12 Security Tools for Your Smartphone

When it comes to your privacy and security, it’s better to be safe than sorry. So be sure you’re protected at all times!
What would you do if you misplace your mobile phone, or worse still, had it stolen? Would you even know where to start to get it back, and what about all that personal data that is linked to your phone?
If this has ever happened to you, you know what a nightmare it can be. Although there are some good Samaritans in the world, more than likely they’re not going to be the ones who would steal your mobile device.
So what can you do to minimize the effects of a stolen smartphone? You can start by installing some form of security for your device. With all of the mobile apps readily available for use (and many for free), there’s really no excuse for not giving your phone ample protection. Even for apps that aren’t free, it’s worth paying that small fee in order to give your smartphone and the details it contain the security it needs.
Let’s take a look at some of the best tools available for protecting your smartphone.

1. Lookout Mobile Security

Lookout is a free app that protects your iOS or Android device around the clock from mobile threats such as unsecure WiFi networks, malicious apps, fraudulent links, etc. You can also use it to backup your contacts by scheduling automatic backups and then accessing the information online, or using it to restore your device in case of a crash or data loss.
If you lose your phone, Lookout can locate it on a Google map – even if the GPS is off. It will also activate a loud alarm – even if your phone is on silent.

Want more features like remote locking, safe browsing, phishing protection, privacy scans and app reports? You can upgrade to Lookout Premium for $2.99/month or $29.99/year.

2. Snap Secure Mobile Security

Snap Secure will securely and automatically back up your data to your online account so that you can access it, restore or transfer data to a new device if needed. It comes with anti-virus and anti-spyware protection, and will scan all of your new applications for malware.
It also includes a call-blocking feature that lets you block calls from unknown or unshown numbers. You can even block unwanted emails on your BlackBerry device, and block unwanted SMS messages on Android devices.

The Privacy Manager can also let you know how apps are using your personal information, and it has an anti-theft and location tracker which will help you catch the thief who took your phone. Best of all, it has a unique feature called the Personal Guardian. This is a panic button for the user to silently send out an email, SMS message, or tweet along with your location in case of an emergency.
Snap Secure is available for iOS, Android, and BlackBerry devices. There are both free and Pro versions. Most of the better features are only available with a Pro account, but you’ll get a 30-day free trial of Snap Secure Pro with the free version. The Pro version is $3.99/month or $17.99/year.

3. BullGuard Mobile Security 10

With BullGuard you get an online account that lets you remotely access your smartphone, along with a Mobile Security Manager that works with your device’s GPS. If you lose your device, you can lock it remotely and wipe it clean.
It also includes a Parental Control module so that you can keep your kids protected without having direct access to the phone. It includes anti-virus and anti-spyware, firewall, spam filter, backup/restore feature for contacts, and SIM card protection.

BullGuard is available for Android, Symbian OS, Windows Mobile, and BlackBerry, and is available at the cost of $29.95/year.

4. iHound Phone and Family Tracking

iHound is great for families and includes various tracking tools, yet it is also a great tool for protecting your device. iHound can use your phone’s GPS to track your device and report its location. It includes an alarm that can be set off via a push notification and heard even when the device is silent. If you use this on an Android device, you can also remotely wipe your data and lock your device.
iHound can also protect you with the unique geofencing feature that automatically checks you in on Facebook or Twitter when you arrive at your destination.

iHound is currently free in the iPhone App Store and includes 3 months of service. After this, you can extend your subscription for 3 months ($3.99), 6 months ($5.99), 12 months ($10.99), or 24 months ($19.99). If you’re on an Android, it’s only $3.99/year after a 7-day free trial.

5. McAfee WaveSecure

McAfee has also created an excellent mobile security application for iOS, Android, BlackBerry, Symbian OS, Windows phone, and Java. It includes all of the same features as the rest: remote wiping and locking; backup and restoring of data; and location and SIM tracking. With WaveSecure, not only can you backup your contacts, but you can also backup photos and videos.

Also, the tracking feature does not only track the current location, but plots several locations on a map so you can see the vicinity of your device. This feature works even if your GPS has been turned off.
McAfee WaveSecure is available for all devices at $19.99/year.

