Gadget Hacks News — Page 110 of 129

News: The 16 Best Google Android Apps You Didn't Know About

It would only make sense that Google is one of the most active app developers on the Android platform, particularly when you consider that they develop the platform itself. From my count, there are an astounding 117 unique apps that the search giant and its subsidiaries have published on the Google Play Store.

News: How to Change Title Bar Colors & Context Menus in Windows 10

The release of Windows 10 marked a big visual overhaul for the world's most popular desktop operating system, but Microsoft isn't done tweaking the interface just yet.

News: 20 Official Samsung Galaxy Themes That Don't Totally Suck

Taste is certainly relative. When you look at Central American architecture and notice all of the bright pastel colors, then move just a thousand or so miles to the north and see that buildings in the United States are mostly painted in earth tones, this becomes abundantly clear. Imagine if you were to switch hemispheres altogether—what would you see in East Asia?

News: The 5 Best Apps for Scanning Text & Documents on Android

Scanners are much too cumbersome to fit in a pocket, but with the use of just one application, you can replace all that bulky hardware with your Android smartphone and take it with you wherever you go. All you need to do is find the scanning app that fulfills your needs. Here are our five favorites that are good for business pros and average joes alike.

News: Chromecast App Gets a Huge Update—Here's All the Cool New Features

Google just announced a new and improved Chromecast at an event in San Francisco this morning, and debuted a new "Chromecast Audio" for streaming music directly to any speaker. I'm sure you rushed off to the Google Store to buy one of these promising and powerful devices, but while you wait on the new one to come in the mail, your old Chromecast just got a lot more functional by way of a simple app update.

News: 7 Must-Have Paid Apps for Android

Let's say you're flush with Google Opinion Rewards credits, or you just got a Google Play gift card for your birthday. This is a perfect opportunity to remove ads and unlock new features by upgrading some of your free apps to their paid counterparts, or to finally purchase that app you've been lusting after that doesn't offer a free version.

News: 20 Unique Android Apps That Offer Incredible Functionality

There are over 1.6 million apps on the Google Play Store, which makes it the largest collection of mobile apps on the planet. However, a large portion of this total is occupied by apps with overlapping functions—think social media, news, weather, music players, and various other categories where developers compete against one another to garner the largest user base.

News: The 5 Best 'Car Mode' Apps for Android

In general, smartphones and cars don't mix—but this is mainly because you have to take your eyes off the road to poke around on your handheld gadget. In reality, the only difference between your smartphone and your car's FHWA-approved infotainment system is that the latter is mounted in a fixed position and has an oversized interface that makes it easy to use without looking away from the road.

News: The 5 Best Free Camera Apps for Android

Practically every smartphone comes with a built-in camera app, but these apps are generally created by the device's manufacturer. And let's face it, manufacturers are hardware companies first and foremost, so they don't always produce the best software.

News: 8 Best Local & Streaming Music Players for Android

Remember portable MP3 players like the classic iPod? Seems like forever ago that they were all the rage, and I don't think I've seen a real one in the wild for a good 5 years now. These devices died out so quickly as a direct result of the onset of smartphones, which allow us to do everything that an MP3 player could do and then some.

News: Here's Everything You Should Know About Samsung Pay

Mobile payment systems have been around for almost 5 years now, starting with Google Wallet. But when Apple got into the game last year with their new Apple Pay service, things really started to take off. Around this time, Samsung responded by acquiring an up-and-coming mobile payments company that owned the rights to an incredibly innovative technology called Magnetic Secure Transmission (MST).

News: How to Get Tons of Paid Android Apps for Free

Whether it's delivery drones or getting the U.S. Postal Service to ship packages on Sundays, Amazon continues to remain innovative and ahead of the game, as further evidenced with their mobile app, Amazon Underground.

Drinking Games: Android Edition

If you ever need to spice up a party, drinking games can really get things started quickly. The objectives are generally to complete tasks or challenges, but it's really all a thinly-veiled excuse for increasing everyone's alcohol intake in a hurry while testing levels of inebriation.

News: 34 Beautiful Material Design Apps to Replace Your Old, Ugly Ones

I have a personal rule when it comes to an app's interface: If it doesn't follow Android's design guidelines, it was probably written with Apple's iOS in mind first and foremost.

News: Microsoft Beat Google to the Punch with a "Now on Tap" Clone for Android

One of the biggest new features in the soon-to-be-released Android 6.0 Marshmallow is something Google is calling "Now on Tap." Essentially, this service will be able to scan the contents of any screen on your Android device, then after you long-press the home button, it will provide you with relevant information about anything—from movie times to directions or dinner reservations.

News: Making an Audiobook Player for a Senior

When eyesight deteriorates, either due to illness or advanced age, many people turn to audiobooks as an alternative to reading. With today's technology there is an abundance of services and devices one can use.

News: The 7 Best Weather Apps for Android & iPhone

Checking the weather ranks among the most mundane but essential tasks you can do on your smartphone. Thankfully, both the iOS App Store and Google Play are loaded with weather apps that add some much needed spice to this daily routine, giving you less of a reason to be caught unaware.

News: Best Apps for Hiding Android's Soft Keys to Reclaim Precious Screen Real Estate

If your Android device wasn't manufactured by Samsung, chances are it uses on-screen navigation buttons. Colloquially referred to as "Soft keys," these have become commonplace due to their flexibility, as well as the fact that manufacturers don't have to include extra hardware buttons with a propensity to fail.

