The evolution of Android sensors

What will the near future hold for smartphones? How much more data will they be able to collect from the world around us? Will they be a part of us? Is there a future for smartphones or will they be replaced by highly specialized gadgets? Read on and find out.

The facts: the present day hardware that we find on our smartphone will undoubtedly continue to evolve. Phones will have much more powerful processors, bigger, brighter and bendable touchscreens, more and more memory and graphical processing power and more of everything, in general.

Sensors! Sensors everywhere. This is where smartphones manufacturers and Android developers are heading to. You don't really see or feel this sensors (not yet anyway) but they are still there, in your phone, calculating and processing the information that is gathered from your smartphone's sensors for movement and velocity, gyration (a fancy word for rotation) or ambient light.

These overlooked and mostly ignored sensors - the proximity sensor, the global positioning system (GPS in popular terms),  accelerometer, the compass, the gyroscope, magnetometer, black illuminated sensor (a sensor that helps you make better pictures in poor light conditions)  - will soon be joined by other, more complex sensors. Samsung,  the South Korean electronics manufacturer giant, offers humidity, pressure and  temperature sensors for their latest and greatest flagship smartphone, the mighty Galaxy S4.

Futuristic Android Smartphone

At the same time with the introduction of this new sensors, the older and more mature ones got an completely overhaul and now, sensors like accelerometers or compass are able to collect and report much more data and information. Also sensors like GPS are more accurate now and consume less battery. So you see, we have improvements all over the line, the future is bright already.

The new sensors introduce this year by Samsung on Galaxy S4 are just the beginning. In the not so quite distant future you will have an air quality and health monitoring sensor on your smartphone. This sensors on your phone in conjuncture with other sensors from other smartphones will then be able to monitor the climate on a planetary level and record and share data about pollutants or allergens, through a mobile network of smartphones all over the world.

In addition to monitoring the air quality, humidity, velocity or temperature we will have health sensors built into the smartphone that can measure your pulse, blood pressure or even function as an EKG, transforming your smartphone into a extremely important medical device for everyday use.


Of course, this sensors must work together with specialized software, Android applications in our case. This applications are in their infancy and because of this there is a great demand of professional android application developers who really understand the in and outs of Android.

The telecommunication industry, included here being hardware manufacturers and software developers, is the new rising star of global markets. In the next decade or so, in this field, there will be huge opportunities for you and everybody else to be part of because there will be money, there will be evolution and revolutions, there will be academical research and scientific breakthroughs.

By Aleman Adrian

Leaked Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 for Samsung Galaxy S3

SamMobile, a community dedicated to Samsung mobile devices, just got hold on the latest Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2 test firmware for Samsung Galaxy S3. This is the second leaked version of Jelly Bean 4.2.2 that has hit the internet in the last month.

A couple of weeks ago i managed to get my hands on the first 4.2.2 firmware and, with great enthusiasm and expectations, i proceeded forward with the operation code named  "Flash 4.2.2 Jelly Bean On Galaxy 3". For starters, i have to say that this firmware was a test firmware and is considered to be a pre-release version of the upcoming Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean which will be released, sooner are later, for all of 50 millions Samsung Galaxy S3 out there. This being sad, the test firmware didn't disappoint at all. Almost all the new futures that Samsung introduce with the launch of Galaxy S4 managed to find their way to Galaxy 3 devices. Obviously, one could discover a bug here and a bug there, if you looked deep enough, but keep in mind that this was a pre-release test firmware for Galaxy S3 and was not officially endorsed by Samsung. The same goes for the second coming of Jelly Bean 4.2.2. test firmware.

Android Update 4.2.2 for S3 tweet from SamMobile Twitter page

Developing stage for Android 4.2.2 isn't completely done yet and the South Korean smartphone manufacturer still has some problems with the TouchWiz user interface, meaning that the final Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean update for the Galaxy S3 will not be released anytime soon as some folks would have hoped, but rather at the end of July or even late August 2013.