6. Kaspersky Mobile Security 9

Kaspersky Mobile offers many features, but includes the most features for Symbian and Windows mobile devices. These features include: anti-theft, anti-virus, anti-spam, privacy protection, data encryption, parental controls, and firewall protection. The phone tracking feature shows your device on a Google map and provides coordinates.

One of the unique features it has is the ability to wipe your device clean even if the SIM card has been replaced. The Private mode feature is also useful because you can completely hide incoming calls and SMS messages manually, automatically, or remotely. So if your device is stolen or someone is trying to hack into your phone around, the joke is on them because they won’t be able to access that data.
Kaspersky Mobile is currently on sale for $9.95/year (regular $29.95) or $29.95/2 years (regular $59.90). If you want to try before buying, there is a 7-day free trial.

7. F-Secure Mobile Security

If you’re using an Android, Symbian, or Windows mobile device, you may want to try out F-Secure. It offers the basics such as protection against viruses and malware, parental controls, safe browsing, identity protection, location tracking, and call/SMS blocking.

There is currently a 30-day free trial of the Mobile Security service after which it’s $3.50/month or $39.50/year. If you prefer something totally free, you can download the always free Anti-Theft app, which protects the data in your phone if it is lost or stolen. The app will help you locate your device and let you wipe out the data contained and lock it remotely.

8. Norton Mobile Security Lite

Here we have Norton, another well-known anti-virus provider. Norton Mobile is unfortunately only available for Android devices. It protects you against unauthorized access, viruses, malware, phishing, and theft. If your device is stolen, you will be able to locate it, wipe the data within, and lock it remotely.
Even when you’re browsing the Web, you’re being protected with a privacy guard. If your device is compromised, it will detect and eliminate the threat. All apps will also be scanned to make sure they’re not malicious. Calls and SMS messages can be blocked as well.

Norton Mobile Security Lite is free in the Android Marketplace. Norton also offers the Mobile Utilities and Task Killer, Snap QR Code Reader, and Anti-Theft plug-ins all for free.
A very similar Android-only mobile security app you might like is by Trend Micro. It offers all of the same features as Norton Mobile and comes with a 30-day free trial, after which it’s $17.99/year.
I’ll throw AVG for Android in here as well. Along with all of the same features, it also helps to enhance the performance of your device by identifying applications that may be slowing it down. AVG for Android is also free.

9. Avast! Mobile Security

Avast! Mobile is yet another Android-only application, but I wanted to address it in more detail because of the many features it offers – all for free. When compared to the other free and paid mobile security options, Avast! delivers the same features and more.
It has real-time protection, customizable updates, privacy reports, a Web shield, call and SMS message filtering, a firewall and application manager. If your device is stolen, you can do everything except access or restore your contacts – because it doesn’t include a backup feature. Yet, you can locate your device and wipe or lock it remotely, set off an alarm, and even receive a notification if your SIM card is changed.

Now for the more: The App Disguiser is a unique feature that lets you choose custom names for your apps so that if your device is stolen, it will be harder for thieves to find the apps containing your personal data. Another great feature is called “Stealth Mode”. Once the anti-theft feature has been enabled on your device, the Avast! app icon will be hidden so that the thief can’t detect it; they’ll never even know that they’re being tracked.

10. GadgetTrak

Lastly we have GadgetTrack, an app only for iOS devices that not only tracks your stolen device, but takes a snapshot of the thief! If your device doesn’t have a camera, you can still use it to create tracking reports with and give you coordinates for your missing device.

While you’ll get better location-tracking with the GPS on, it’s not required. You can also lock the settings on the device so that the thief can’t change them. Plus there’s a “Deleting Apps” restriction that you can enable so that the thief cannot delete any of your apps – including GadgetTrack.
GadgetTrack is available in the App Store for $3.99.

11. VirusBarrier

iOS users, if you’re looking for something only for your device, check out VirusBarrier. This app is $2.99 and can be used to scan email attachments and other files as needed. It checks for spyware, trojans, adware, hacker tools, dialers, keyloggers, and more. VirusBarrier even works with remote services like DropBox, iDisk, and WebDAV.

Due to the limitations of iOS, this app cannot automatically scan files or schedule automatic scans; this is probably the reason why most of the abovementioned apps are mainly for Android.

