Sameed Khan

Executive Editor
Electronics engineer | Writer/Blogger | Technology & Graphic design enthusiast | Avid PC gamer | Twitter | Google+

DXHome Android Launcher – Downloadable Themes, Efficient Home Screen Editing

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New to the Android Market, DXHome might look like a run-of-the-mill home screen replacement app at first glance but it packs quite a few handy features and perks that might get you interested. The launcher comes packed with its very own theme store, clock & weather widget, ten slick home screen transitions and a zippy, efficient home screen editing interface, all of which remind one of MIUI’s native launcher. The default theme that comes with the launcher doesn’t really look like much, but users can fix that easily according to their tastes courtesy of the launcher’s online theme store. What users can’t fix is the launcher’s drop in performance while within the app drawer. But we’ll leave that to the developers and future updates. For now, let’s explore what else DXHome has in store for us. Read More

Twin Pic For Android Supports 3D Image Sharing & Push Notifications

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The team (TeamWin, actually) behind HDMwIn and Kernel Manager has just released a public beta of their newest app – Twin Pic, an image sharing freeware for Android that packs support for 3D image sharing and push notifications. Twin Pic links itself with a registered Google account of your choice and allows you to share images with anyone in your contacts list, provided the selected contacts have the app installed on their devices and the email addresses attached to their profiles are the ones linked to Twin Pic. In beta as of now, the app seems to be just a tad rough around the edges. During our brief test-run, we found that the sharing History feature, when accessed, causes the app to force-close. Barring that little problem, the app works like a charm, providing you with an much faster alternative to sharing images via social media or even email. Read More

Wifi Syncr – Sync Files From Computer To Android Device Over WiFi

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In our quest for apps, we’ve found several on the Android Market that let you remotely upload/sync files from your Android device to your computer (Sweet Home, for instance). Today, we found an app that reciprocates said function. New to the Market, Wifi Syncr is a free, easy-to-use tool that establishes a one-way sync from your computer to your device over a shared WiFi network. More specifically, the app remotely downloads files from a user-defined shared directory on your computer to one on the SD card of your device. And unlike most of the device-to-computer apps that we’ve come across so far, Wifi Syncr has proved to be the easiest to set up. More after the break. Read More

Install Swype Keyboard On Your Jailbroken iOS Device [Cydia Tweak]

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Got an iPhone, iPod Touch or iPad and feeling envious of your friends with Android devices having several awesome keyboard replacement applications that they can install and use at will? If your iOS device is jailbroken, we've got good news for you! Now available on Cydia (currently in beta), Swype for iOS is a faster, much more fluent text entry alternative to the stock keyboard that you get the device with. Like the Android input method by the same name, this free Cydia tweak lets you type words simply by swiping your finger across the keyboard from one letter to the next. It even displays a fancy blue trail of your finger’s movements. Cydia source and installation method after the break. Read More

How To Download Map Areas For Offline Use In Google Maps For Android

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When it comes to navigation apps, few names surpass Google Maps. That being said, unless you are able to benefit from such apps in offline mode while on the move, they don't prove to be all that helpful. Even if you opt to resort to your mobile data during navigation, chances are that you might end up reaching (or even, exceeding) your cap, without even making it to your destination. In short, the app beckons for support for offline mode, of course, along with several other sought-after features. Of the few handy new features that the latest update (5.7.0, as of this writing) of Google Maps for Android brings, the long-awaited support for offline maps tops the list. Particularly useful for smartphone users with a limited data plan, the Download map area option allows you to save map tiles in a 10 mile radius around regions of your choice and lets you explore and get directions within said regions without an active internet connection. The feature has been included as part of the experimental features grouped under Menu > More > Labs. Join us after the break for a brief, simple how-to. Read More

Nemus Launcher For Android Brings New App Drawer & Folder Widget Concepts

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From the developer of Regina Launcher for Android comes yet another innovative home screen replacement application. Nemus Launcher for Android boasts a simple yet attractive interface and quite a few handy new features, including a unique, customizable folder widget for organizing app shortcuts on your home screen and a couple of amazing new app drawer features that make browsing through scores of apps a lot less frustrating. The launcher runs a little slow while switching between home screens and entering/exiting the app drawer. However, this (hopefully temporary) disadvantage is easily overshadowed by its enhanced functionality and ease of use. Itching to know more? Join us after the break. Read More

LayerDraw For Android – Draw In Layers & Create Custom Brushes

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Flexible, feature-rich and easy to use, LayerDraw for Android is as comprehensive a drawing tool as they come. Equipped with a sizeable assortment of built-in brush presets and the option to create your own, a full color palette with additional tabs for adjusting RGB values and inputting hexadecimal color codes, the option to save work and resume at a later time and the ability to split the canvas into an unlimited number of layers, the app is perhaps already among the best virtual finger-painting tools out there. More after the break. Read More