Samsung Galaxy S3 with leaked Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2

So, what is all the fuss about? Is it better? Does it run faster? Should i hold my horses and not buy the new Galaxy S4? Below you will find a list with what is new, what has improved and what are the  enhancements in the Samsung Galaxy S3 Android 4.2.2 update:

• new Samsung Galaxy S4 lockscreen which means you can now have multiple widgets at the same time on your lockscreen 
• daydream feature
• fully functional driving mode
• two new unlock phone effects - Light and Ripple
• new screen modes  imported directly from S4: professional photo and adapt display
• interactive notifications, new additions in notification center 
• additional voice controls and improvements to Samsung in house breed S-Voice 
• completely revamped and redesigned settings menu,  exactly like you can find on S4
• you will have more voice commands for controlling different parts of S3
• new look with white 3D background for gallery browsing
• you now have the option to move apps to SD card in Samsung Galaxy 3

Samsung Galaxy S3

You must be aware that Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean leaked firmware update will work only with Samsung Galaxy S3 GT-I9300. You can check what kind of flavor is your phone by navigating to Settings>About phone>Model number. After you made sure that you got the international version of Samsung Galaxy S3 you can proceed further and download Android 4.2.2 leak for Galaxy S3. It goes without saying that your phone must be rooted.

As this firmware is branded as a test, an alfa update firmware, i will not be providing instruction of how to flash your phone with this 4.2.2 Android update. However, i can point you to Samsung Galaxy S3 thred on XDA forums where you will have all the tools and information that you need for successfully flash your phone with this latest update.

I hope you will find it in you and you will have the strength to flash your beloved Galaxy S3 and rejoice at the thought that you are now part of a select few who can enjoy this latest update! Please, kind readers, do share with us your Android updating adventures in the comments below.

By Aleman Adrian

The brains behind Android operating system

How many of you knew that Andy Rubin, the co-founder and head of Android development team until recently, had completely different plans in mind for what will later become the most popular mobile operating system in the world? He's actual intention was to develop a highly advance user interface for digital cameras!

In October 2003, a little town in the middle of nowhere, Palo Alto, California witness the coming of Android Inc. From humble beginnings to world domination. This phrase could pretty well summarize the Android story. It took merely a few years for Android to become the dominant player on a market that can easily be described to be a lion pit, a market where Microsoft and Apple do all that is in their power to slow down the accelerated accession of the rate of Android smartphone adoption.

Learning Android Application Development it's easy

But all of this wouldn't  have been possible without the extraordinary dedication, know-how and sparkling intelligence of Android software engineers and developers. They are the brilliant geniuses that almost nobody have heard of, man and women that stay away from the spotlight, the ones that keep Prometheus fire burning and do the best to pass it on to the next generation.

Some of the key people behind Google's Android success story are Andy Rubin, Rich Miner, Chris White and, of course, Sergey Brin and Larry Page. They did a great job of building from the ground up the Android enterprise and they are still with the company to this day. Beside Google's own  team of engineers, being an open source community, Android manage to attract the best software developers out there. Android open source community is an alive and vibrant gathering of highly educated brains from all over the world. And this is a very good thing for Google and also represents, for Apple and Microsoft, the stuff from what nightmares are made of!


There is another side, building block, an "add-on" that contributed heavily to Android huge success. Application! To be more precise, android application developers and their wonderful skills and imagination. Without them, Android ecosystem that we know today wouldn't have existed. Who exactly are these android application developers, from what it sounds they surely

must be some kind of rocket scientist? Well, my dear reader, they are just regular folks like you and me and this is possible because Android made it incredibly easy for everyone to get started with application development. Because of the steep learning curve you could become proficient in developing applications for Android even if you have very little resources of time and you are not inclined to become a master software developer.

Trust me, im an Android Doctor!

On the other hand, for people familiar with the ways of the code, for individuals who dream of code lines there are now huge opportunities for finding a very well paid job. As I am to prospecting for a new job in this field, just the other day, I was browsing random Job Sites and I was amazed by the number of openings they have for positions as android developer. In particular, on this site, there are literally hundreds of job openings, and this is only for UK! Even more than this, browsing through the well written articles that I found there, I discovered that there are dozens of newly formed companies that seek association with you, if you got what it takes to be a top Android developer and fuel the smartphone evolutionary needs.


So, who knows, maybe YOU will be the next big thing in Android's apps ecosystem. Maybe now you could put in practice the application that YOU had imagined. It could be that YOUR app idea is what the world have been eagerly waiting for. So, what are you waiting for, get on that Job Site and find yourself a well deserved and well paid job!