12. Webroot SecureWeb

Here we go, iOS users, an application that you can use too! Webroot SecureWeb is available for iOS and Android, and mainly focuses on securing your Web browsing experience. On the iOS app you can browse using the integrated and secure tabbed browser and safe search feature, which identifies phishing and malicious websites. There are no anti-theft features included, unlike the Android version.

For Android there is both a free and Pro version (for $9.99/year – regular $19.99/year). In the free version you get secure browsing along with an anti-virus, location tracking, alarm, call and SMS message blocking, and remote locking. The PRO version has all of the above plus SIM card locking, remote wiping, and app scanning.

LG Optimus G and Two Other Stories

Welcome to this morning’s edition of “First To Know,” a series in which we keep you in the know on what’s happening in the digital world. Today, we’re looking at three particularly interesting stories.

LG Officially Announced the Optimus G
LG’s upcoming Android-powered flagship smartphone, the Optimus G, is no secret — it’s been unveiled back in August. Now, however, the company has officially launched it, promising it’ll go on sale in Korea next week, followed by “key global markets” in October.

Read More ...

Foldable Bluetooth Keyboard for Mobile Devices Fits in Your Pocket

Sometimes a four- or five- inch smartphone screen just isn’t enough to type out those lengthy emails.
For those who think haptic feedback is no replacement for the real deal, Jorno is a foldable bluetooth keyboard that works with the iPhone, iPad and Android devices.

Weighing 8.8 ounces, the pocket-sized device has a five-way fold that opens up to display a full QWERTY keyboard, according to Jorno’s Kickstarter page. It connects wirelessly to mobile devices via Bluetooth.

The keyboard comes with a detachable cradle that holds a phone or tablet either vertically or horizontally.
Jorno has been around since 2010, but is asking for support to reach its goal of $100,000. So far, the company has raised just over $9,000 with 29 days left in its Kickstarter campaign.

Watch the video and Read the original post

Sony’s Xperia Tablet S has Myriad of Options

If you like gadgets with lots of bells and whistles, the Sony Xperia Tablet S may be for you.
The recently-released device has a slim, aluminium body and splash-proof design similar to that of the folded back magazine appearance of the Tablet S. It is also 42 percent thinner than the older model.
The Xperia Tablet S features a 9.4-inch (1280×800) display, a NVIDIA Tegra 3 processor, 8.0-megapixel rear-facing camera, 1.0-megapixel front-facing camera and a 6000 mAh battery.

It also features a full-size SD card slot and an HDMI input, a headphone jack, volume rocker and a power/sleep button.

Running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, the tablet comes with a pile of TV-ready features such as an IR blaster. Paired with the Sony-exclusive Watch Now software and its own remote control app, the tablet becomes a remote control and TV guide.

The tablet comes in three different storage options: 16GB, 32GB, and 64GB, and costs $399.99, $499.99 and $599.99 respectively.

It also comes with several chic and sleek accessories such as a cover with keyboard, a carrying case and a docking stand.

7 new iPhone 5 features that’ll work on your old iPhone

So, annoyed that your good-as-new iPhone already looks obsolete next to the just-announced iPhone 5 and its jumbo-sized touchscreen?
Well, good news: your old iPhone is about to get a fresh coat of paint.


Slated to arrive on September 19, iOS version 6 (or “iOS 6″ for short) packs in a slew of must-have features, including a revamped Maps application, easier Photo Stream and Facebook sharing, on-the-go FaceTime calling, and a long-overdue “do not disturb” mode.
(And yes, your iPhone will alert you when the “over-the-air” update is ready to download.)
Best of all, you don’t need an iPhone 5 (which is set to go on sale September 21, by the way) to take advantage of the goodies in iOS 6.
Indeed, most of the new iOS 6 features will work on the iPhone 4S, iPhone 4, and even the three-year-old iPhone 3GS, not to mention last year’s iPod Touch and the two most recent iPads. (Yep, lots of confusing makes and models, I know…)
I’ll have in-depth coverage and tips on many of the new iOS 6 features in the days and weeks ahead. In the meantime, though, let’s take a quick tour of the highlights, starting with…

1. New and improved Maps app with turn-by-turn driving directions

Apple has rebuilt the iPhone’s Maps app from the ground up, adding nifty new features like eye-popping 3D “flyovers” of major metropolitan areas, smoother map scrolling, and real-time traffic alerts.

