This is the age of touch technology. Very rarely do we see phones with physical keyboards in the market. It is mostly used by those who love Blackberry, or those who simply must have a hardware keyboard. For most of us, we have adopted the touch based keyboard entry.

Android is so customizable, that you can even switch the default keyboard you use when typing messages and other information for all your apps. You shouldn’t be stuck with the stock keyboard unless you really like that stock keyboard.
The Play Store is host to dozens of keyboard replacements hoping to improve your typing comfort and accuracy while using your Android device. Some of them have very unique functions that may be important to someone, but completely useless to someone else. Today we will have a look at some of the best Android...

It’s not easy to buy second hand devices. You never really know how well the device was taken cared of during its service to its previous master. Nowadays, even a “lady owned” smartphone is never quite as well-preserved as they were back in the day when women aren’t so involved with high tech devices.

We use our smartphones a lot. That much we can admit. We use it online most of the time, and we pretty much drive it to the limit with the most graphic intensive games and activities. There are some that even use their phones as servers and peer to peer file sharing.
With so much that our smartphones can do, buying second hand is likely buying a well-used car. It is just a matter of how well they took care of it while using it like that. When...

Many times you would hear people complain about their phones having a different skin. Regardless if it was Touchwiz, Sense, or Blur, it would always boil down to wanting to have the stock experience since they either find that the skin was too cartoony or it didn’t operate as fast as they had hoped it would.

What some people would usually do is to install custom ROMs that totally change the look and feel of the device. They would even go so far as to install an AOSP or AOKP based custom ROM to make their devices look as close to the original and pure Android as much as  they possible.
For most people, it usually boils down to the launcher. The launcher is your first interface with the device. This is where you arrange your home screen, your widgets, and your...

We live in an app centric world. Unfortunately, not everyone can afford to buy their own apps. There are those who are still kids and can’t have a credit card yet, or there are people who may not have a credit card for one reason or another. Sure enough, the ways we can purchase apps are growing, but spending lots of money on apps is not exactly good for the wallet especially if you are just one family.

What if I told you that you can share accounts with someone you trust, like your own family members so that you only have to pay for an app once for everyone to enjoy it legally?
Well, there is such a way, and the best part is that the user can still have their own account for their own Gmail and other Google services...

After owning a Galaxy S III for a while, rooting is simply not enough anymore if you want to have the best experience. Sure, you can install lots of new stock ROMs, but why settle for stock when you can get optimized stock?

There are a lot of custom ROMs for the Galaxy S III that relies on the optimize stock experience, but there is one that combines amazing look and feel with the stability of a stock ROM. Let’s go meet the Purelook HD for the Galaxy S III.

Themes
Purelook HD showcases three different types of themes to choose from. You have the basic stock experience which is a direct look and feel port of the Galaxy S4 to the Galaxy S III, an Xperia look and feel, as well as a fully transparent operating system.
The Galaxy S4 look is very...

In our previous post, you learned that there are cloud stored photos that can be synced and viewed through your Android device. These may be very useful for some, but for many, this can be downright annoying or downright messy in the gallery. It’s hard to keep a neat gallery when cloud synced photos are in the way.

Now we showed you how to remove these files from the gallery and prevent Android from resynchronizing these photos in the future. Of course, this is only a temporary solution. While we may have kept these files away from the Gallery, they are still out there, waiting to be managed. Who knows? If you manage those photos properly, you may not have to keep them away from the gallery.
Can I do it from my phone?
This is part no and part yes. It is...

Android features several cloud synching services all throughout the operating system. It allows you to stay connected with several services across the web such as emails, social media, chat services, and even online galleries.

It is interesting to note that many people don’t know much about the gallery synching capabilities of their Android devices. If you are like me, you probably upgraded from an older Android phone and as soon as the initial setup was complete, you were shocked to find so many photos in your gallery.
The thing is, these photos that are now suddenly lodged into your Android gallery are often disorganized. They are galleries created by instant uploads, or photos uploaded though Google+ posts. Many people don’t want all of these photos suddenly getting synched into their account without permission. While you may want to keep some of them...