By Aleman Adrian

The state of Android Key Lime Pie

Google could launch their next generation mobile operating system, code named Key Lime Pie or simply Android 5.0, in October this year, while Motorola, which is now owned by the online giant is expected to launch the X Phone, the next iteration in the Google Nexus line of products at the end of this summer. Google Nexus devices, phone and tablets, will offer the pure Android experience and will represent Google's official image.

Although many people expected Key Lime Pie to be premiered at the Google conference in May, Google only announced an update for the existing Android mobile operating system, Jelly Bean 4.3, that will land on our smartphones around the date of 20 of June 2013. This is believed to be the last Jelly Bean 4.3 update ahead of Key Lime Pie and will bring minor user interface improvements and some bug fixes, as Jelly Bean is already a well polished OS.

So, how can Google top an almost perfect Android? The first whispers and rumors about Android 5 Key Lime Pie tell us that Google focused on addressing one of the worries that concerned many users with older smartphones. Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie will be optimized for lower-end devices to, not only for the top of the line smartphones. Key Lime Pie will most likely run effortlessly on smartphones witch have 512 MB of ram memory​​ or less and even on phones with a single core processor!

Fragmentation is one of the biggest problems in Android ecosystem and Google hopes that through carefully engineering Key Lime Pay, this unfortunate complication will be long forgotten. That's why with Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie, Google has a completely re-engineered kernel, and this can only mean that the mobile operating system will need less RAM to operate and also will be smoother, faster and better when it comes to multitasking.

Android Key Lime Pie

One rumor that keeps coming up when there is talk about  Key Lime Pie is the debuting of profiles on Android devices. Sure, you can already find profiles on those Android custom ROM's, but this custom ROM's are not for everybody to play with. So, the introduction of profiles on stock Android is a very welcomed addition. I mean, who wouldn't be glad to be able to activate, let's say, night mode profile, where every single call, sms and email  will be filtered out and data transfers and synchronization over 3G/4G or WIFI will be cut out, leaving you with more precious battery juice in the morning and a good night's sleep?

Informed sources also tell us that Key Lime Pie will better and tighter integrate with social media networks like Twitter, Google+, Pinterest or Facebook and will offer enhance screen, power menu and lock screen customization. The rumor mill keeps on spinning and gives us another piece of information: in Android 5 you will be able to try applications or play a short demo of a game directly from Google Play Store before you actually download them!

Android Key Lime Pie User Interface Concept

Now, just a few words about the user interface of Key Lime Pie. That was it! A few words. And this is because we really don't have any clues yet about how Google's design department will address this important aspect of Android 5 development. But, don't dispear, i still managed to discover something spectacular for you, my dear curious in nature readers: i digged deep through the interwebs and i have pick up on a sensational Key Lime Pie design concept. Tip: all the picture that are scattered through this post come from this design concept. I advice Google to hurry up and hire this guy before Microsoft or Apple will.

By Aleman Adrian

Best Android Custom ROM: CyanogenMod

CyanogenMod huge success resides in it's ability to offer you an almost pure Android experience.  Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is Google’s latest and greatest Android version, but you will only find this Jelly Bean flavor on Nexus devices, and there’s no way of telling when other Android devices, like Samsung galaxy S3 for instance, will be updated.

CyanogenMod is by far one of my favorite Android custom ROM's. CM essentially gives you full  access to features hidden deep into Android system and the ability to temper with your phones hardware. You will be able over-clock or under-clock the CPU and, as a result, CyanogenMod can offer significant battery life improvements. You will experience a redefined Android experience. CM transforms your device in such a way that your Samsung, Sony or Lg smartphone will look and feel like Google intended from the start, the Nexus way.

There are so many fantastic features in CyanogenMod ROM's, that is pretty difficult to pinpoint any of them, as different users tend to have different preferences. We will discuss just the most important of them so that you get a general idea and feel of what CM ROM's can do for you. CyanogenMod has proven itself, over and over again, to be more appealing than any of Samsung, Sony, HTC or LG's variations of Google Android mobile OS. Gone is the bloatware and gone are the ugly and buggy TouchWiz, Sense or Moto Blur user interfaces. They are being replaced by the more simplistic and bug-free Trebuchet UI. This helps CyanogenMod to be as streamlined and lightweight as it can be.