In addition to turn-by-turn car navigation, the new Maps app in iOS 6 also features real-time traffic alerts.

Best of all, through, the native Maps app is finally getting true, turn-by-turn navigation complete with spoken directions, just like on the latest Android phones.
The catch? Turn-by-turn directions and 3D “flyovers” will only work on last year’s iPhone 4S and the new iPhone, not the iPhone 4, 3GS or any other prior iPhone models.

2. A full-screen version of the Safari web browser

Want web pages on your iPhone to fill the entire display? With iOS 6 on board, you’ll be able to tap a new “full screen” icon when you’re holding your iPhone in a “landscape” orientation. Nice.

3. A “do not disturb” mode for calls, notifications and alerts

Want a little peace and quiet? A new “do not disturb” mode will shush all those insistent beeps, ring tones, banners and other alerts from the iPhone’s Notification Center, perfect for keeping your iPhone quiet at the movies or while you’re trying to get some shut-eye.

Just activate the iPhone’s new “do not disturb” mode to take a break from beeps, buzzes, and other alerts.

You’ll also be able to set the “do not disturb” mode to turn itself off and on automatically at certain times of the day, as well as designate specific contacts who will always be able to get through, no matter what.

4. Photo Stream sharing

Want to show off the latest snapshots in your iPhone’s Photo Stream? The latest version of iOS makes it much easier to share Photo Stream pictures with fellow iPhone and iPad users: just tap the photos you want to share and choose some names in your contact book.
You’ll also be able to share Photo Stream photos over the web, or comment on the Photo Stream images that your pals have shared with you.

5. Vastly-improved Facebook sharing

Annoyed that you can’t post your latest snapshots to Facebook without opening the Facebook app or composing an email? Well, thanks to iOS 6, you’ll be able to post photos directly from the iPhone’s camera application or your photo albums.
You’ll also be able to sync the profile photos and personal info of your Facebook pals with the iPhone’s contact book, as well as add Facebook birthdays and other events to the calendar.

6. Decline calls with a text message

With iOS 6 on your iPhone, you’ll be able to send a text message at the same time you’re declining a call.

Android phone users have long had the ability to decline a call and send a text message to the caller at the same time—and now iPhone users will have the same nifty feature, plus the option of getting a reminder after turning down a call.

7. FaceTime over cellular data

Until now, FaceTime video chat on the iPhone and iPad has been restricted to Wi-Fi only. Starting with the release of the new iOS software, however, you’ll be able to make FaceTime calls over cellular 3G and 4G data networks on the new iPhone, the iPhone 4S, and the new iPad.
Unfortunately, owners of the iPhone 4 or earlier iPhones will still be stuck with Wi-Fi when it comes to FaceTime.
Also, don’t forget that mobile data isn’t free, and that some carriers (such as AT&T) may demand you switch to a new plan before making mobile FaceTime calls.

by ben patterson

New iPod Touch, iPod Nano

Apple today unveiled a revamped iPod touch and iPod nano lineup.
Both devices will include Apple's new 8-pin dock connector, which Cupertino has dubbed Lightning.

Pre-orders for the new iPod touch - which will come in pink, orange, yellow, green, blue, white and silver, black, and slate - begin Sept. 14 and it will be available in stores starting in October. The 32GB model will be $299 while the 64GB version will set you back $399. The existing black and white, fourth-generation iPod touch will still be available: $199 for the 16GB and $249 for the 32GB.

The new iPod nano will also be available in October and will cost $149 for the 16GB version.
A 2GB iPod shuffle will sell for $49 in pink, yellow, blue, green, purple, and silver. RED versions of all three iPods will also be on sale.

New iPod Touch
The updated iPod touch looks like much like the new iPhone 5 that also made its debut today - which means the gadget now includes a 4-inch screen. It comes in at 6mm thin and 88 grams, the thinnest and lightest iPod touch yet.
There's a 5-megapixel camera with backside illumination, a hybrid IR filter, five-element lens, f/2.4 aperture, auto-focus, LED flash, and a sapphire crystal lens cover. Panorama is also included.
It will run the A5 processor, the first time the device has included a dual-core chip. Apple said the upgrade will double the performance and increase graphics performance by 7x.
Apple promised 40 hours of music playback in the new iPod touch, and eight hours of video playback.

