Ubuntu's Unity Next Running On Mir Display Server

Canonical developers have hit the milestone of being able to run their "Unity Next" desktop atop the Mir Display Server. The work is still very early, but it shows for Ubuntu Touch they can swap out Android's SurfaceFlinger for Mir.

Unity Next is the next-generation implementation of Canonical's multi-form-factor desktop for Ubuntu written in Qt/QML. The Mir Display Server is still very primitive and not feature complete nor even on par with Wayland's features, but when using the latest code along with the out-of-tree Qt Mir back-end, it's possible to start running Unity Next.

Thomas Voß of Canonical posted proof of this early feat for switching out Android's SurfaceFlinger for the Mir compositor whereby they are leveraging the HWC 1.1 hardware compositor. The short video of Unity Next on Mir from the Google Nexus 4 smart-phone is embedded below.

How To Create Your Own Android Widget

When it comes to the Android home screen, few things are as useful as a widget. Android widgets are minimal version of an app running from your home screen. The downside of using a widget is you are limited to what comes with the apps, or are you?

When you aren’t too keen on the coding aspect of things, a few options are available for creating your own widget. Here we will talk about Ultimate custom widget (UCCW).

The lay of the land

Knowing where the options are and how everything works will greatly increase your chance of creating a useful widget instead of a mess on your screen.
To get started, add a widget to your home screen the way you normally do and select UCCW as the widget. Choose a larger size like a 4×4 for this learning process.

Tap the “Create a new skin” button.

Now we are at the build screen.

If you do nothing and press the home button, you will see nothing more than a white square on your home screen.

Let’s learn the basics. In the navigation bar across the top, you’ll see three choices: “Select Object”, “+/-” and “Sort”. Each of these are very important to adding and arranging the different things to the widget.

Select Object

Select Object is where you choose an object to modify. It can be the color, transparency, font, size and so on.

+/-

This is where you add or remove a object.

Sort

When you have more than one item in your widget (i.e. time, date, message notification, etc.), each of these is in their own layer and sometimes are not accessible by simply tapping on them. The Sort option lets you arrange the layers so you can access the item you’d like to modify.

Menu icon

The menu is where you will save your skin (the widget you are creating), export it, turn on the hot spots ( we’ll talk about this later) and more.

Adding items to the widget

While working on your custom Android widget, make sore you save your progress regularly. Start to add a few items to the custom widget by pressing the +/- button and look through the long list of options. Check the box next to the items you like to add and press “Close”.

All of the items whose the boxes you checked are now placed within the widget in a big mess.

Press the “Select Object” button and choose an item. Here I chose time. You will see all of the options to customize the time display on the screen. The first thing you might want to do is press the Position button. This will give you the ability to move this item across the screen. I recommend either using your finger to drag the item across the screen or take the Faster movement box and use the arrows.

Now that the time is in a place where we can see the changes we are making, press the Close button and start making adjustments to the size, color, angle, transparency, font and/or the format (12 or 24 hour).

When you are somewhat happy with the way the clock looks, move on to some of the other items you’ve added to the widget. The adjustments for all of the options are pretty similar to each other but look closely at what options are available for each item, some items have different customizing options.

Downloading add-ons for custom looks

The default fonts and options give you some pretty good starting points. Since we are creating a widget specifically for us, we will need some more fonts and other means to customize it.

The Google Play Store

Head over to the Google Play Store and search for “UCCW skin” you will find a lot of options – some paid and some free.

UCCW Fonts

Adding a font to UCCW is actually quite easy. Any .ttf font can be used. You can go to any free font site like dafont.com and find something you like. When you download it, transferred over to the storage of your Android in a folder labeled “fonts”. Once this is done, you’ll be able to press the font button and select your newly added font.

Now What?

Well, the rest is about your creativity. Spend some time to play with the app and familiarize yourselves with the different objects and icons. Personally, I like to have a transparent background so there isn’t a big blocky widget sitting on the screen.
It is also best to take some time and create hotspots. These will let you activate an app when you tap on a section of the widget. For example you could have a timer start when you tap the clock or time icon in the widget.

Conclusion

This is definitely an application you need to play around with to get the hang of. However, once you do, you can really start to design some pretty cool looking widgets. There really isn’t the room in one article to go over all of the options and possibilities. For some good examples check out MyColorScreen. You are sure to see something there to inspire you.

