Cult of Android - page 50

Good thing you listened to us this morning when we posted about a new Google Play app that seemed to let you send Apple iMessages via an Android app.

When something seems to good to be true, it usually is.

In this instance, Google agrees, and has pulled the app from the Google Play Store for violating its terms of use. A spokesperson emailed ComputerWorld, saying, “We remove apps from Google Play that violate our policies.”

Fairly clear, right? As we pointed out this morning, the iMessage Chat app for Android devices turned out to be sending data, including users’ Apple IDs, through another server in China, which is kind of an easy way to steal people’s sensitive information. Apple IDs and passwords can be used to purchase apps, books, and music from the App Store, as well as connect to iCloud data, which can have addresses and more personal info.

Apple’s iMessage service is pretty terrific, but it has one big limitation, and that is that it’s only available on Macs and iOS devices. At least officially. But there is an unofficial app that brings iMessage to your Android-powered smartphone. It works just as advertised, but we strongly advise you not to use it.

BBM’s cross-platform launch failed miserably this weekend. The app made its way to the iPhone in a small few countries, but the rollout was halted before it could reach the United States — or Google Play.

BlackBerry’s excuse for the catastrophic failure was that a leaked BBM APK for Android was causing some server troubles, and now the Canadian company has told fans that it will “take some time” to fix the problem, and that we should not expect to see the app this week.

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, and while Apple has tested this assumption in court against Samsung and other mobile device manufacturers, Android users and developers might have a different opinion.

Because, as you can see from the screenshot above, a whole bunch of apps have appeared in the Google Play store with the express purpose of making your Android handset look just like…well, an iPhone running iOS 7.

Of course, the argument could be made that only Android is open enough to actually allow its users to change the look and feel of their devices to a competing system’s visual system, but the result is still clear: Android developers, at least, think that you should be able to have a mobile phone that looks like the latest iOS devices on the screen as well as in the design of the handset itself.

There are lock screen apps for Android that mimic the parallax of the new iOS 7, apps that call themselves iOS 7 wallpaper, when they really aren’t, and apps that are just plain honest, titled iOS 7 Fake iPhone.

Hit some of those links above to try these out on your own, because we all know it’d be cool to have an Android phone that looks like an iPhone running iOS 7.

Right?

Discuss.

The iPhone 5s might be the closest any smartphone’s ever come to perfection,  but none of its shiny glass, metal and chamfered surfaces really matter if they can stand up to some daily wear and tear. To see which new smartphone is the most durable, the gadget insurance company SquareTrade pitted the iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c against the Moto X and Samsung Galaxy S4, in a series of damage tests, including getting dunked in water.

In the end, Moto X came out on top, with the iPhone 5s coming in a close second. The Galaxy S4 on the other hand didn’t fair too well, and was dominated by everyone, including the cheaper the iPhone 5c.

Watch the full results below:

BlackBerry is a great company with great products and great ideas. But BlackBerry is failing hard. And the reason is that BlackBerry’s model is obsolete.

Don’t look now, but it’s 2013. If your handset isn’t running iOS or Android, you will not succeed in the consumer smartphone market.

And succeeding is exactly what isn’t happening at BlackBerry. The company recently announced a quarterly loss of about $1 billion. They announced that 40% of BlackBerry employees will be laid off. They’ve put the company up for sale. They’re selling their jet.

It’s over, basically. But it doesn’t have to be.

What BlackBerry really needs is to become an Android-handset maker.

BBM for Android and iOS is now officially available to download from the App Store and Google Play. It’s the first time in its history that the popular messaging service has been brought to a third-party platform — but with services like WhatsApp and Viber already dominating cross-platform chat, is it too late?

At the Tokyo Games Show today, Sony unveiled its new PlayStation App for Android and iOS, which lets gamers access the PlayStation Network from their smartphone and tablet to interact with friends, see what others are playing, and remotely download games to your console.

The app will also turn your Android or iOS device into a second screen for selected PlayStation 4 titles.

BlackBerry has finally provided us with launch dates for its new BBM apps for Android and iOS. Just as we expected, the popular messaging service will reach Google Play first on Saturday, September 21 — before popping up in the App Store just a day later on Sunday, September 22.

Hate the fact that your wireless carrier keeps your smartphone locked? President Obama does too. The White House has filed a petition with the Federal Communications Commission asking that wireless carriers be required to unlock all mobile devices.

BlackBerry Messenger is close to becoming a cross-platform messaging service for the first time, but when will you be able to download the app on your Android and iOS devices? BlackBerry has been pretty quiet about launch dates up until now, but a new rumor claims BBM will hit Google Play this Friday, September 20, before landing on the App Store a day later.

YouTube has today announced that you will soon be able to download videos and watch them offline on your mobile devices. You won’t be able to hold onto them forever, but YouTube says users will be able to “add videos to their device to watch for a short period when an Internet connection is unavailable.”

Although we thought it was a pain in the butt to assemble, one thing TwelveSouth’s HiRise dock really got right was this core concept that a dock doesn’t have to be specific to one iPhone or iPad model, but can be universal as long as it uses a Lightning connector.