New iPod Nano
The seventh-generation iPod nano features a 2.5-inch touch display, which Apple said is the biggest screen ever to be featured on a nano. It comes in at 5mm thin and is almost 40 percent thinner than its predecessor. There's also a redesigned home screen and a new hardware home button.
The nano will come in seven colors - white, black, purple, green, blue, yellow, and red - all of which will have color-matched wallpaper.

An integrated FM tuner includes a live pause option, allowing you to pause FM radio or go back and listen again. Apple is also bringing video back to the nano, and will build a pedometer right into the device, allowing for Nike+ integration out of the box.
Apple will also integrate Bluetooth into the iPod nano for the first time so you can wirelessly stream your music collection.

Apple promised 30 hours of music playback.
Apple's iPod lineup last got a hardware refresh in 2010. Apple added a front-facing camera and FaceTime to the iPod touch. It also added a rear-facing camera with HD video recording, the retina display currently available on the iPhone 4, the Apple A4 chip, and 3-axis gyro for better gaming.
Apple also added multi-touch to the new iPod nano, a clip for easy portability, a hard volume button, voice over, FM radio, and support for 29 languages.

In 2011, the upgrades were on the software side. The bump from iOS 4 to iOS 5 brought with it iMessage, iCloud, notifications, and Game Center enhancements, among other things.

iPhone 5; What's New

 

The iPhone 5 is finally here, and it’s — in a word — different. The new iPhone is the most radical redesign of Apple‘s flagship product since its inception, sporting a larger screen, a different shape, more features and even new accessories in the box.

Company CEO Tim Cook emceed the proceedings, followed by presentations by executives Phil Schiller, Scott Forstall, Eddie Cue and others. In addition to the iPhone 5, Apple also unveiled new iPods, a revamped iTunes and brand-new earphones that will ship with every Apple portable product.

Now that it’s finally here, the smartphone has delivered on some promises (LTE!) and fell short on others (no NFC?). First-time iPhone buyers as well as current owners can now decide whether or not to get on board the iPhone 5 ship before those pre-orders start to sail on Sept. 14.

The new model offers a lot that’s different from the old model, no question. Browse the gallery for the skinny on what the iPhone 5 can do for you, and let us know which feature matters most — or where the iPhone 5 falls short — in your eyes.

Bigger Screen

The most noticeable change in the new iPhone is its larger, 4-inch screen. The display actually isn't any wider than the previous one, but instead extends length-wise to a 16:9 widescreen aspect ratio. Its resolution is 1,136 x 640 pixels -- that's not quite high-def, but it still has the same pixel density -- what Apple calls a retina display. The taller screen allows for five rows of apps (plus the permanent row on the bottom), and Apple says its colors are better, too.

LTE

The iPhone 5 is the first iPhone with LTE connectivity, and it's going to work on the networks of AT&T, Verizon and Sprint, as well as many others across the globe. To accommodate so many different LTE bands, Apple had to split the iPhone 5 into three different models, only one of which works on CDMA networks. That's a departure from the "world phone" approach of the iPhone 4S, but at least Apple was able to integrate both the LTE and voice radios into the same chip, saving space in the device.

Lightning Connector

The 30-pin dock connector, which has been on Apple portable devices since 2003, is now obsolete, replaced with the much smaller Lightning connector, the name being a play on the Thunderbolt connector on Apple's Macs. Apple says it's 80% smaller than the old dock connector, and had the extra advantage of being reversible (no more "getting it wrong" the first time you try to insert it). Of course, the new jack means many old accessories won't work with the iPhone 5 -- unless you buy Apple's $29 adapter, that is. Even if you do, the adapters don't support exporting video, so you're stuck with AirPlay for that.

Thinner Design

All this beautiful new technology means Apple was able to shave off a couple of millimeters of thickness. Thanks in part to the new connector, the combined-radio chip and integrating touch electrodes right into the pixels, the iPhone 5 is just 0.3 of an inch thick. It's also lighter, weighing just under 4 ounces.

A6  

Chip

The iPhone 5 sports a new processor, the ARM-based Apple A6. Apple claims that it's twice as fast as the A5 chip in the iPhone 4S, and has twice the graphics performance. Like its predecessors, it's optimized for iOS to save power. The phone is rated to last up to eight hours of talk time and 10 hours of video playback.