CyanogenMod is most definitely more smoother, stable, consistent and faster than any other stock ROM. This is made possible because CM takes full advantages of your smartphone's hardware through some clever coding and software engineering. You will be able now to customize your phone's processor clock speed and the amount of zRAM  that you will have at your disposal. There are others hardware related  tweaks that you can apply to your smartphone and you can find more about them on CyanogenMod own website.

Once you installed ("flash" in Android terms) CM on your smartphone you will have access to new features like profiles, quick menu access or the ability to customize the power menu. You can tweak the power widget, the lock screen shortcuts and even change what the hardware keys do. One can also fine tune their operator network, telling the phone to switch seamlessly between 2G/3G/4G networks and, very important for some users,  Wifi tethering just works!

Themes are also a big deal for CM fans. There are literally thousands of themes out there just waiting to be downloaded and applied. You can change the color and icons of the status bar, the color of keyboard keys and fonts and the general appearance of phone's dialer. 

It doesn't matter if your smartphone is high-end or not,  CyanogenMod should install on almost every smartphone out there without any problems. And this is the one big advantage that CM brings to the table. The ability to install the latest and greatest Android from Google on your old smartphone. You can now take full advantage of the latest developments in Google's original Android and  benefit from the tweaks that CyanogenMod team provides for the end user. 

A fairly popular nice addition in all CyanogenMod ROM's is the ability to change music tracks with volume keys when your phone screen is turned off. A long press on volume up or volume down will be enough to change tracks in any music player.

So, what are you waiting for? Here is a quick link to +xda-developers Google Plus page where you can find more details about your specific phone and appropriated CyanogenMod version.

By Aleman Adrian

What are Android Custom ROM's?

If you are a proud owner of an Android smartphone then you will surely have heard by now about custom ROM's. If you find yourself lost when it comes to installing aftermarket ROM's, upgrading your phone software or you are not really sure why you need it - then it's time for you to make acquaintance with  the wonderful world of custom ROM's.  But, is it safe, should i do it? Hopefully, i will manage to clear things up for you in this post. 

Custom ROM's Logo

Let's get started by explaining what all of these mambo-jambo geeky abbreviations stand for:

• stock ROM is the phone's operating system that comes with your smartphone when you buy it.
• custom ROM is a standalone working version of Android with custom code modifications to make the OS (operating system) run smoother, faster and better on a device 

Now a few words about how Android ecosystem really works. Google, the original developer of Android, offers a  so called vanilla version of Android to smartphone manufacturers all over the world. But, being an open software project, means that Google makes the Android source code available for anyone to use,  free of charge of course. Software connoisseurs and digital gurus from all over the word take this precious code and alter it in any way their heart desires it, whether to add useful extra-features and tweaks or to completely reskin the entire ROM. They will do pretty much what their mental agility and technical skills allow them to do.

Paranoid Android Custom ROM

Many of these Android software experts join forces over the internet and form ROM release groups. Their ultimate goal is to build the fastest and most feature rich custom ROM out there.  Some of  the most successful ROM's are the ones released by CyanogenMod, but we will talk about them in another post.

Everything more clear now? Great, let's move on folks! Enumerated bellow you will find the most important advantages that you can gain over stock ROM's if you are going the Custom Rom way, the right way:

Custom ROM for LG smartphones

1. Better performance and efficiency: it is a known fact that custom ROM's use less memory, run more faster and efficient and are battery friendly in the same time 
2. Regular updates and releases: having a custom ROM installed on your smartphone means that you will get more frequent updates, bug fixes and also get new features
3. Faster switch to the latest Android version: if your desire is to always be on the very cutting edge of what Android can provide than you are oblige to install a custom ROM. Freelance developer tend to offer the latest and greatest version of Android and this is in straight contrast with  the update policies of big smartphone manufacturers who rarely update their software. 
4. You can install apps to the SD card: believe it or not, some of the biggest players in smartphone industry don't offer this simple but yet very useful option. This feature can come in handy when we dealing with large data quantities that some applications require like games, for instance.
5. Rom shuffle: once you have rooted and installed a custom ROM, you can try various custom ROM's. If you want to, you can even revert to your stock manufacturer software that your phone originally came with.

And there you have it, all the motives why you should root and install custom ROM's on your Android smartphone. With this post, i hope that i have managed to convince you to take the big step and cross over to custom ROM side. 

