Dashclock Receives Update And Boasts New Customization Features And Bug Fixes

Dashclock might just be one of the very best widgets to surface for Android 4.2+ devices, and that was before today’s update. Dashclock for those who are unaware is a fantastic little widget that you can place on either your homescreen or lock screen, and add custom plugins that display useful pieces of information like weather, Hangouts, SMS, Battery life, etc. There are already plenty of custom plug ins that one can install and add to the Dashclock base app by Roman Nurik, and the app was already worthy of being an award winner but the update to 1.6 today brings it even further with bux fixes to improve its performance, and even more customization options than before.

While there hasn’t been anything new going on with Dashclock in some time, rest assured that it’s still getting love from the developer. Version 1.6 brings the bux fixes to weather plugins so the information compiles more smoothly and is more reliable, and you should notice that the SMS and Gmail plugins work in a more improved state than before as well. Other than the fixes, there is a small list of changes that took place in this update. You’ll find new visibility and color customization tweaks available to you, so if you’re someone that likes to mess with the color scheme a little this is undoubtedly a welcome new feature for you(Although you do only get the option for white or black, so it doesn’t get too crazy). Color customization isn’t the only aesthetic change though, as new visual design tweaks have been added in as well. Lastly it looks like users of Dashclock will be getting some new options for accessing their settings within Dashclock. This wasn’t terribly hard to do before, but it did need an improvement and we’re all for it if it means easier access.What do you guys/girls out there think about Dashclock? Is anyone currently using it? If so have you done the update and started using the new features? If you haven’t checked out Dashclock yet and you carry a compatible device, you can grab it for free in the Play Store, along with many of the free available plugins. Let us know what you think about Dashclock in the comments and what you would like to see as an available plug in or what you’d like to see changed.

The post Dashclock Receives Update And Boasts New Customization Features And Bug Fixes appeared first on AndroidHeadlines.com |.

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Asus VivoTab RT Review

The VivoTab RT (TF600T) is a lightweight tablet running on the latest Windows RT. Its hardware spec is similar to its Android-based Transformer series.

- NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core 1.3GHz processor
- 2GB RAM
- 32GB user memory
- 10.1" Super IPS+ Display, 1366x768
- 5-point touchscreen
- 8MP rear camera, 2MP front camera
- MicroSD card slot
- Micro HDMI connector
- Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC
- USB adapter included
- 8.3mm thin
- 525g (tablet)
- Optional keyboard dock extends battery life and supports an additional USB port

Physical Outlook
The Asus VivoTab RT feels light and easy to carry around, furnished with aluminium back and a plastic top - for better wireless connectivity apparently. Its tablet consists of a power button, a microSD card slot, and a covered micro-HDMI connector on the left, a 3.5mm headphone jack and volume rockers on the right, and a proprietory port located at the bottom right. Thankfully, Asus included a USB adapter in the package so that you can convert the port to use USB peripherals. The speakers are positioned on both sides of the tablet, offering the most crispy and spatial audio sound I have heard on a tablet form factor, despite a lack of bass which is common for such devices.

The screen is extremely bright, but to crank the brightness to the maximum, remember to disable the auto brightness option (tip: its under Start screen -> "Settings" charm (slide finger from right screen) -> PC Settings -> General -> Screen). Otherwise, the brightness level remains somewhat dim even at maximum setting. The colour, contrast and brightness are vibrant out of the box, but you can also create and calibrate your colour management profile, a feature not available in any other tablets. I also like that the VivoTab screen can auto-rotate in any orientation, even upside down.

The optional keyboard dock provides a full-size USB port and the same proprietory connector for charging. You can also use the same USB adapter to plug to the proprietory connector to connect another USB peripheral. The dock locks into place easily without much effort, and to make it easy to undock, Asus moved the connecting port to the right so that you can undock the tablet by lifting it from one corner.

The VivoTab RT is smaller than an A4-size paper. Due to the small form factor, the keyboard keys have to be small, the space bar is too close to the touchpad and there is a high tendency to touch the touchpad and accidentally move your cursor out of line. Fortunately, the touchpad is easy to disable via the shortcut key. There is a small LED above the key to indicate that the touchpad is disabled - nice detail from Asus. And speaking of the touchpad, it is responsive and quite usable, although an external mouse would really make navigation a lot less compromising. Then again, why do you need the touchpad when there is the touchscreen?

I find the keys are firmer, which I prefer because I would have fewer typing mistakes, as long as I get accustom to the smaller keyboard. I think people with small hands should appreciate the VivoTabs keyboard.

Its Windows RT
The basic difference between Windows 8 and Windows RT is that Windows 8 can run any Windows desktop software with the .EXE file extension that we are all familiar with. This difference practically limits the universe of apps that you can use on Windows RT. For instance, I am unable to install my preferred browser Chrome, my preferred photo editing software Picasa, my preferred cloud provider Dropbox. Worse, I was unable to find substitute apps in the Windows Store. And no thanks to this limitation, I am unable to install a compatible driver for my printer. The desktop view is limited to running pre-installed apps like File Explorer, IE10, MS Office 2013 Preview, Control Panel.