 
 EarPods

Yes, those horrible white earphones that you get with every iPhone are finally getting an upgrade. The new earbuds are called EarPods, and they have a ported design for deeper bass. Apple says it approached the EarPods' design by crafting them to fit many different kinds of ears first, then built speaker drivers to fit them.

 

Improved Camera

The iPhone 5 has more camera abilities, too. The rear iSight camera is still 8 megapixels, but now there's a built-in panorama mode that can combine many photos into a single 28MP image -- an ability coming to the iPhone 4S in iOS 6. The camera's also said to be 40% faster with better low-light performance and improved image stabilization for video. Finally, the front-facing camera is now an HD FaceTime camera.

 

Enhanced Siri

Siri's learned a trick or two with iOS 6, and is now able to launch apps and understand things like sports scores. Siri can even post tweets and and Facebook updates for you. She's also conquering new territory by coming to the new iPod touch.

Review by Peter Pachal

Kindle Fire HD 7 Is a Great Tablet and a Great Value

The Kindle Fire HD 7" retains much of what was good about the first Fire. It’s still tightly interwoven with your Kindle account and makes gobbling up loads of Amazon-delivered content easier than ever.
It’s all that’s different about this new tablet, though, that sets it apart. First of all, though it’s a 7-inch, the device is actually larger than both the original Fire and competitive 7-inch tablets like the Google Nexus 7 . Part of this is because the Kindle Fire HD puts its camera on the landscape side of the device, while the Nexus 7 puts it on the portrait edge. This makes the Kindle Fire HD almost a half-inch wider than the first Fire and the Nexus 7 (the Fire HD’s screen is just a couple of eights wider than the original Fire).


Despite being larger than the first Kindle Fire and the Nexus 7 , Amazon’s Kindle Fire HD 7" is actually, at 13.9 ounces, a smidge lighter than the original, and is not uncomfortable to hold or use. The somewhat boxy design has been replaced by a collection of rounded edges and more pronounced curves. The single button is gone. Now there are three: one for power and two for volume control. None of them stick out and it’s almost impossible to hit one by accident. This is an obvious improvement over the first Fire, though I still prefer the iPad’s more visible and easier-to-access home button to all other tablet options.

On the old Fire, you couldn’t find the tinny-sounding speakers. The new Fire HD sports a pair of speaker grilles on the back. Underneath are two powerful, Dolby Digital-controlled speakers that pump out surprisingly rich audio. There simply is no comparison to the old Fire. The Nexus features comparable audio, but from only one side of its body.

The Real Competition

Google’s Nexus 7 and the Kindle Fire HD, by the way, share the same 1,280 x 800 resolution. From a components perspective, the Kindle Fire HD has far more in common with the Nexus than it does the original Fire.

They’re also both Android 4 devices, though the Nexus 7 is running 4.1 and the Kindle Fire 4.0. While the Nexus 7 is pure Android, Amazon has pushed Android’s look and feel so far down I challenge anyone to find it.

Android 4.1, also known as Jelly Bean, is the best Android tablet interface ever, and yet the Kindle Fire HD’s is better. Where Android 4.1’s home screen can seem cluttered with icons, Kindle Fire HD’s home screen can be boiled down to a main menu across the top (with links to, naturally, Shop, Games, Apps, Books, Music, Videos, News Stand, Audiobooks, Web, Photos, Docs and Offers), and the large carousel of icons below that text-only row.

The old Fire has a sort of dark-wood-paneled background (it was supposed to look like a bookshelf — how quaint). The Kindle Fire HD drops the artifice in favor of solid black. Both carousels feature a hodgepodge of games, apps, movies, docs … essentially whatever you touched last. The difference on the new Fire HD is that all the icons look better and the scrolling is, thanks to the new dual-core CPU, stutter-free.

The concept of “Favorites” remains, though you now access them via a star in the lower right-hand corner of the Fire HD’s screen.
Amazon redesigned the keyboard, putting more space between the keys — an improvement — and renaming backspace “Delete.” The latter is an odd choice since “Backspace” means one thing on a traditional keyboard and “Delete” another. They’re not actually interchangeable.
In this new interface, the back to previous activity arrow is always present in a narrow column on the right, which also houses Home and Favorites. Because of the design, the arrow can end up sitting next to the keyboard. I can’t tell you how many times I hit the back to previous activity button when I meant to hit “Delete” (which should be “Backspace”).