EverDock is a new dock that takes that concept even further. It’s a universal dock that will work with pretty much anything, whether an iPhone, a Galaxy S3, an iPad, or something weirder all together.

Mobile start-up Bump just announced that it has been acquired by Google in a blog post on Monday.

The company was founded in 2008, making a name for itself on the hot technology of bumping phones together to share contact data. The app has been downloaded over 100 million times, and continues to get updates. The same team released a fairly popular photo-sharing app called Flock last year, as well.

The acquisition was reported on AllThingsD as netting the company somewhere between $30 and $60 million.

Taking their sweet time about it, Sprint will be following the likes of Verizon Edge, AT&T Next and T-Mobile Jump with an annual update plan all of their own. The plan is called One Up, and it will be available on Sprint the same day the iPhone 5S/5C go on sale: September 20th.

You can talk speeds and feeds, specs and features, build quality, materials and engineering all you want. The Moto X is far more “human” than any other phone.

It feels like a friend and an ally, a sentient being that’s loyal and thoughtful. And these endearing qualities can actually trigger emotional attachment to the Moto X. Here’s why. 

Apart from looking pretty, the stock Android messaging app is pretty simple and basic in nature. It lacks a lot of features including pop-up notifications, and support for quick reply right from the notification bar.

88sms, a direct port of the CyanogenMod 10.2 messaging app, fixes a lot of issues the stock messaging app, while adding some really useful features. 

Three has today provided us with more details on its 4G launch plans for the United Kingdom. The carrier aims to cover four major cities by the end of the year, but its new super-speedy service will really take off in 2014 when it increases the number of 4G locations to 42.

Apple just announced the much-anticipated iPhone 5s and iPhone 5c at an event in Cupertino, and both devices will go on sale next Friday, September 20. The iPhone 5s hopes to compete with the latest high-end devices from the likes of Samsung, Nokia, and HTC, while the iPhone 5c aims to be a decent midrange offering that’ll get you into Apple’s ecosystem without breaking the bank.

So how do these devices stack up against their rivals? We’ve compared the iPhone 5s with the Galaxy S4, the HTC One, the Nokia Lumia 1020, and other popular devices to help you establish which one provides you with the most bang for your buck. We’ve also thrown in the iPhone 5c for good measure so that you can decide whether its price tag is as good as it seems.

If you’re hoping to pick up one of Apple’s new iPhones next Friday, but you need a little cash to put towards it, then it might be worth heading down to your local Walmart with your old smartphone. The retailer is set to launch its own smartphone trade-in program, which will give you between $50 and $300 when you hand over your old device and sign into a new plan.

Samsung has earned quite a name for itself copying Apple’s most successful products, but it’s not only in smartphones, tablets, computers, and accessories where the South Korean company sources its inspiration from its closest rivals. British manufacturer Dyson is suing Samsung for allegedly ripping off one of its inventions in a new vacuum cleaner that was unveiled at IFA in Berlin last week.

When Apple introduced Photo Stream to iCloud back in 2011, the Cupertino company made it incredibly quick and easy for its users to share their favorite photos with their friends and family without syncing them to their computer first. But Photo Stream has a downside, and that is that it’s only available on iOS.

Fortunately, there are plenty of awesome alternatives with cross-platform support, and one of those is Kicksend. Not only does Kicksend let you share photos with friends — regardless of the smartphone platform they choose — but it also lets you print and send real photos to those who don’t have a smartphone at all.

Yahoo may have received all of the attention lately for its boring new logo change, but it appears that Google might be changing the design of it’s logo as well.

Deep in the heart of the latest Chrome for Android beta, Ars Technica has managed to unearth what appears to be a new Google logo that ditches the beveling and shadows of yore for a flatter, modern look with some desaturated colors.

Google hasn’t commented on the new logo, and quickly removed it from the beta. However, it looks similar to the design direction Google has been taking lately, and you can still pull it from Google’s servers, so it’s possible we’ll see it used company-wide in the near future.

Here’s how it compares to the old logo:

Microsoft has today launched Xbox Music on Android and iOS almost a year after the music streaming service made its debut alongside Windows 8. The apps allow subscribers to stream tens of millions of songs straight to their mobile devices, and create playlists that sync across your smartphone, tablet, PC, and Xbox 360.

Microsoft has also updated its Xbox Music web app to offer free, ad-supported streaming for all.

Microsoft has a weird business model, and a fragile one.

Their model is: Get people to need Microsoft software, then sell that software at high prices.

Contrast this with Apple’s model, which is: Get people want your consumer electronics so bad they’ll pay a lot for it, then sell the hardware, software, services and content at high prices.

And finally, Google’s model: Get people use the Internet more by making it awesome and free, and make money when people use the Internet.

All three companies make operating systems for phones, tablets and desktop computers.

But which models will succeed in the future and which will fail?

I think it’s clear that Google’s model is most likely to succeed and Microsoft’s most likely to fail. And Apple will do just fine.

Here’s what’s happening.