Android 6.0 Marshmallow OS has now launched on the Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P

Android Marshmallow


Google announced Android Marshmallow a few months ago at its annual Google I/O expo, which took place in the US. Since then it has released a bunch of beta versions of the software to developers and eager Android fans who couldn’t wait a few months for the final build.

Android Marshmallow is a pretty comprehensive update that looks to fix many of Android’s latent problems. The most notable of which is security and power management. We’ve just finished listening to what Google had to say about its latest version of Android and below are the thing we felt were most notable.

We’ll be adding to this article over the next couple of days as we get a better idea of what Android Marshmallow is all about. Until then, here’s  a bunch of cool stuff that’s waiting inside the next big Android update, Marshmallow! 

Android Marshmallow: App Permisions

Information from Samsung had previously hinted at this, but Google's announcement has now confirmed that Marshmallow's app permissions have been tweaked, enabling users to reject or approve permissions from individual apps and individual functions within that app. You won't be hit with a big wall of permissions when you install an app anymore, instead when you use a feature, say the voice message recording inside WhatsApp, that's when it'll ask you for permission. You can still go into permissions for a given app and tweak them at any time, however.

Android Marshmallow: Web Browsing & Chrome

It wouldn't be new Android without at least some attention given to the web experience via the Chrome browser. Most notably Google has added "custom tabs" which allow Chrome to open up links to web content inside an app as an overlay, rather than jumping you out of the app entirely and into the full-blown browser, as has been the case until now.

This feature will allow app developers to customise the tabs to fit the look and feel of their own app design language, but will be directly linked to Chrome on that device and a logged in user account, preserving things like remembered passwords and login details - allowing for a seamless experience.

Android Marshmallow: Fingerprint Scanner 

Between the inlcusion of fingerprint scanners on a range of Android phones (including the new Nexus devices) and the rollout of Google's own Android Pay it was inevitable that some attention be given to fingerprint scanning and biometric security. Google's gone for standardised, built-in support for fingerprint authentication, allowing developers to make use of the feature for unlocking devices, logging into apps and content, and purchases via either webstores or points-of-sale in bricks n' mortar retail outlets.



Android Marshmallow: Android Pay & Mobile Payments

Speaking of which, Google went into more detail about its own specific platform; Android Pay. "Simplicity, security and choice," are the buzzwords here. The firm explained that you'll be able to sync the service with your existing credit and debit cards and, as expected, it's partnered with a wide range of retailers and brands (although emphasis is, currently, on US retail).

Android Marshmallow: Battery Optimisations

We heard about Doze some time ago when Google previewed Android M - essentially it will use onboard sensors to detect when the phone has been un-used for a while and goes into a specially tailored low-power sleep mode, which switches off a bunch of power-hungry background processes. Naturally the new USB Type-C is integrated for rapid charging.

Material Design: New App Drawer & New Animations

It's not a big visual overhaul but Material Design has been tweaked a little, most notably the new animations designed to make everything even more visually integrated, intuitive, and seamless. On top of this a new app drawer design is much cleaner, features vertical scrolling, discretely colours itself the same way as your wallpaper, and prioritises your most-used apps at the top. Lastly, Google has added a more seamless homescreen rotation functionality, and options for toggling this on or off.

Android Lollipop Now Running on 12.4 Percent of Active Devices: Google



The market share of Google's latest version of Android, Lollipop, has been slowly but steadily increasing since its launch last year. As per the latest numbers from Google, Android 5.0 Lollipop and Android 5.1 Lollipop now cumulatively account for 12.4 percent of active Android devices.

Google publishes its Android distribution numbers every month, based on data gathered from the Google Play store app, which supports Android 2.2 and above. For its latest report, lists active devices that checked into Google Play during the seven-day period ending June 1.

As mentioned before, in this period, Google found 12.4 percent of active Android devices ran Android Lollipop, specifically, 11.6 percent ran Android 5.0, while 0.8 percent ran Android 5.1. This is up from 9.7 percent overall (an increase of 2.7 percent) in May, with 9 percent for Android 5.0, and 0.7 percent for Android 5.1.



Devices running Android 4.4.x KitKat registered 39.2 percent share of active devices, a fall of 0.6 percent from the 39.8 percent in May. Android Jelly Bean on the other hand (v4.1.x to v4.3.x) was spotted running on 37.4 percent of active devices, dropping 1.8 percent from 39.2 percent in May. Android 4.1.x is seen on 14.7 percent devices (down from 15.6 percent), Android 4.2.x on 17.5 percent (down from 18.1 percent), and Android 4.3 on 5.2 percent devices (down from 5.5 percent).

Android 4.0.x or Ice Cream Sandwich, in Google's June latest numbers, registered a share of 5.1 percent, down 0.2 percent from May's 5.3 percent. Android Gingerbread (v 2.3.3-2.3.7) and Android 2.2 Froyo's device distribution shares are 5.6 percent (down 0.1 percent) and 0.1 percent (the same as May) respectively in the report.The OpenGL version, on the other hand, saw OpenGL 2.0's share drop from 64.1 percent in May to 63.0 percent in June, while OpenGL version 3.0 rose to 35 percent from to 34.5 percent in May. OpenGL version 3.1 registered a share of 2 percent.