Smart Consumption

Amazon has introduced a number of what I’d like to call “intelligent consumption” features. They’re all designed to improve your reading, listening and viewing experience and are only semi-successful.

The best of these is easily X-Ray for Movies which is powered by the Internet Movie Database (or IMDb). When you’re watching certain movies, you can tap on the screen and a little IMDb box will appear with the name of the cast members currently onscreen (the movie does not stop at this point). If you want to learn more about them, just tap their image and a larger window will pop up with IMDb cast member information. The movie freezes in the background until you minimize the larger window.

Though the Kindle Fire HD offers an HDMI-out port for playing movies on your large-screen TV, the X-Ray for Movies interface does not travel with the video content and will be absent on your HDTV.
The HD movie-viewing experience benefits substantially from the new MIMO-based Wi-Fi technology (it uses multiple antennas to improve throughput). I purchased a couple of HD movies (Wrath of the Titans and Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol) and both not only started playing almost instantly on the Kindle Fire HD 7" , but there was never a moment’s hesitation in the video stream. By contrast, the original Fire video stream took almost a minute to arrive and start playing. In my experience though, the Google Nexus 7 pretty much matched this playback performance.

Other content features like Immersive Reading are, I think, going to be a matter of taste. Immersive reading combines audiobooks with traditional reading. So you can have Samuel L. Jackson narrate “A Rage in Harlem” as you read the e-book. Each word he speaks is highlighted. You can even speed up his narration, which makes the iconic actor sound ridiculous. Overall, I found the feature annoying and would never use it again.

A Better Face

Mail worked fine on the old Kindle Fire, but everything about the interface, and the messages within, was tiny. Amazon has managed to make the Kindle Fire HD a higher-resolution device with email that’s 10 times easier to read. Everything about the interface is better. It was easy to add two accounts and, just as in iOS, I can view all my mail in an aggregate account if I choose.

Gaming is also better on the new Kindle, and not just because of the more powerful hardware. Yes, the screen is bright, brilliant and graphics are crisp and smooth (even when I played Asphalt 7, the device never skipped a beat). However, one of my favorite new innovations is WhisperSync for Games. Like WhisperSync for books, which can automatically sync your place in a book across multiple devices, WhisperSync for games makes sure that if you’re on level 12 of “Where’s My Perry” on one Kindle device, you’ll be on level 12 on all Kindle devices. It’s a wonderful innovation that Apple should adopt for all iOS devices as soon as possible.

As I mentioned earlier, the Kindle Fire HD now has a camera. It worked perfectly with the pre-installed Skype for Kindle Fire app. There is, however, no “Camera” app on the device, which means there’s no way to access the optical device except through Skype. Amazon promised me a new Facebook app that should also access the camera and allow users to capture and upload photos directly to their Facebook accounts.

The absence of a dedicated camera app is especially puzzling because Amazon put so much work into the new Photos menu option. If you add photos to your Amazon cloud account (you get 5GB for free, and unlimited space for all the Amazon content you buy) you can access them on the device, which provides a very attractive mosaic interface and finally supports pinching and zooming for photos. I managed my cloud-based Amazon content, by the way, via a free Windows-based utility that let me drag and drop files (Office Docs, pictures, music files, video, etc.) from my PC to Amazon’s cloud servers and manage folders. All my files were then accessible to me via the Kindle Fire HD’s menu under the Cloud option.

Like other Kindles, this is also a reading device. Magazines look amazing on it and the page-turn animation is quite realistic, but you will probably choose to double-tap the content to get to the easy reading mode. Book content looks as good as ever.

On the social side, the promised Facebook app for Kindle Fire did not arrive in time for my review. That’s the bad news. The good news is that the native Twitter client arrived just in time. It’s clean, clear and worked flawlessly. Better yet, once you add the app to the Kindle Fire HD, Twitter appears as one of the Silk Browser share options.

Looking Good

Let’s talk about the screen for a moment. Amazon spent a lot of time touting all the special technology they added to cut down on glare and make the display readable in direct light (laminating the touch screen and LCD panel into a single pane of glass). Indoors, the new Kindle Fire HD screen is miles better than the old display (colors are definitely truer) and viewing angles are not only better than the old Fire, but slightly better than what you’ll find on the Nexus 7 . Outside, however, I still couldn’t read a book on it. An E Ink display will always be better for that activity.