Have you installed any custom ROM's on your smartphone? If so, what is opinion? Share your thoughts in the comments section bellow!

By Aleman Adrian

The future of smartphones technology

Smartphones have come a long way in a very short period of time and they are omnipresent and omnipotent but, i can assure you, the world haven’t seen anything yet! In the near future you will have batteries that last for a week,  endless storage capacity, flexible and bendable displays, augmented reality and even holograms shooting out of your smartphone. And all of this digital sorcery will be beautifully packaged to fit straight in to your pocket or...on your wrist. Moore's Law says that we can expect the smartphones of tomorrow to be around 10× more powerful than they are today. Expect these smartphones to be nothing less than amazing!

In 2013 we assumed that HTC One, Samsung Galaxy S4 and Sony Xperia Z will be the flagships smartphones of the year and we were right. The important smartphone manufacturers dispatched from their factory's phones with 1080p screens, quad-core or octa-core processors, massive batteries, lots of ram memory, a huge array of sensors and LTE (4G) connectivity. Pretty impressive but also very predictable – if you ask me. A smartphone with a screen pixel density (PPi) of 470 is almost common nowadays and screen resolutions are approaching the limit of what a human eye can perceive. There is very little room left for improvement in this area and, sadly, the sames goes for the size of the display.

We are in urgent need for an revolution in the smartphone market, not an evolution, we demand cutting edge technology and game changing innovations. So, let's see together which part of a smartphone is most likely to bring this big changes.

Flexible Touchscreens

One technological quantum leap is at the horizon: flexible screens, a technology that has proven itself in manufacturers laboratories and is now ready for the consumer market. You will be able to wrap, fold, bend, transform and morph the shape of your phone in to whatever form you prefer. Imagine this: you will be able to metamorphose your smartphone from a wristwatch to a touchscreen tablet with QWERTY keyboard, and then folding it back again to put it into your pocket. Sounds to fantastic to be true? Flexible displays are real and they here to stay! Smartphones with morphing touchscreens will be soon available in a store near your location.

Battery Life

The newly made advancements in lithium-ion technology mean that we wold very soon go more than a week without having to recharge our power hungry smartphones – and when we do need to charge it, it will only take a few minutes. Smartphones of the future will make us forget all about the days when we had to have two chargers, both at home and at the office,  and some of us even carried with them a set of batteries. Some of the discoveries revolve around the use of graphite in the manufacturing process of batteries and this discovery's aim to improve current lithium-ion batteries. Other studies are carried out all over the world and they promise to revolutionize the way we interact with our gadgets.

Augmented Reality and Holograms

Augmented Reality  increases the perception of the world around us through smart utilization of artificial sensory input like GPS, sound and graphics. Simply put, using the camera from your smartphone, you will be able to get much more information about your surrounding area through an interactive overlay displayed on your phone screen or, to take it a step further, from an holographic projections that will unveil in front of you. You can discover the closest cafes, eating places, information about the buildings around you and also where you could find the nearest bus, metro or taxi station. The future is already here!

These above wonders are just the tip of the iceberg.  All kinds of wizardry will be applied to your future smartphone so that you could feel, smell and augment your surroundings in a way that you could never have done before. The future is bright and it's full of magical technological marvels.

By Aleman Adrian

Top 5 Android Applications of June 2013

Who doesn't fancy a top 10? Or a concise and informative list? We all do, we love them! So i decided to compile a documented top of Android apps in every month. Let's get started.

Are you in search of new apps and would  like to install fresh and innovative  applications on your Android device? Look no further! Here, in this post, you will find a list of five successful Android apps as of June 2013.

You can find numerous apps on Google Play market, and shuffling through them can be quite overwhelming and intimidating sometimes. You can loose your way fast and you can end up installing Google Play apps that you don't really want or need. And that's where i intervene. The role of this kind of posts will be to guide you through the apps jungle. Here are just some of the free apps that you must install on your Android phones or tablets. Five of them. This applications have old stats and by now they have been downloaded by millions from Google Android Play Store. Oh, and did i mentioned that they are free? Click on the name of the application for more detailed information and free download.

