Google kills us with cuteness in its latest Android ad

Google understands that the best way into a consumer's heart is by showing adorable animal video clips.

The company released a new Android commercial Thursday that plays on its new slogan "Be Together. Not the Same" by showing different species having a rollicking good time together.  

Honestly, the ad, which Google titled "Friends Furever" (guh!), is almost painfully cute. 

Here's a sneak peek of what you'll see when you watch:

Read more...

Sprint users: These Android phones are about to get updated to Lollipop

Android fans looking to get the official Android 5.0 Lollipop upgrade on their Sprint handsets should know the carrier is already preparing to release the software update for no less than four flagship Android handsets released in the past couple of years,Android Police reports.

Specifically, Sprint on Thursday released Android 5.0 builds for the Galaxy S5 and the HTC One M7, while the HTC One M8, including the Harman Kardon version, and the LG G3 are supposed to get their Lollipop updates on February 13th and February 16th, respectively.

Galaxy S5 and HTC One M7 owners can already grab their respective Lollipop updates, which should be available as over-the-air (OTA) downloads. Lollipop brings over several interesting features, including Google’s new Material Design interface and interactive notifications. Android fans who are looking to see what Android 5.0 has to offer on the Galaxy S5 can check out this video.

Read more...

Malware alert: If you downloaded these 3 Android apps, remove them immediately

If you’ve downloaded a card game called Durak from Google Play, you may want to delete it from your phone or tablet. Durak has been identified as one of three malicious Android apps hiding in plain sight inside the app store, which have now been removed from sale by Google. Security firm Avast identified Durak as the most widespread of the three, and notes the Play Store stats showed it had been downloaded more than five million times.

The app contains adware, but to catch people out, it remains dormant for a short period of time and until the phone on which it’s installed is rebooted. A series of pop-up ads, sometimes presented when the device is unlocked, will then start to appear, leading the unaware to third-party app stores. Here, according to Avast, apps which try to send premium SMS messages and collect personal data can be found.

Read more...

Here’s why the iPhone is better than Android

Apple is better than Google. Google is better than Apple. The iPhone is better thanAndroid phones. Android is better than the iPhone. The argument will rage on for years to come, and the truth is all four of those statements are accurate. The iPhone is better than Android… at some things. Android is better than the iPhone… in some ways. And so on.

We’ve covered a few posts in recent history that explain various ways Android phones are better than the iPhone, and now it’s time to take a look at the flip side of the coin and examine why the iPhone is better than Android handsets.

A number of tech blogs have tackled the various reasons Apple’s smartphone lineup might be better than rival Android devices, and the latest to do it is Business Insider. The site points to nine key reasons the iPhone is superior to Android handsets, and each and every one of the site’s points have merit.

To start things off, many talented developers still launch new apps for iOS first and then release Android versions somewhere down the road. This is a big advantage for iPhone users who like to be ahead of the curve.

Read more...

Lollipop nibbles off 1.6 percent of Android devices

Android 5.0 Lollipop finally has enough market share to appear on Google's radar.

According to the latest version of the Android Developers Dashboard, published on Monday,Lollipop has found itself a home on 1.6 percent of Android devices. That percentage accounts for all Android devices that visited the Google Play store during the seven days ending February 2.

This marks the first time that Lollipop has shown up on the Developers Dashboard since the OS launched last November. The Dashboard only shows Android versions with a share higher than 0.1 percent. And though a 1.6 percent share isn't a huge slice, it shows that mobile vendors and carriers have made some progress over the past month rolling out the new version.

Read more...

Android 5.0.2 Lollipop Images for Nexus 7 3G, LTE Version Now Available: What You Should Know

Google has finally rolled out its Android 5.0.2 Lollipop update for the Nexus 7 2013 version, which means owners of the aging tablet can now bask in all the Material Design glory of Google's latest iteration of the mobile platform.

Google posted factory images of the Nexus 7 tablet over the weekend, suggesting that an Android 5.0.2 Lollipop rollout was just around the corner. Sure enough, users of the 3G and LTE versions of the slate have reported that the update has finally arrived.

Unlike the 5.0.2 update on the older Nexus 7 released in 2012, this one seems to deliver a more-than-okay performance for the Nexus 7 2013.

For starters, the latest update to the newer Nexus 7 doesn't seem to affect the device's speed negatively. Gotta Be Mobile's Josh Smith, who spent a week playing with the update on the tablet, says the speed on the newer Nexus 7 is much better than on the slate's older version, which proved to be laggy and not as smooth as when it was upgraded from Android KitKat.

However, for those who have the 5.0.2 update on their older Nexus 7, one solution suggested by other users is to restart the device. This should give the older Nexus 7 a dramatic boost in speed for many users, although Google still has to directly address the speed issues in the device.

Read more...