But if all you really need from the "real" Windows platform are Internet and MS Office, then Windows RT might suffice. Its advantages are longer battery life, lower price, smaller hardware footprint. In fact, the Windows RT looks and feels exactly like the Windows 8, plus it comes with MS Office 2013.

And as for more thoughts concerning the new Windows OSes, it warrants a standalone review which I will be working on separately.

Tip: to capture screen shot without keyboard, press the Windows key and volume down key together. To capture screen with keyboard, press the Windows key and PrtScn key together.

Processing Power
Imagine the same processor used to power the Google Android devices is used to run the Windows RT. Remember, it looks and feels just like Windows 8 except it cannot run the traditional desktop apps. Windows RT can handle multi-tasking and multi-windows, and that alone makes Asus VivoTab RT a much more productive tablet than Android or iPad.

But one should not expect the VivoTab RT to perform as fast and smooth as a traditional laptop, precisely because of its slower processor. The inefficiency is clearly apparent when scrolling Office documents, as it takes a while to load the pages on-screen. When doing document zooming, the device takes time to render and refresh the screen.

I also find the pre-installed IE10 rather sluggish and laggy. I was unable to test any other browsers because there are none that can support Windows RT, so I cannot comment whether it is due to IE10 or the hardware. I have to add that the sluggish performance is limited only to IE10: the app-switching action and other Windows animations are working smoothly.

The VivoTab RT might not be able to keep up with users who demand power multi-tasking performance, but at least it has the capability to run applications on multiple windows.

Touch on Apps
The VivoTab RT glass surface feels easy to slide your fingers across. This is a stark contrast to the Asus ET2701 which I reviewed earlier. The touch experience at the OS-level works great. Sliding live tiles on the Start screen, creating split-screens, and even multi-window displays are smooth and snappy.

But the touch handling for many individual apps is not so good. I encounter lags when playing fast-action games like "Air Hockey", or virtual instruments like "Drums", "Piano", "Guitar". On IE10, touch selections took a while to respond, and there are no on-screen indications that the device is processing my touch. Some website links do not even seem to respond to touch, and I had to resort to using the touchpad or mouse to click the link. It appears there are combination of factors that contribute to the sluggishness, and hopefully, some form of system or app updates can improve the experience over time.

And speaking of apps, there arent that many apps compared to iOS and Android, so Windows RT is at a disadvantage. At least on Windows 8, I can install .EXE software from any source and not constrained to the Windows Store (If you had read my other review on Asus ET2701 AIO running on Windows 8, you would know how much fun I had).


Camera Quality
When comparing to my Samsung Galaxy S3, the VivoTab RT rear camera appears on par. But the front camera quality is below average. I also find the white balance of the VivoTab more accurate than S3. Asus provided its own camera app that looks similar to the Android version with on-screen shooting controls, better than the Microsoft-preinstalled one that has none of those. It takes some time to load the camera app, focusing is a tad slow and the shutter lag is apparent, so its definitely not for trigger-happy users. Besides, it just doesnt look cool to hold a large tablet to take photos.

Asus VivoTab RT Rear Camera

Samsung Galaxy S3 Rear Camera

Video recording quality, in full HD, is average quality and usable for consumers. You can do touch-focus during recording, but it emits the AF-lock sound which is recorded into the video - not a smart design. I dont like the file naming convention: instead of the date-time format that the still images use, the video files are saved in "video (x).mp4".


Battery Confidence
Thanks to generous battery life especially with the keyboard dock, I have no qualms about turning up the brightness to the max and leaving the device on as I desire. The VivoTab RT runs on power-efficient Tegra 3 processor so you can experience the instant-on experience you get from other tablet OS without draining your battery.

Charging is rather speedy. The keyboard dock and tablet takes about 2 hours each for a full charge when device is turned off. The device doesnt heat up when doing most of the activities like watching videos and surfing the Internet, only when you engage in processor-intensive games.

Overall Impressions
Being the first Windows RT device I have ever tested, I have no means of benchmarking. But I personally find the Asus VivoTab RT running within my expectations. After so many years as a tablet user on iOS and Android, the Windows RT is a more useful and productive tablet OS for me, and I actually use it in office more than any other tablets I have owned. The VivoTab RT is so light, so compact, with a super long 16-hr battery life, that I can carry with me everywhere I go and use it without the need to charge frequently. Plus, it doubles as an entertaining tablet for my daughter, playing her favourite Wordament. I cannot hide my disappointment of a crippled Windows OS, and the processor may make the OS felt sluggish. But still the VivoTab RT will appeal to price conscious consumers who dont care much about legacy Windows software, and getting higher-spec processors might improve the performance.

Asus will be launching other VivoTab models that run on Windows 8. Asus also has a lot other laptops and hybrid devices running on Windows 8, which I have covered in an earlier blog post.


This article is also published on XinMSN.

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Nokia Asha 501 goes on sale in select Asian countries

Nokia has announced that the Asha 501 is now shipping in select Asian markets. The phone is now on sale in Thailand and Pakistan and will be releasing in India shortly. The phone will eventually go on sale in other parts of the world, including Europe, the Middle East and Africa, Asia-Pacific and Latin America.