5. Soundhound

Say you are on a terrace, enjoying your tea, and suddenly that music track that you so much enjoyed on the radio on your way to work, just pops up from the speakers on the terrace. Now you really have to know what's it called and this is where Soundhound comes in handy. Much like Shazam, Soundhound can recognize a song by "listening" to a tune  from a speaker in about five or four seconds. You will also get up to date information on touring dates of that artist or band, you can watch music videos related to the artist, buy the song, view lyrics and even share your newly discovered favorite artist on Facebook or Twitter. Nice!

4. Instagram

Instagram is a photo-sharing application for mobile devices and it can be found both on Android and IOS. How does it work? Simply. You take a photo, then choose an effect that you apply to this photo, share it online on Instagram's own network or on any other social networks such as Facebook or Twitter. But what makes these app so popular? Instagram  was the first application who made editing and sharing photos easy and so it managed to established itself as the choice when you wanted to install a photo-sharing app on your smartphone. Celebrities use it, car manufacturers use it, politicians use it and all of your friends use it! Everybody is using it. What are you waiting for? Download Instagram.

3. Beautiful Widgets Lite

A nice feature that only Android smartphone have is the ability to add all kind of widgets to your homescreen. Beautiful Widgets offers a ton of these widgets . You will have widgets that can tell the time,  weather conditions in your area or any other place that you are interested in and you can also see a beautiful animations of your battery status. You can resize any of these widgets to fit on your Android device screen. Another nice addition is the possibility to set up all kinds of animation to make your home screen feel more alive.

2. One Today by Google

For all of those who feel compel to do a good think every day, this application, developed by Google, showcases on your phone various nonprofit organization every day and offers them a chance to donate 1$. The do-gooders can support different causes ranging from protecting the environment to helping starving children in Africa and also, through social media or email, can encourage their friends to donate too! One Today by Google  is currently available only in a few countries through a limited pilot.

1. Vine

Vine, an Iphone exclusive application until recently, is live on Google Play for every androider out there to enjoy! What is so great about Vine, you ask? With Vine you can shoot a short video, exactly six second long, and then share it on your Twitter. Most like Instagram, with Vine for Android it' all about user created content. You will find that more and more celebrities have Vine accounts and you are witnessing the inception of a huge hype wave that will engulf all social media. Trust me, i'm from the internets!

I really hope you enjoyed my first "top 5 Android applications" and you have find it useful in your quest for a better Android experience.  The good application are out there, we just need to get to them!

By Aleman Adrian

How to root the Samsung Galaxy S4 (GT I9500)?

So, you've just indulged your gadgetry cravings and got yourself a gorgeous new Samsung Galaxy S4. An adorable electronic apparatus, wouldn't you say so? You know find yourself in the peculiar situation of caressing its smooth curves, staring at its splendid Super AMOLED screen and trying to figure out how could someone possibly take full advantage of  its insanely powerful processor. 

But... maybe you demand more! For instance, maybe you want even more processing power from that octa core beast and you decide that you need to overclock it. Maybe TouchWiz ( Samsung property user interface) isn't your cup of tea or maybe you  hate the amount of bloatware that comes with your new Samsung Galaxy S4.  If this is the case, you should take in consideration the fact that there is a way to gain more control over your Samsung Galaxy S4  and in Android terms this can only mean one think: rooting.

Samsung Galaxy S4

A reminder:  tampering with your smartphone's firmware, like we gonna do, can have negative consequences. There is a minor risk  that you could end up with an unresponsive handset  and you will void your warranty. You have been warned! On a more calm note, all the modification that you do to your phone, like rooting, can easily be undone and your warranty will be valid once again.

And without further ado, I would like to introduce the steps that you need to take to successfully root your brand new and shiny Samsung Galaxy S4.

1. First things first: pre-requisitions

• download the appropriate Samsung Galaxy S4 USB drivers for your PC
• download Odin 3.07 which will help you to actually root and flash your smartphone
• download  CF-Auto-Root-ja3g-ja3gxx-gti9500 (don't ask, it's magic)
• unzip, install what you have to install and put the above downloads on your desktop

2. Prepare your smartphone

Enabling USB debugging mode on Samsung galaxy S4

• go in to Settings/More/About device and scroll down until you reach Build Number 
• now, tap fast&repeatedly the Build Number until it says you are a developer(wow, that was easy!)
• go back to Settings/Developer Options and turn ON USB Debugging like in the picture above
• it is safe now to do a full backup of your phone by installing Rom Manager from Play