How to Disable Apps Running In The Background in Android

If you ask any Android expert for the solution to fix a slow phone, one of the answer you will receive is to uninstall the unnecessary apps so they won’t run in the background. But what if you need an app to be installed (even though you are only using it occasionally) and yet preventing it from running in the background?
One solution is to make use of a Task Manager and kill the background running app regularly. Alternatively, you can disable the app totally so it won’t (and can’t) be running in the background at all.
Here’s how you can manually disable apps from running in the background without your permission.
Note: This trick will only work in selected phone. It does not work in the stock Android in the Nexus device.
1. Go to the “Settings” section in your phone.
2. Scroll down and go to Applications manager.

3. Swipe from right to left until you reach the “All applications” tab.

4. Now, tap on the app you want to disable from running in the background and it will show you two buttons: Disable and Force Stop. Tap on Disable.

It will ask you for confirmation whether you want to disable the app, just tap OK.

And you are done. Now, the app will not run in the background even if any other application tries to execute it. If you want to enable it, just follow the same steps. However, one thing you should note here is that if you disable any application, it will disappear from the App Drawer and will not be available till you enable it again. You can also use the Force Stop to temporarily stop the app from running.

Galaxy S3 vs. Xperia Z

Retro Game Boy Modified into an Android Gamepad

There are tons of great retro game emulators for the Android platform, put using the touch screen as a game controller is a lackluster solution. This fun electronics hack turns an old Game Boy into a case/controller for your phone.
Courtesy of Chad Boughton, this hack merged the guts of a Wiimote with the case of an old Gameboy. Just clip your phone into the bracket in the top of the Game Boy case, link the two by Bluetooth, and enjoy a beefier and more tactile controller for your games.
If you want the same experience without the destruction of a perfectly good Wiimote and all the DIY work involved, you may want to check out the MOGA system, a very similar (but commercially produced) system for Android phones–just make sure to download the unlock app to use it with the emulator of your choice.

Minute Hacks: How To Save Your Phone From Water Damage

Google announces Nexus 4 phone, Nexus 10 tablet and HSPA+ Nexus 7

 

Google may have cancelled today's event due to hurricane Sandy, but they've still gone ahead with announcing the Nexus 4 smartphone built by LG and the Nexus 10 tablet build by Samsung. Both devices come with Android 4.2 which adds Gesture Typing, allowing users to glide fingers over letters to type, support for wireless display, allowing users to watch movies and play games on a Miracast-compatible HDTV, and multiple user support (on tablets).

Nexus 4
































The Nexus 4 features a 4.7-inch 1280 x 768 IPS display (320ppi), a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro processor, 2GB Of RAM, a 1.3 megapixel front facing camera, 8 megapixel rear camera, up to 16GB of storage, NFC, Bluetooth, and wireless charging via Google's new Wireless Charging Orb (see image below). The back is made of glass and features a sparkley pattern underneath the surface.

The device will go on sale unlocked for $299 with 8GB of storage and $349 with 16GB from the Google Play store in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain and Canada on November 13. T-Mobile will also sell the device unlocked for $199 on a two-year contract.
Nexus 10

The Nexus 10 is a 10-inch tablet with a resolution of 2560 x 1600, which comes in at a whopping 300ppi. It features a dual-core ARM Cortex-A15 chip with a quad-core Mali T604 GPU, 2GB of RAM, a 5-megapixel camera on the back, a 1.8 megapixel camera on the front, dual-front facing speakers, micro HDMI, micro USB, two NFC chips, and a 8,000mAh battery, that Google says should latest around 9 hours of HD video playback.
The Nexus 10 will go on sale on November 13 on Google Play in the U.S., U.K., Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Canada and Japan. 16GB will cost $399 and 32GB will cost $499.
Nexus 7 32GB and mobile data


Google also announced a 32GB version of its Nexus 7 tablet for $249, along with a 32GB version with HSPA+ mobile data for $299, which can operate on more than 200 GSM providers worldwide according to Google.

Setting personalized message & notification tone in Samsung Galaxy Phones

On buying your first ever much-hyped Samsung Galaxy phone, you must be very happy on becoming part of the “Android based Galaxy” family. But as you start up with the dissection of your phone you will figure out a trifle issue that soon will turn up into a ginormous pain to figure out and that is “HOW TO SET PERSONALIZED MESSAGE TONE FOR YOUR SAMSUNG GALAXY?” 