The Asha 501 is based on Nokias new Nokia Asha software platform that brings some smartphone functionalities to a traditional feature phone. It has a 3.0-inch, QVGA touchscreen, 3.2 megapixel camera, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, expandable memory, FM radio and dual-SIM support. The phone also comes with removable colors with multiple color choices.

You can check out our hands-on with the Nokia Asha 501 here.

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Gmail For Android Updated With Universal Attachment Support

Gmail app for Android gets an upgrade which comes with new features. The new feature includes a vacation responder that will let fellow colleagues know that you are off the clock.

This is a good feature since we are getting close to the holiday season, Google is trying to help make the holiday a work-free one.

If you are on Android KitKat 4.4, you just easily print your email to avoid checking phone when busy.

Also, the new updates now has ability to attach any kind of file. That means, all kinds of file types are now supported for attachment.

The update is gradually rolling out region by region so it might take a while before it gets to you.

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Image Source: Engadget

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BlackBerry Sues Company Behind Typo Keyboard Cover for iPhone

Its now a normal thing for smartphone manufacturers to sue one other over patent infringement 

However, its not yet very normal to see a big smartphone company suing a small start-up company over patent infringement.

BlackBerry at this point is suing not a smartphone manufacturing company but phone accessory company. 

Perhaps you have heard of Typo Keyboard Cover and if you havent heard of it, a quick summary will suffice. 

Typo Keyboard Cover is an iPhone accessories which has both a case and a physical keyboard bundled with the case to enable one type on the iPhone using the physical keyboard. 

The company behind Typo Keyboard Cover is called Typo Products LLC, original formed by TV personality Ryan Seacrest and Entrepreneur Laurence Hallier.  

The design of the Keyboard is a very good look alike of the Blackberry keyboard in which BlackBerry have patented just as shown in the image above. 

This serious total resemblance of the Typo Keyboard Cover for iPhone to the BlackBerry proprietary keyboard has made the Canadian company to sue the company behind Typo Keyboard Cover.

In the words of BlackBerrys general counsel and chief legal officer, Steve Zipperstein "This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerrys iconic keyboard and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design"

He further went on to say "we are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations."

The company behind Typo Keyboard Cover have replied that "although we respect BlackBerry and its intellectual property, we believe that BlackBerrys claims against Typo lack merit and we intend to defend the case vigorously." 

According to the makers of Typo Keyboard Cover, they are excited about their innovative keyboard design which is the culmination of years of development and research. 

Well, we are earnestly waiting to see how this case will turn out, however, those that want to get the case for their iPhone should do it quickly before sale of the Keyboard is halted. 

If BlackBerry should win the case, the logical thing is for the Canadian company to go into producing such phone cases with keyboards for phones like HTC, Samsung etc or what do you think? Drop your comments. 

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A Nokia Lumia 800 was found in working condition after being underwater for 3 and a half months

Quite an amazing story coming out of Sweden today. A Nokia Lumia 800 smartphone was found after spending three and a half months in a lake and it was still working!

The news comes by way of Facebook user Roger Nilsson who even captured some pictures of the device in question.


The phone was allegedly found more than three months after being lost in a lake, wedged between two rocks at low tide. The screen was covered in shells and algae. Mr. Nilsson cleaned then dried the phone for an indeterminate period of time, at which point he charged it and found that it works.

He claims that there’s no issues with the device, and that the battery lasts for about two days as before. If the story is true, then it’s quite an impressive feat for a device that’s not even rated for underwater resistance. This further cements Nokias reputation as being indestructible GSMArena

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PlayStation 4 adds Twitch as livestreaming partner

 

I share, you share, we all share video game video -- or, at least, thats the promise of the rapidly encroaching next generation of consoles. With Twitch now officially joiningSonys PS4 as an additional livestreaming partner, gamers will have one more option (the other being Ustream) to broadcast gameplay when they press that Share button. The announcement, made at this years Gamescom in Cologne, Germany, positions Twitch advantageously on both Sony and Microsofts warring black boxes as an inbuilt app, although the similarities may end there. 

As Matthew DiPietro, Twitchs VP of Marketing, explained to us, "The product itself and the feature set that will actually be available on both of the consoles is still a little bit up in the air because theyre actively being produced right now... but the key sort of feature set is clear." So crucial elements like video broadcast and viewing, picture-in-picture and audio capture -- all basic functions currently enjoyed by the services 600,000-strong user base -- will be de facto at launch.

 
But does that mean Day One or when the app launches? "Most likely for PS4 thats Day One and were working on that for Xbox One," DiPietro said, so theres no guarantee. But he was able to elaborate a little more on how search will work when the service goes live, adding that "[Discovery] will be a very similar experience to the Twitch website and Twitch mobile applications. 

You can browse by game, by channel [and] were exploring ways to explore by genre." Youd think, then, that the ability to filter video via your friends list would also make the cut, but that sorting features not something users can expect initially. Rather, its something DiPietro said could come at a later date.

Read the rest of this post ----->

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