3. Rooting Samsung Galaxy S4

Rooting Samsung Galaxy S4

• power off your Galaxy S4 and boot the device into Download Mode. To do this you will have to press and hold Volume Down, Home and Power buttons in the same time until the Android robot and a triangle appears on the screen 
• press the Power button again to continue and be able to enter Download Mode. 
• once in Download Mode, execute Odin 3.07 on your computer and then connect Galaxy S4 to the PC using USB cable. You have to wait until Odin detects the device.
• after Odin detected your device, in Odin, click the PDA button and select  CF-Auto-Root-ja3g-ja3gxx-gti9500.zip file.
• make sure that  Auto Reboot and F.Reset Time checkboxes are selected in Odin. 
• uncheck the Re-Partition option and  click the Start button in Odin. 
• the installation process will begin now and it should be over in a few minutes. After the installation process is finished, the smartphone will reboot into Recovery Mode and will automatically install the root package. 
• and that's it, you are done Sir! You have just successfully rooted your Samsung Galaxy S4

I advice you to wait for the 4.2.2 Jelly Bean updates for your Galaxy S4 that will be provided by Samsung in the next couple of weeks and only than apply the rooting procedures presented above. Why? Because after you have rooted your phone you will not be able to get official Samsung Galaxy S4 updates OTA (over the air). And one final disclaimer:  I am not to be hold responsible if you brick or damage in any way your phone. Root on your own risk  the general guidelines that i have provided are just that, general guidelines.

By Aleman Adrian

How to Root your phone?

So, you are a proud owner of new and shinny top of the line Android smartphone. You played with it, it is always in your hands or in your close proximity, you have explored every inch of that gorgeous  screen and abused all of it's settings hoping to find a last hidden option that you somehow missed . But yet, you still find yourself wanting, demanding more! More themes, more settings, more applications, more of everything.  If this is the case than you might be affected by chronic smartphone dependency and you are in need of an urgent treatment. The cure is quick, works like a charm every time and it simply implies applying a bit of "root" to your smartphone.

Before you attempt to root your precious device, make sure that you have done your part of reading. The most important aspect here is to be well informed and conscientious in following the necessary steps to successfully root your phone. Informing yourself about the basics of rooting can be achieved in the best place on the internet to find rooting guides and custom ROM's and that place is definitely  +XDA Developers Forum. Once you get yourself comfortable with +xda-developers , search for a topic specific to your device and it's almost certain that you will discover a method for rooting that has been tested before and proven to work for everybody.  XDA Developers Forum is the most trustworthy source for rooting guides.The time spent researching the right method to root your device will be also useful in your future technical endeavors.

Rooting preparations

You start by making sure that your smartphone is fully charged. You will also have to turn USB debugging option on in your phone (you can find this option under settings/developer menu on most phones) Also, most likely, you will be plugging your phone in your computer in order to root it and to do that you need appropriate USB drivers that you will find on the website of your phone manufacturer.

Installing Android SDK on your PC is a must and you may also find that other software is required. So, make sure that you install all the software that you need before proceeding further.

• One-click rooting

The easiest way of rooting your android smartphone is by far SuperOneClick. This method also supports a large variety of devices and it's the most secure and trouble free way of rooting your phone. Of course, there are other one-click-root solutions out there but we will focus for now on SuperOneClick. Let's get started:

1. download SuperOneClick
2. make sure you have the Android SDK running on your PC 
3. unzip and run SuperOneClick.exe 
4. make sure your phone is connected to the computer via USB 
5. check and make sure that your SD card is not mounted 
6. just go ahead and click “Root” in SuperOneClick on your PC 
7. the magic unfolds now 
8. after "Succes" check if you have SuperUser icon on your phone. If you have it than you are OK. 
9. This is it. You are done! 

See, wasn't that hard after all. You Sir, have just rooted your phone and a world of geeky wonders awaits you: custom ROM's, overclocked processors, thousand of themes, deep customization and tones of new way to control your newly reborned smartphone.

Happy Rooting everybody!

By Aleman Adrian

What is Android?

It has been back in September 2008 that a little chubby green robot made it's first public appearance on a mobile touchscreen device. Almost 5 years later, and the Android robot is stronger than ever.  Google's mobile operating system has been incredibly successful in managing to find it's way to almost every smartphone and tablet out there. Still, there are folks who wonder about the green robot, finding themselves in a middle of a little puzzlement, trying to understand what it all means. If you find yourself in this category than consider this article as a crash course in all things Android. Keep on reading and the uncertainty will end here! 