 

An easiest way to resolve the issue is as follows,

1. Open up the ‘MENU’
2. Go into ‘My Folder’ (Check if an Audio or Notification folder exists or not)
3. If exists then go back to the ‘Main Menu’, click on to ‘Settings’ icon go to ‘Ringtones’ and there, set the ‘Notification Ringtone’ of your choice. On every notification (Be it Email, SMS or any other) you will get the same ring
4. But if the folder does not exist which mostly does not then create one by the name of ‘Audio’ and in that created folder, create another one with the name of ‘Notification’
5. In that ‘Notification’ folder cut/copy/move and paste the ringtones you would want to set as your notification tone. On being done with that, go back to the ‘Main Menu’, click on to ‘Settings’ icon go to ‘Ringtones’ , now here you could see those ringtones that you wanted to set as your message tone. Now ‘Select’ that tone and you are done with the conquest. On every notification you will get the same ring
6. If you want to have a message tone different from the notification tone then revise step 1-5, click on the ‘Home Screen’ button, select ‘Message’ icon appearing on the Home Screen you will find yourself into inbox now tap on the left most button of your phone a sub-menu will appear from the bottom. Here, select ‘Settings’ icon a new menu will open up. Now scroll down until ‘Notification (see your messages in the status bar)’ option comes across then you should checks this given option. On being done with that there would be another option of ‘Ringtones’ right under the ‘Notification’ option, now select that option and choose the ringtone of your choice for your incoming messages which would be different from the other notification tones.

Nokia is dismissing Meltemi, a Linux-based platform for feature phones

Meltemi, a Linux-based platform for feature phones, was planned to replace Series 40, the platform that has been around since 1999. Series 40, which runs on some of the top feature phones in the world, has brought a lot of success to Nokia. However, the software was getting old, and Nokia reportedly felt that Series 40 needs to be replaced by something new and Meltemi was that something new.

A Nokia Series 40 cellphone

 But with the rise of smartphones in today's mobile phone martket, Nokia is having a difficult time and it recently reported a $1 billion loss during the second quarter this year. And perhaps thats why Nokia is trying to discontinue Meltemi.

Still, it's important to note that Nokia never confirmed that Meltemi even existed, and the company has never officially announced anything about a Series 40 replacement. So, if it did, in fact, kill Meltemi, Nokia won't have much explaining to do.

Get “Google Now” feature of Jelly Bean on Rooted ICS Android Phone

Google Now is happened to be the best thing that you could get in jelly bean 4.1 phones. It’s like your own personal secretary that stays with you throughout, unlike any other feature of ICS. But not anymore because now, your ICS phone could also get Google Now without its voice search feature, provided your phone is running ASOP ICS ROM else it won’t work.

 

Though without the voice search feature Google Now would be half as good as the one in jelly bean but still its worth having in your ICS as it will be enriched with a lot of other good stuff that comes along Google Now. However to get it in your ICS, follow the steps;

• Download the APK
• Open root explorer or other root enabled file explorer and go to / system
• Tap the “Mount R/W” button, then scroll down to build.prop and press and hold on it. Tap “Open in Text Editor”
• Find the line that says ro.build.version.sdk=15 and change it to readro.build.version.sdk=16. Press the menu button and tap “Save and Exit”
• Goto /system/app and hold-press GoogleQuickSearchBox.apk. Rename it toGoogleQuickSearchBox.apk1. If that file doesn’t exist just skip this step
• Reboot your phone and install the Google Now APK
• Go back and edit build.prop as described in step two, and change thero.build.version.sdk line back to 15
• Reboot your phone one last time and you are done!!

For more guidance you can follow the link http://forum.xda-developers.com/showthread.php?t=1749045.

HTC One S Snapdragon processor downgraded in some markets

The chronic shortage of Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors means that HTC has been forced to fit the One S handset with an older chipset in some territories.
The Taiwanese has confirmed that the previous generation S3 processor occupy new handsets in the Asia-Pacific region (save South Korea and Japan) and in some European countries.
US and UK users aren't affected by the shortage, which has already delayed handsets like the Asus PadFone.
HTC says it will mark the One S devices featuring the S3 and the S4 so customers know which version they're receiving.

Pure processing power

In terms of pure processing power, the dual-core Snapdragon S3 is actually faster, clocked at 1.7GHz as opposed to 1.5Ghz on the Snapdragon S4.
However, the newer chip brings faster Adreno 320 graphics for gaming, supports 4G LTE connectivity and is kinder on battery life than the S3.
It is thought that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will, for its US incarnation, also boast the S3 chipset, rather than the quad-core version launched in the UK, because of the 4G LTE support.

Samsung Galaxy S3 gets an early firmware upgrade

The best-selling Samsung Galaxy S3 handset has received its first over-the-air update, with UK users reporting a pair of firmware downloads.
The Android 4.0 device is not experiencing any issues, to our knowledge, but that hasn't stopped Samsung pushing out updates promising "Improved stability" and nothing else.
The 31.7mb download can be installed over Wi-Fi or 3G.
Slashgear is reporting, following the completion of the initial firmware update, that users are being prompted to download another smaller 15mb file, which also promises improved stability.