News: 30 Relatively Unknown Google Now Voice Commands & Easter Eggs

As Android's de facto virtual assistant, Google Now lets us speak directly to our phones in plain English to answer our questions and perform many basic tasks. With the app open, just say "Okay Google," then wait for the beep, and ask almost any question.

News: The 5 Best Free File Managers for Android

One of Android's biggest strengths, when compared to other mobile operating systems is its open file structure. Google introduced a built-in file manager with Marshmallow that provides basic file management, but like with most apps on Android, there are alternatives. Third-party file managers are readily available, providing deeper access and control of all your files.

News: The 5 Most Useful File-Sharing Apps for Android

Heads up! We've done a new, more thorough review of the best Android file-sharing apps. You can check that out here. Our old file-sharing app roundup can still be viewed below for posterity.

Best Android Antivirus: Avast vs. AVG vs. Kaspersky vs. McAfee

When it comes to antivirus software, you don't want some fly-by-night developer having access to the sensitive data that these apps can scan. Luckily, most of the longest-tenured antivirus companies from the realm of desktop computers offer complete security suites for Android these days.

News: 10 Free Multiplayer Games for Android That Can Be Played Offline

Most mobile games have moved to an online-only format, meaning you need to be connected to the Internet in order to get any kind of multiplayer action going. This is great when you're at home on Wi-Fi, but when you're out and about, slow and inconsistent data speeds can cause serious lag. Or worse yet, you may be nearing your monthly data cap!

News: Amazing New Digital Assistant Puts Siri & Google Now to Shame

SoundHound, the Shazam-like song-matching service, recently announced a new mobile app called Hound, which wants to be your one and only intelligent personal assistant.

News: What You Can Expect from the iPhone 6S & 6S Plus

Nearly nine months after the release of the iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, we finally have some solid information on the "S" model of Apple's flagship device, slated for release this fall. Coming straight from Apple analyst Ming-Chi Kuo of KGI Securities (via AppleInsider), quite a few upgrades will be included in the next iPhone model.

News: Microsoft's HowOldRobot Analyzes Photos to Guess Your Age—Is It Accurate?

In a study attempting to observe virality in real time, two Microsoft engineers, Corom Thompson and Santosh Balasubramanian, used Microsoft's recently released Face detection API to create How-Old.net and track its usage in real time.

News: Nexus Player Practically Half-Off: $70 with a Free $20 Google Play Credit

Google's Android TV-powered set-top box normally sells for about $100, but for the next 4 days, the Nexus Player can be purchased for roughly half that price when you consider credits.

LG’s New G4 Flagship Phone: Everything You Need to Know

It's already that time of year again—LG has unveiled its latest high-end smartphone, dubbed the G4. In past iterations, LG released its flagship devices in the fall. But slowly over the course of the past 2 years, the release schedule has been bumped up to be more in line with HTC and Samsung's springtime releases, and further away from the sales-sucking iPhone event each fall.

News: If You Have a Galaxy S6 Edge, DO NOT USE This Feature

I picked up my Galaxy S6 Edge on release day and have loved it ever since. Did I spend an extra hundred bucks for the mostly-aesthetic Edge display? Yup! Did I have buyer's remorse about my frivolous spending? Not even a little.

News: Use Google Search to Locate Your Android Phone or Tablet, Send Directions to It & More

A set of cool new Android-related Google Search functions made their debut this week, which will allow you to locate your phone, send directions to your mobile device, set alarms and reminders, and send notes from any web browser.

News: Google Just Launched a Cell Service—Here's What You Need to Know About Project Fi

Rumors have had Google making a foray into the mobile carrier world for quite some time, but today, the Mountain View tech giant finally made things official. The new service, dubbed Project Fi, will be a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, or MVNO, that uses existing Sprint and T-Mobile cell towers.

Review: The Qumi Q5 Pocket Projector Is a Solid On-the-Go Media Companion

As someone with a pretty nice TV, I've never found the allure in purchasing a projector. While they're certainly smaller and sleeker than a television, and more portable, they can be pricey and produce a less than stellar image. And who really buys a projector anyways? They're for school, they're for work, they're for theaters, but they're not really for my apartment, right?

What’s New in iOS 8.3: Diverse Emojis, Password-Less Free Apps, Filtered Messages, & More

After several weeks of testing out the public beta, Apple has finally released iOS 8.3 to the general public. The latest iteration of iOS for iPad, iPhone, and iPod touch serves mostly as an update to fix many of the bugs that plagued earlier versions, but there are still a couple of awesome new features included in the new build.

News: Popcorn Time Explained

Part 1: What is Popcorn Time? Part 2: What is a torrent?

News: Facebook's Riff App Makes Snapchat Stories (But with Friends)

In the shadow of Facebook's announcement for third-party app development on Messenger, the company has announced the release of a whole new application called Riff, a creative tool for making videos with friends.

News: Play Pac-Man Around the World in Google Maps

It's that time of year again. Each spring, Google likes to have a bit of fun with April Fool's Day. Pranks have ranged from a fake email printing service called Gmail Paper to a search engine for smells. It's all fun and games, but this year, they've taken that mantra rather seriously with a Pac-Man game baked right into Google Maps.

News: iOS 8.3 Brings Siri Speakerphone Calling & Easier App Downloads

After receiving the fourth beta for iOS 8.3, we can assume that the official release shouldn't be too far behind. Along with plenty of bug fixes from prior iOS versions, Apple is also ushering in a few minor features that are sure to ease some annoyances.