What is Android?

 

To cut a long story short, Android is the world's most popular mobile operating system and it can be found mostly on smartphones and tablets.

Android is a Linux-based mobile phone operating system that is actively developed and owned by all mighty Google. What differentiate Google's Android operating system from Apple's iOS mobile operating system or Microsoft's Windows Phone is the fact that Google is giving it away for free to different hardware manufacturers like Samsung, Sony, LG, Motorola or HTC to name just a few. This companies can than add their own twist and customization's to the vanilla software provided to them by Google and that is way you will find a galore of Android user interfaces on smartphones. But, at their core, all of them have inside Android's green robots.

Google is constantly developing and updating Android software and this updates normally come out every six to eight months. Android software versions usually arrive with codenames that are named after desserts like Froyo, Gingerbread, Honeycomb, Ice Cream Sandwich and with the latest and greatest  being Jelly Bean. The next Android iteration will be called Key Lime Pie. Hungry for more? Read on!

So, what can i do with an Android phone? 

Mostly, all you can think about. From simple tasks like reading your favorite newspaper, writing an email or diving yourself deep in to social networking, listening music or watching HD videos to more complex tasks like finding your way through the world by using your phones GPS navigation or counting every single calorie that you had burned on that last wild bicycle ride through the woods!

The open nature of the Android mobile operating system offers application developers a lot of room to maneuver. Most of the flagship phones have a plenitude of hardware sensors on their insides and outsides like temperature & humidity sensor, accelerometer, barometer, GPS, proximity sensors and many others ( over 10 sensors are present in some cases ) and by combining this hardware sensors with software wizardry you will be amazed by the ingenuity, resourcefulness  and inventiveness of some application developers.

What are these apps i keep hearing about and where can i get them?

You can  literally find hundreds of thousands of apps and games available in Google Play Store. It is predicted that in June 2013, the one million available application holy grail will be reached and surpassed. Most of them are free for you to download and use (in some cases advertising will be displayed), for others you will have to pay a small fee and lastly, there are a few application with monthly subscription. 

In Google Play Store you can find applications for photo editing, video editing, weather forecast, productivity application like calendars, document editing applications and office surrogates, application for fm or satellite radio listening and music&video players. And this is just the the tip of the iceberg. You can find apps that track your daily calories intake, track you sleeping habits or count your every step you take, application that can tell you how long was your last jogging session, what was your average heart rate or how many calories you have burned.

And of course there are games. Games! Unless you have been living under a rock for the last couple of years, you've probably heard of and played Angry Birds, Temple Run, Diamonds Blaze and many others, the list can go on forever.

As more and more software developers tend to build platform agnostic applications, you can rest assured that you will always find applications that will suit your every need.

 Who makes Android smartphones? Now i really want one!

All the major consumer electronics manufacturers like Samsung, LG and Sony are producing top of the line smartphones. HTC is specialized in producing only smartphones and they are pretty successful at doing just this. Google also is a big player in this market through his own line of products, Nexus, which are manufactured under licence by LG, Samsung or Motorola, the last one being acquired by Google last year. The Chinese are present ( how could they not be?) in this emerging market through their own brands, most notably ZTE and Huawei.

Not every android smartphone is created equal and not one is alike. They come in many different colors, shapes, sizes and specific hardware configurations. Some have dual, quad or even octa cores incredibly fast processors, others have 10 or 12 MPx powerful cameras and most of them have gorgeous big 4' to 5' inch AMOLED or LED touchscreens.

Some of the most popular android smartphones on the market now are Samsung Galaxy S4 (1080p, 4.9' Amoled screen), Google Nexus 4 (720p, 4.7' Lcd screen) and, my favorite, the beautifully and carefully designed HTC One.

Closing words

Google's android ecosystem is constantly growing and expanding enveloping in the process big chunks of smartphones market. Even more than this, android is fast in establishing itself as the #1 player on  tablet market to. So you see, there's really no escaping from Google's green robot embrace. If you plan to become a well informed citizen in all things android, visit this blog regularly and i will do my best to keep you updated with the latest developments and fresh details regarding Google's smartphone&tablet operating system.   

By Aleman Adrian