Android 4.3 has a sort-of hidden app permissions manager

Android 4.3 App Ops can be accessed with a third party app (credit: Android Police) It can be hard for Android users to keep track of what exactly their apps are doing, but it looks like that's about to change with Android 4.3. Android Police caught wind of a function called "App Ops" in the latest Android update that lets you control exactly what apps...

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Android 4.3 has a semi-hidden app permissions manager

Android 4.3 App Ops can be accessed with a third party app (credit: Android Police) It can be hard for Android users to keep track of what exactly their apps are doing, but it looks like that's changing in Android 4.3. Android Police caught wind of a function called "App Ops" in the latest Android update that lets you control exactly what apps can access,...

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Google is working on real time translator phones

Android features speech-to-text, but how long before it's English-to-Spanish? Google has its sights set on the future with projects like Google Fiber and Google Glass, and now it's adding real time voice-to-voice translation to that list as well. Google's Vice President of Android Hugo Barra said this week that Google is now in the early stages of creating...

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Ubuntu may do it better, but Canonical head sees merits of Windows 8 efforts

A truly seamless switch? Canonical is heading into the weekend with about $6.6 million (about £4.29m, AU$7.14m) raised for the Ubuntu Edge, not too shabby for the superphone's 5-day old Indiegogo campaign. We chatted with Mark Shuttleworth, the software company's founder, on the day Edge was announced, discussing this "concept car" device and the potential...

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IDC: Apple and Samsung lose market share in Q2

According to the latest figures from Internation Data Corporation (IDC) market analysis, Apple and Samsung continue to dominate the smartphone market. However, the companies have seen their shares slip in Q2 of this year compared to what they had last year. Of the estimated total of 237.9 million smartphones shipped this past quarter, Samsung accounted for some 72.4...

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'Siri, why do I hate you so much?'

Maybe he didn't hold it close enough to his mouth... You know what I hate about iPhone owners? Siri. I can't stand them for it. I have this notion that they're all sitting around in bars, screaming into their phone that they want to know what the weather is like (have you looked out the window?), or asking if they have emails from Mum. They're probably...

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T-Mobile US drops all phones to $0 on contract, iPhone 5 included

T-Mobile has dropped the upfront cost of all phones available in the carrier's stores to $0, including flagships like the Apple iPhone 5, Samsung Galaxy S4, Sony Xperia Z and Nokia Lumia 925. There's a catch though – you still have to pay for the phone, you just do it in monthly installments on top of your regular monthly payments. Starting tomorrow, customers can grab a new phone on T-Mobile's Simple Choice Plan (starts at $50 for unlimited talk and text plus 500MB high-speed data). Here's a table that shows the monthly payments for some...

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Multiple Samsung Galaxy Note 3 models looking more likely than ever

Take note After whisperings of such a thing previously, the Galaxy Note 3 could arrive in triplicate according to the latest leak which suggests the company is working on 5.5-, 5.7- and 6-inch varieties. The current Galaxy Note 2 totes a 5.5-inch screen which some might say is plenty big enough for a phone-tablet-crossover-thing. On an Indian import and...

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Video: Apple should drop the iPhone

How does the Apple Tornado sound? The Apple iPhone. A product synonymous with the advent of the smartphone and largely credited for shaping the current crop of mobile devices - but is it time for a change? Back in 2007, the iPhone brand wooed fans with its simplistic concept (who puts the description of the product in the brand name anyway?), but the novelty...

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3CX updates MDM to extend Android control

It's added email on Android into the mix IP telephony firm 3CX has updated its cloud-based Mobile Device Manager (MDM) service to give small and midsized businesses (SMBs) greater control over corporate email on Android devices. The company has equipped Version 6.3 of its MDM with AquaMail, a commercial Android email client that allows administrators to...

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Samsung Galaxy S4 goes Arctic Blue at Phones 4 U

Arctic blue - also known as blue The Arctic Blue (read: blue) edition of the Samsung Galaxy S4 is now available in the UK from Phones 4U. Arctic Blue: also a musically-confused tribute band that only plays Blue covers in the style of Arctic Monkeys. Anyway, the phone itself will set you back zero pounds if you go for the £37/month contract at Phones...

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Press render of BlackBerry 9720 Samoa leaks

BlackBerry recently announced that the company will be coming up with a new BlackBerry 7 smartphone. The handset carrying the now obsolete platform is targeted at consumers in the emerging markets and we now have a press render showing what it looks like. The BlackBerry 9720 Samoa has been leaked, courtesy of evleaks. The image confirms that the phone packs a QWERTY...

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Specs of Samsung Galaxy Note III leak, 5.7-inch display confirmed

The upcoming Galaxy Note phablet has been doing the rounds in the rumorland for quite a while now. The specifications of the third generation Galaxy Note have appeared several times and now we have an official confirmation from a Samsung insider, in front of Business Daily. Samsung Galaxy Note III is confirmed to feature a 5.7-inch display, 3 GB of RAM and Android...

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Samsung Galaxy S4 in Purple Mirage pictured

Samsung recently announced a few new colors for its flagship smartphone. The Galaxy S4 was initially launched in two color options - Black and White, but the new announce meant it will also be getting Blue Arctic, Purple Mirage, Red Aurora, Brown Autumn and Pink Twilight versions. We have already seen the fourth generation Galaxy S smartphone in Red Aurora and Brown...

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Sony Honami gets pictured side-by-side with Xperia Z

Up until now, all we've seen of the Xperia i1 Honami from Sony is pretty much everything. From high res captures to alleged press images to specs, there's even a system dump that revealed a new camera UI for its 20MP shooter. One thing we haven’t seen yet is it pictured next to the flagship it's set to succeed, the Sony Xperia Z. Judging by how similar the design strategy...

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Apple dropping as smartphone fans opt for Android

Really? Apple may have reported healthy iPhone sales this week, but its being dwarfed by its robotic competitor. The recent IDC tracker findings, which look at the worldwide shipments and market share of all mobile phone makers, noted that Apple shifted 31.2 million iPhones in the last quarter, but only nabbed 13.1% of the market. Apple and Samsung were...

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Samsung announces record $8.5B profit for Q2

Samsung announced a record $8.5 billion in operating profit, beating the $8.3 billion guidance it released early this month. That's up from the $7.9 billion from the previous quarter and $5.8 billion from the year ago quarter. Net profit was $6.99 billion. We were a little wary of reports that Samsung had beaten Apple in profitability, but the Cupertino company (and...

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