Do It (Tomorrow) For Android – Personal Task Management Redefined

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How many times have you told yourself you’ll do something the next day? And how many times have you made good on that promise? Not too many times, right? Worry not, because that's what all those umpteen smartphone to-do list and task managers out there are to take care of. It's just the users' to choice to pick whatever alternative they deem appropriate to their needs. While some apps come jam-packed with all sort of options, other focus on keeping things simple. Do it (Tomorrow) for Android and iOS a free, multiplatform task organizer that redefines the way you plan and manage your todo list. The app lets you plan today and postpone tasks until tomorrow, in case everything doesn’t go according to said plan (which, in my case, is almost always). Equipped with a new, effectively implemented concept, the capability to sync tasks to a user-defined email account and a sassy yet easy-to-use interface, Do it (Tomorrow) makes planning (and pending) tasks fast and convenient, even enjoyable. Initially released only on the iTunes App Store, the app is now available on the Android Market as well. Read More

Inventor Publisher Viewer Brings 3D Assembly Instructions To Android

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First released on the iTunes App Store and now available no the Android Market, Autodesk Inventor Publisher Viewer is a free, handy tool that allows you to view interactive animated 3D assembly instructions created with the new Autodesk Inventor Publisher 2011 desktop application, which features Mobile Export capability. The app comes packed with a set of sample instructions, allows you to download additional samples from an online gallery links to your Autodesk account, wherefrom you can download your uploaded Inventor Publisher files. Read More

The Times For Android – The Latest News In A Newspaper-Like Layout

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Available for free on the Android Market for a limited time, The Times for Android is the official mobile client for The Times and Sunday Times news networks. The app automatically fetches the latest stories from both networks, arranging them into seven different categories and a newspaper-like layout for easier browsing and allows you to save articles to your SD card so that you may view them later, without having to connect to the internet. Read More

Official Merriam-Webster Dictionary App Released On Android Market

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With advancement in web development, and the continuously rising popularity of web apps, most application developers have unveiled the web variants of their products, and the popular dictionary and thesaurus tool, Merriam-Webster is no different. The official Merriam-Webster Dictionary client, after enjoying a good run on the iTunes App Store, has finally landed on the Android Market. The interface of the Android variant, though equally efficient and easy to use, falls slightly behind that of the iOS version in looks (not a surprise). Everything else is roughly the same. With the help of the app, you can lookup the Merriam-Webster Dictionary for definitions, synonyms and antonyms for words both by typing them in or via voice search, view and delete recently searched words and learn a new word every day with the Daily Word feature. The app’s dictionary, as it seems, is downloaded at installation and automatically shifted to external storage. So you don’t need internet access to view definitions – only to listen to pronunciations, use voice search and for the Daily Word option. Read More

Metro Skin For UberMusic Beta Released To Android Market

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Well, that was fast! Earlier today, we reported the release of the first beta of UberMusic, a sleek new Android music player from the developer of LauncherPro that, courtesy of the metro-style user interface that governed the alpha versions, has established quite a following. To our (short-lived) dismay, the developer decided to drop the Windows Phone 7 look in Beta 1 of the player. Though the new interface was still marginally better looking than those of most other music players on the Android Market, we hoped we wouldn’t have to wait too long for someone to release a metro-style skin for its interface. Thanks to the player’s new, powerful skinning engine, its freshly released second beta with skinning support and a debuting developer, we won’t have to. Metro UberMusic Skin turns the player into an exact interface-wise replica of its alpha variants and is available for free from the Android Market. Screenshots and download link after the break. Read More

Facebook For Windows Phone 7 Updated To 2.0, Gets Push Notifications

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Falling in the footsteps of its iOS and Android counterparts, Microsoft’s Facebook for Windows Phone 7 app has, in its latest update (to version 2.0), finally added push notifications to its list of features. You now no longer need to open the app to check your notifications. The app will alert you itself the instant a friend interacts with you on Facebook. You can specify whatever interactions you want the app to report (messages, wall posts, feed comments etc.) and select whether notifications appear as both toasts and tile count or only as the latter. Read More

LancherPro Developer Rolls Out First Beta For UberMusic [Android]

