ASUS ZenFone Zoom finally has a released date. The smartphone was originally announced at the beginning of last year, but its launch was delayed. Here we are now, almost one year later, and now is when we find out that Zoom will be available for purchase starting February 1st.
With a 5.5” FHD display, Intel Atom Z3590 processor, 4GB of RAM and a 13MP rear camera, ZenFone Zoom will launch for the price of $399, and it will be exclusive to B&H Photo in the US.
Official spec list for ASUS ZenFone Zoom:
5.5-inch FHD IPS 1920 x 1080p display with Corning Gorilla Glass 4
Intel Atom Z3590 Processor clocked at 2.5 GHz
4GB of RAM
64GB of storage with a microSD card support for up to 128GB
Android 5.0 Lollipop
3,000 mAh battery
13MP rear camera with f/2.7-f/4.8, dual flash, laser auto-focus with 3x optical zoom and optical image stabilization
When your default quick settings are not enough and you want more diversity, what can you do? Why, install Custom Quick Settings app, of course. This little piece of software will help you by adding app and web links and custom toggles to quick settings without root on your Android 6.0 device (Android 5.0 still requires root).
The app basically allows users to get additional apps and toggles on the quick drawer up top. The Android quick settings drawer is the fastest place one can get the stuff they need because it can be accessed naturally via the motion of sliding down the screen.
Before the creation of Custom Quick Settings app, adding items to the quick settings drawer was impossible. We owe this little feature to XDA developer Quinny899, who created the app you can now find in the Google Play Store.
The app uses a hidden Android feature and it activates a broadcast tiles feature that allows the user to add anything they want to the quick settings drawer. This can include links to apps, websites or a toggle for some Android features.
Official feature support:
– Add as many quick settings as you like to your stock quick settings (no silly overlays or hacks) – Custom titles (custom tiles only, you can’t change the default ones) – Custom icons, chose from over 1,200 icons (custom tiles only, you can’t change the default ones) – Icons from device (chose your own icons) – Icons that change state (where supported) – Icons from apps (shown in the launcher normally) – No persistent notification & no battery drain – runs at boot and updates only when you change them – Action on both short and long click – Tasker intent support (tutorial: http://goo.gl/McoF6J)
Custom Quick Settings app just updated to version 1.6 and it now supports new icon packs thanks to the Xposed Framework. It also has a new GUI for Tasker plugins tiles that users can add to the Quick Settings menu. The app is found on the Google Play Store and it is free. You can give it a second look via the widget below:
Android Lock exploit is a real thing and everyone knows about it. This discovery was made by the University of Austin, Texas, where a new report revealed an exploit that hackers can use a very large code to easily bypass the lock screen of Android devices. This works with devices running on Android 5.0 to Android 5.1.1 with a password-based lock, and it does not matter if you have enabled encryption on the device. Recent Google numbers put Android Lollipop versions running on 21% of all Android devices, which means they all could be easily hacked.
Hacking your Android Lollipop device could be as easy as inserting a very very long password via this Android Lock exploit. Hackers could infect a phone by simply swiping left from the lock screen in order to open the camera app and then they can access the “Settings” menu from the notifications panel. When they tap the Settings menu they would be prompted to enter a password. After introducing a long string of characters, hackers can crash the device to the home screen. There they can access different apps or take information and expose data.
There’s more than one way to go about this Android Lock exploit. Hackers can copy a large string of characters into the Android clipboard and they can paste into the password prompt. They can also use the emergency dialing field to type long lists of codes that can be used on the password prompt as well.
As luck would have it, Google took action and managed to fix the problem via a security update that began to roll-out to devices last week. You will find it in the Android build LMY48M. The fix for this Android lock exploit could take months to reach all affected devices though, as we all know carrier-locked devices take more time to update than others. Nexus devices already got this fix.
If you own a Samsung Galaxy S4 from US Cellular you should check that Update button now, if you haven’t already received the notification. Lollipop is finally upon the S4 as well, at least for US Cellular owners.
This update brings the device to Android 5.0 and version number R970TYUGOE2. You will either see the OTA on your device or you can get it through Samsung Kies via your computer. In order to update your Samsung Galaxy S4, you can follow the instructions you will find in the image below:
Cyanogen OS got its name known rather infamously after the breakup with OnePlus, but it has been making many many friends ever since. The newest such friend is Indonesian company Smartfren, which partnered with the company for its first smartphone powered by Cyanogen. The new carrier phone that will launch on the Indonesian market with the company’s custom build of Android is named Andromax Q. It may sound like a robot name, but it is how it is.
This device will be a budget phone with low specs and it will cost around $100-150 off-contract and around $100 on contract.
The device will run on Android 5.0 Cyanogen OS, but that’s about as exciting as this could ever be. What you get out of it is a 4.5” 854x480p screen, 1 GB of RAM with a Snapdragon 410 processor and 8 GB of storage, all topped with a 5 MP camera and some LTE bands. The Chinese company Haier is responsible for manufacturing this smartphone.
The official Smartfren site does not list a possible launch date; therefore it may be possible that the producer will be selling only in retail. More of these low-cost smartphones for a budget will make their appearance soon and they will most likely run on Cyanogen OS in order to cut software development costs.
Sony recently announced it will start updating its devices to Android 5.1 in July. This includes most smartphones and tablets from the Xperia Z line and some mid-range models are thrown in there for god measure too.
This update works with devices that are already updated to Android 5.0 and that means all Z series devices plus their compact versions – Z, Z1, Z2, Z2 Compact, Z3, Z3 Compact among them. The Z tablets will also be updated. The surprises getting this update are Xperia T and C3 which will also jump from Android 5.0 to 5.1.
The OTA will begin rolling out in July but it will take some time to get to all regions.
Sony will also update Xperia M2 and M2 Aqua from KitKat to Lollipop 5.1. This OTA will begin after all the above Z devices are up to date though, so there’ s some waiting to be had there.