For as much as I like the Kindle Fire HD, and I do like it, it still felt a bit unfinished. The promised Free Time parental control was absent from my test unit, and I ran into a number of system hiccups, including apps that wouldn’t load, like Fruit Ninja (it got stuck on Feint) and a game based on Batman: The Dark Knight Rises (which worked fine on the original Fire). The Silk browser crashed and I even had a full system crash that forced a reboot. My guess is that all those issues can be fixed with a slip-stream system update.

There are a couple of other nits. The device does not ship with a power plug. Instead, you get a USB cable that you can plug into your computer or another USB charger plug you have lying around (I have a lot of them). If you want Amazon’s charger, it’ll cost you $9.99. Next, there are the offers. Amazon has actually subsidized the price of all this powerful hardware with sleep-screen ads. I do not mind them, but if you do, you can opt out — by paying an additional $15. Me, I’d live with the ads.

These minor speed bumps aside, there is no doubt that the Kindle Fire HD 7" is, at $199, a fantastic value. Yes, I realize that the updated standard-def Kindle Fire (which is somewhat faster than the old one) is now just $159, but that device truly pales in comparison to Amazon’s new hardware. The choice, for now, is really between the Kindle Fire HD and Google’s $199 Nexus 7 . Both are great, easy-to-use tablets that I could easily recommend, but you will get twice the storage on the Kindle Fire HD. It’ll cost you another $50 for the 16GB Nexus 7.

However, for the moment, I recommend you wait a bit. Apple will surely deliver a 7-inch iPad this fall and Barnes & Noble will likely soon roll out a major revision of the Nook Tablet. With those pieces in place you’ll be ready to make your choice. Which do I recommend? Well, it really depends, I think, on whose ecosystem you favor.

Nokia Announces Windows Phone 8 Version of City Lens App [VIDEO]

After coming out of beta last week, Nokia‘s augmented reality app, Nokia City Lens, is due for another update with plenty of new features.

The upcoming Windows Phone 8 version of the app, which will work on Nokia Lumia 900 and Lumia 800 smartphones, is set to debut 3D icons, as well as the option of filtering search results to only show those in your line of sight.

Some WP8-specific features will also be added to the app, including the ability to pin to start any category, and to customize the menu by adding your favorite searches.

Perhaps most importantly, the app will work in both landscape and portrait modes.
Nokia has yet to comment on the exact release date of its newest version of City Lens.

HP Launches SpectreONE

Although HP is famous for its TouchSmart gadgets, SpectreOne is not one of them. HP has said the touch screen was sacrificed to keep the computer sleek and ultrathin.

SpectreOne features an 11.5-millimeter design with a 23.6-inch full HD display and a curved back. It incorporates a wireless trackpad complete with multi-touch technology.

Featuring a Windows 8 operating system, SpectreOne has an NVIDIA 1 GB graphics card, optional solid-state drive and optional ExpressCache, to accelerate boot up and application start times. It also offers support for HP’s TouchZone near-field communication (NFC) technology and boasts two USB 2.0 ports, two USB 3.0 ports, an HDMI-in and a Beats Audio headphones jack.

SpectreOne will hit store shelves in the U.S. in November with a $1,299 price tag.
HP has also launched two touch screens: the Envy 23 and the Envy 20 TouchSmart PCs.

Both devices feature diagonal display sizes, are compatible with Windows 8 and have 10-point multi-touch technology. The touch screens also include 3 TB of storage space. The 23-inch will retail for $999 while the 20-inch will cost $799. Both are to be available in October.

Also to be released in October is the all-in-one Pavilion 20. It will retail at $449.

Galaxy Note II could come in a dual-SIM

An interesting find today: the Samsung Galaxy Note II might come in a dual SIM variant, although currently it sounds like it might be available only in China. As you can see in the image above, there are 2 SIM slots unlike the handset most journalists got a hand on at IFA.

Dual SIM capability is quite a popular feature in developing countries like China and India, though I haven’t quite understood the real benefit of it. Is there anyone out there who’d love to get a flagship smartphone with dual SIM? Do let us know in the comments, and in particular the reason you want the feature.

Sources : http://phandroid.com/