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There is no shortage of quality music playing and streaming apps for Android. Even the stock offerings of Google's mobile operating system are pretty substantial for your basic music playback needs. But then there is the entire world of customization open for Android fanboys that lets us taste a variety of flavors for apps of almost every genre on our devices, and music players are no exception. In fact, there's a special desire among Android fans to get their hands on a music player that resembles the looks of a Windows Phone style alternative. After seven alpha versions and amidst much anticipation, LauncherPro Developer Federico Carnales’ Zune Music Player look-alike for Android has finally entered the beta stage. Before you rush to the download link, install the app and find yourself disappointed, you should know that there is no need to be. UberMusic Beta 1 comes packed with a new skinning engine and a completely different look. The new default skin isn’t all that bad. In fact, it’s still one of the best looks you’ll find on an Android music player. Still, I’m sure many of you have grown attached to the WP7 interface of the alpha. I know I have. According to the app’s changelog, the new engine is powerful enough to allow an exact replication of the Windows Phone 7 look that made us fall in love with the alpha versions. However, the developer is yet to release instructions as to how that is to be done. Read More

Outdoor Navigation For Android – The Swiss Army Knife For Travelers

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Outdoor Navigation is an all-in-one navigation assistance suite for Windows Mobile, iOS, Windows Phone 7 and now, for Android as well. And as per the convention of most other multiplatform apps, only Outdoor Navigation’s Android variant has a limited, ad-supported free version (and not just a trial, as for the WP7 variant) in addition to a paid full version. What remains constant across all supported platforms is the app’s attractive interface and the vast assortment of navigation assistance, tracking, monitoring and analysis tools that it comes packed with. Read More

Facebook Widget For GO Launcher EX: Better Than The Original [Android]

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The GO Launcher Dev Team is at it again. After updating their prized home screen replacement app twice in the past week, adding two amazing new icon transition effects to its app drawer, the team has now released yet another home screen widget for the launcher. The addition of the new GOWidget for Facebook makes GO Launcher EX one of the only popular launchers to have a built-in Facebook widget – one that is, perhaps, better than that of the official Facebook client for Android. The 4x4 widget lets you scroll through all of the Most Recent posts from your Facebook timeline or your own Profile, preview photos, post status updates and upload photos right from your home screen and opens a separate screen for Liking and/or adding comments to a post. The widget, like the launcher itself, is available for free on the Android Market. More after the break. Read More

Social Jogger 2 Is A Sleek 4-in-1 Social Media Aggregator For Android

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Sequel to the much applauded Social Jogger for Android, a social media aggregator for Facebook and Twitter ported over from the Acer Iconia, Social Jogger 2 comes packed with a new and improved user interface, Flickr and Plurk integration, deeper integration with Twitter and Facebook, an new home screen widgets. The app retrieves and displays posts, messages, photos and more from all four social media automatically after user-defined intervals and allows you to post status updates, upload photos and videos to all four simultaneously. The app’s extensive customizability provides easier browsing through the collective social media timeline and its deep integration with mentioned social networks almost eliminates the need to visit their mobile websites or access each network separately from within its official mobile client. More after the break. Read More

Flick Note For Android Lets You Create Notes & Sync With Simplenote

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Looking for the official mobile client for Simplenote? Well, there isn’t one. Not yet, at least. But we do have for you the next best thing – Flick Note for Android, a free (ad-supported) app that provides a two-way sync between Simplenote and your device and incorporates all major features of the note taking web app. The app allows you to view, create, edit, share and delete notes, add tags to each, filter your notes list based on said tags or search for notes by keywords, pin notes to the top of your notes list and, last but not the least, sync with your Simplenote account. The app saves a local copy of all created notes, allowing you to edit them while offline. Notes that are yet to be synced with your Simplenote account are indicated by a red cross before the title. Read More

Use Google Maps Navigation For Android In Unsupported Countries

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The official Android client of Google's official navigation app is quite a remarkable app that can help you reach your destinations with ease, without having to rely on paper maps, or needing to ask others routes to your required places. The pity, however, is that the Google Maps Navigation service is currently not accessible in every part of the world. The first time Google Maps for Android was hacked to allow the use of Navigation in unsupported countries, Google released an update for the app that mended the exploited loophole. But that didn’t stop XDA-Developers member Brut.all from continuing to release Navigation unlock mods for the app. Currently, a group of Chinese hackers/power users are releasing Brut.all’s mod for every Google Maps update that comes along.  If you live in or are visiting a country that is not supported by Google Maps Navigation, join us after the break for a step-by-step guide to installing the Google Maps ownhere mod for the latest version of the app (version 5.6.0, as of this writing). Read More

Shorten And Share Links With Unofficial bit.ly App For Android

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New to the Android Market, D Bitly is a free, unofficial client for the bitly URL shortening service. Particularly useful for sharing links via SMS, the app lets you login with your bitly account, shorten and share URLs and view a log of all previously shortened links, allowing you to re-share previously shortened links with a couple of taps, instead of having to copy and shorten them all over again. Read More