Taking care of business (TCOB)

The updates suggest that, even with no complaints from an already sizable userbase, Samsung may have spotted something its not completely happy with.
The company has enjoyed some incredibly good, almost Apple-esque feedback from users and critics, so it's good to see it staying on top of matters to ensure that remains the case.
If you haven't been prompted to download the upgrades yet, you can get them by visiting the software updates page within the Android OS settings menu
And, if you're still weighing up whether a 4.8-inch smartphone is really for you, check out our Samsung Galaxy S3 review.

iPhone 5

Analyzing screen-to-body size ratios of top Android handsets

It’s a well known fact that there’s nothing like a bit of graphing to brighten up a geek’s day. This seems to be well understood by a Reddit user that goes by the name of “Thare” who, after embarking on a search for a new Android phone that had the largest screen while maintaining the smallest possible size, decided to share the wealth of information that he had gathered.
It will come as no surprise that of the phones he compared the Samsung Galaxy Note ended up at the top of the heap having 66.9% of its body area made up of touch-screen real estate. Of course, no one can really call the Note a small device, unless they possess Shaquille O’Neal-sized hands.

While this isn’t a comprehensive study of all the available Android devices on the market, Thare did a good job including a range of the most popular devices across the four US carriers. Samsung also garnered the second spot on the list with its yet to be released Galaxy S3 (which of course is made for humans) which has 66.1% of its svelte design available for touch interactions. HTC rounds out the top three with its EVO 4G LTE phone running on Sprint. Its 4.7-inch screen gives owners 66% of real estate to play with.

iPhone owners won’t be surprised to see the 4S coming in next to last place, with the trade-off being of course those beautiful Retina displays that Apple is installing in the world’s most popular smartphone. Which leads to an interesting thing to point out. While the Galaxy Note certainly has a large screen, it also has the distinction of having one of the lowest pixel density’s in the chart. While it’s the first Android device to sport a higher resolution than the 4S, the iPhone still takes better advantage of the space it has to work with by having a pixel density of 326 ppi compared to the Note’s 285.

While the comparison of different devices is certainly interesting, probably the real gem that is visualized is the slow progression we are seeing in the mobile industry towards larger screens installed in consumer devices. With rumors abounding that Samsung has retooled many of its assembly lines to mass-produce its flexible OLED screens, it’s conceivable that we could, sometime in the near future, see bezel-less devices to hit retail stores. While market analysts say that it won’t be until 2017 before we see the market dominated by flexible display devices, it’s certainly interesting to think about the possibility because bezel-less handset will totally change this list.

HTC tries to be serious about its bootloader policy

HTC's popular Evo 3D smartphone may be locked, but the handset manufacturer insists a review of its fortress-like bootloader policy is ongoing.

"Thanks so much for providing feedback, we hear your concerns. Your satisfaction is a top priority for us and we're working hard to ensure you have great experiences with our phones," an HTC rep wrote in a recent Facebook post in response to complaints about the issue.

"We're [currently] reviewing the issue and our policy around bootloaders and will provide more information soon. Thank you for your interest, support and willingness to share your feedback."

As AndroidCentral's Phil Nickinson notes, HTC's confirmation of a policy rethink is quite significant, as it marks the first time the corporation has publicly said it was considering such a change.

"For you laymen out there, having open access to the bootloaders and NAND memory are the lifeblood of custom ROMs," explained Nickinson.

"And while the vast majority of Android users are running virgin devices - remember that more than 400,000 devices are being activated every day - the modding community is a vocal one."

Of course, it remains unclear if HTC's current position is simply marketing spin formulated to pacify the seething Android modder masses.

Then again, HTC probably does realize the genuine advantages associated with unlocking future smartphones. Working with the modding community rather than against it is generally a good idea (i.e., Microsoft Kinect), as it is likely to build some serious hype and increase device sales.



Just by how is the question, though, and that is probably what the HTC suits and ties are mulling over as you read this article.

White iPhone 4 to be out later this month

But it looks like the wait is almost finally over, as Bloomberg reports it has credible insider knowledge that a white iPhone 4 will be released by the end of April for both Verizon and AT&T customers.

For some reason, Apple had difficulty securing the right components for white casing and components, leading to multiple terse press releases pushing back the albino phone's availability. It even noted in one release that the seemingly simple process of just getting a new paint job for the existing components was harder than the company ever anticipated.

It looks like Apple must have figured out some sort of white electronic magic, since it was able to release the iPad 2 in white without any hesitation. And now apparently it has also solved the white iPhone 4 dilemma.

Of course, coming nearly a year after the original iPhone 4 was released, it is already kind of obsolete. Many expect the iPhone 5 to be available in a matter of months.