Cult of Android - page 17

To see how fast the Galaxy Note 5 is compared to last year’s iPhone hardware, DroidModderX pitted the two devices against each other in a speed test designed to mimic everyday use, and the results were quite surprising. The iPhone is running on weaker hardware, but thanks to Apple’s software it managed to blow the Note 5 out of the water, thanks to Samsung’s horrible TouchWiz UI that bogs down all the memory.

Watch iPhone 6 destroy the Note 5 below:

HTC appears to have given up on its own design language in an effort to make its next flagship smartphone an iPhone clone. Leaked images of the so-called HTC Aero look almost identical to an iPhone 6, with the same flat form factor and protruding camera.

What’s the fastest-charging smartphone? It’s not an iPhone. If you care about how fast your phone goes from 0 percent to fully juiced, you should buy an Asus Zenfone 2 or Samsung Galaxy S6. Here’s why.

Samsung has been forced to postpone its Ultimate Test Drive promotion that gives iPhone owners the opportunity to try out its latest devices free for 30 days. The South Korean company says it ran out of test drive devices in just a few hours after “overwhelming demand.”

Riot Games, developer of insanely successful online battle arena game League of Legends, has created a new game as a love letter to its fans. Titled Blitzcrank’s Poro Roundup, the side-scrolling game is available for Android, iOS and as a web app.

Got an iPhone and want to try out the competition?

For just $1, Samsung will let you test drive its brand new Galaxy Note 5, Galaxy S6 edge+, or Galaxy S6 edge for 30 days — and provide you with free cellular service during the trial.

The latest “flagship killer” from Chinese startup OnePlus is getting even more attention that its predecessor. And rightly so: The OnePlus 2 is better looking and more advanced than the OnePlus One, with a faster Snapdragon 810 processor, up to twice as much RAM, and a new 13-megapixel camera sensor.

The device also comes with OnePlus’ latest OxygenOS software pre-installed, which offers a pure Android experience with some added extras.

All these things come in a pretty package that costs just $329 with 16GB of storage and 3GB of RAM. (You can bump up to 64GB of storage and 4GB of RAM for $389.) But is this a great smartphone that’s worth waiting for?

Sony’s second-generation SmartBand 2 is here, and it’s a big improvement over its predecessor. The wearable’s new design packs an intelligent heart rate monitor that constantly measures your excitement and stress levels throughout the day.

The Apple Watch doesn’t work with Android smartphones, and probably never will. That means if you’re an Android fan who loves the Apple Watch’s Bubble UI, you’ve got two choices: get an iPhone, or install this new launcher that will turn your Android smartwatch into a virtual clone of the Apple Watch’s launch screen.

Google is getting into the router business. The search giant today announced a new $200 device called OnHub, and it’s coming later this month to make setting up and managing our home Wi-Fi networks easier than ever before.

Google’s chat and video messaging service, Hangouts, got a whole new standalone web app on Monday afternoon.

“We are launching another way to use Hangouts today,” writes Google’s Jordanna Chord on Google Plus. “From our new site you’ll be able to take advantage of the best of Hangouts in the browser, along with an inspiring image to get you through the day.”

Now you’ll be able to keep in touch with all your Hangouts-using buddies in any web broswer, including Safari, without having to run Gmail or Google Plus (or the Chrome app).

There’s a smartwatch app for almost everything, but very few are useful to the men and women who work in microgravity.

So NASA is asking the pubic to design a smartwatch app for its astronauts to do everything from keeping them organized during science experiments to alerting them to space debris approaching.

We’ve spent thousands of man-hours over the years debating whether Android is better than iOS, or vice versa. A new video series by YouTube video producers ColdfusTion explores that same premise, by talking through the history of both platforms and how they’ve evolved over the years.

Whether you’re new to the world of mobile, or just fancy a trip down memory lane on a Friday, it’s well worth a watch. Check it out below:

The U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals has refused to give a second look to Samsung’s appeal of the original jury verdict saying that it violated Apple’s patents for the iPhone.

After announcing its new Galaxy Note 5 and Galaxy S6 edge+ in New York City this morning, Samsung promised the next big thing is right around the corner.

The South Korean company was referring to its new Gear S2 smartwatch — its first with a round display — which will get its full reveal on September 3.

Samsung’s new phablets aren’t the only thing we got out of its Unpacked event in New York City today; the South Korean company also announced a launch date for its new mobile payments service. Samsung Pay will be coming to take on Apple Pay in the U.S. on September 28.

It’s pretty difficult to use your smartphone while it’s standing vertically. That’s why when we place our phones on a dock or stand, we tend to neglect them until they’re done charging. Challenging this habit are the makers of the Tilt stand, who seem to think you should be able to use your phone while it’s getting juiced.

HaptoClone is a new creation from researchers in the Shinoda Lab at the University of Tokyo that can let you practically feel what isn’t actually in front of you. It at least gives you the illusion that you’re feeling it. The technology is trippy in theory, but in practice it very well may lead to a more personal level of communication through our smartphones and computers – or dare I say more intimate.

Twitter has finally delivered on its promise to remove the 140-character limit from direct messages, so you’ll no longer have to send several of them when you’re feeling chatty. The new 10,000-character limit will be available on the web, and in first- and third-party Twitter apps.

App developers are fighting what seems like a losing battle against software pirates, but some of them are finding new ways to deter users from downloading their latest titles illegally.

Noodlecake, the publisher behind games like Super Stickman Golf and Mikey Shorts, has created the ultimate troll for those who choose not to pay for its newest game: a pirate version that’s impossible to beat.

When Google reorganized itself into a subsidiary of a new over-arching company, Alphabet, you’d think that they’d have checked to see if anyone else was doing a similar business with the name.

In fact, BMW also does business as Alphabet, and they own the trademark and the .com URL to boot.

BMW makes cars, and Google is working on a self-driving car. That seems like possible grounds for a trademark infringement suit, right?

iPhone owners are 50 percent dirtier than Android users, according to a new study commissioned by the U.K.-based online retailer Brighthouse.

Brighthouse tested 170 items as part of its study, including game controllers, remote controls, laptop computers and 38 different phones — with 24 being iPhones and 14 being unspecified Android devices.

Spotify is planning to introduce a new “gated access” model that will make its free streaming plan a lot less attractive, according to a new report. Those who choose to opt out of paying for the service could see it become extremely limited, with access to just one or two songs from big album releases.

Apple Metal, introduced at last year’s WWDC, gives developers low-level access to the GPU to maximize the graphics and performance potential of their games. Now Android gamers are going to get a taste of that, too.

No, Apple isn’t bringing Metal to Android — but Google is adopting an alternative called Vulkan.