Sony Xperia C5 Ultra, Xperia M5 Selfie-Focused Smartphones Launched



Sony, as expected, has launched the Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 camera-focused smartphones on Monday. The Japanese company revealed that both the new handsets will be available in single and dual-SIM variants.

Both the Sony Xperia C5 Ultra and Sony Xperia M5 (alongside Xperia C5 Ultra Dual and Xperia M5 Dual) will be available in select countries across emerging markets starting mid-August. Sony is likely to reveal the pricing of both the handsets at launch locally. The single-SIM and dual-SIM variants are identical in terms of specifications, with the exception of the latter sporting two SIM card slots.

Much like Sony's Xperia C3 selfie-focused smartphone, the newly announced Xperia C5 Ultra is also targeted at selfie lovers and sports 13-megapixel front and rear cameras. Both the front and rear cameras are accompanied by LED flash modules and include Sony's Exmor RS sensor. Some of the camera tools on the Xperia C5 Ultra include video stabiliser, auto scene recognition, 25mm wide-angle lens (rear) with an 80-degree field of view, 4x digital zoom, full-HD video recording, image stabiliser, geotagging, and red-eye reduction among others.



The smartphone features a 6-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) IPS display powered by Sony's Mobile Bravia Engine 2. The company touts that the handset sports a "near borderless" display.

The Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Xperia C5 Ultra is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek (MT6752) processor clocked at 1.7GHz coupled with ARM Mali760 GPU and 2GB of RAM. The handset packs 16GB of inbuilt storage which can be expanded further via microSD card (up to 200GB). Unlike Sony's other mid-range and premium smartphones, the Xperia C5 Ultra doesn't sport water and dust protection. Connectivity options on the handset include GPRS/ EDGE, GPS/ A-GPS, NFC, Glonass, Bluetooth, Wi-Fi, Micro-USB, 3G, and 4G LTE (not available in all markets). It packs a 2930mAh battery; measures 164.2x79.6x8.2mm and weighs 187 grams.

The Sony Xperia M5, on the other hand, is touted to be a mid-range "waterproof Android smartphone." It features IP65 and IP68 certification making the handset water and dust proof. Much like Sony's flagship smartphones, the Xperia M5 also features a cap-less USB port.



Much like the Xperia C5 Ultra, the Xperia M5 also features a 13-megapixel front-facing camera with Sony's Exmor RS sensor. The smartphone sports a 21.5-megapixel rear camera with what Sony calls "Hybrid autofocus" and a f/2.2 lens. The rear camera offers 5x image zoom, 4K video recording, auto scene recognition, image stabiliser, and geotagging among other features. It features a 5-inch full-HD (1080x1920 pixels) display.

The Sony Xperia M5 is powered by a 64-bit octa-core MediaTek Helio X10 (MT6795) processor clocked at 2GHz with 3GB of RAM. It features 16GB internal storage which can be expanded via microSD card (up to 200GB).

The Android 5.0 Lollipop-based Xperia M5 supports GPRS/ EDGE, 3G, and 4G (not available in all markets) connectivity options. The smartphone packs a 2600mAh battery.

Commenting on the launch, Tony McNulty, Vice-President, Value Category Business Management at Sony Mobile Communications said, "We are pleased to present two new products that highlight Sony's advances in camera technology. We understand that camera capabilities are important to smartphone users, so we ensured that Sony's existing camera brilliance was once again surpassed in the new Xperia C5 Ultra and Xperia M5 without compromising on other features across design and performance."

Download and Install CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop for Samsung Galaxy S5



Samsung is now drawing closer to the final phase of the Android 5.0.2 Lollipop rollout for the Galaxy S5. The South Korean manufacturer started the Android 5.0 Lollipop rollout for the Galaxy S5 in December last year and has managed to extend the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to users in most regions around the world by now. Unfortunately, Android 5.0.2 Lollipop isn’t the latest Android version anymore as Google recently revealed the Android 5.1 version. Since Samsung isn’t done rolling out the Android 5.0 Lollipop update to most of its smartphone lineup, it will definitely take a few months before the Android 5.1 Lollipop update is pushed out to users. However, thanks to the extensive developer support that the Galaxy S5 enjoys on XDA developers forum, the smartphone has received an Unofficial CM12.1 port, based on the latest Android 5.1 Lollipop version.


How to Install Unofficial CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop custom ROM on Samsung Galaxy S5 :

 1.  The first thing that you will need to do in order to install the Unofficial CM12.1 Android 5.1 Lollipop ROM on your Samsung Galaxy S5 is to download the ROM ZIP file from this link. If you have the US Cellular Galaxy S5 variant, you will need to download the ROM from this link. Since CM12 doesn’t include any Google apps or services by default, you will also need to download the GAPPS package ZIP from this link. Download and save both the files on your computer.

 2.  Once both the above files have been downloaded to your computer, connect your Samsung Galaxy S5 to the computer using the USB cable. Now transfer the above two files to the internal storage on your Galaxy S5. Make sure that you transfer the files to the internal storage and not the external SD card as you will not be able to flash these files if you transfer the two files accidentally to the SD card. It is also recommended that you transfer these files to the root directory of the internal storage so it becomes easy for you to find these files later on when you need to flash them via recovery.

 3.  After you are done transferring the files to the internal storage of your Galaxy S5, unplug it from your computer. Now turn off your Samsung Galaxy S5 and boot into recovery mode.

 4.  Once you have entered recovery mode, tap on the ‘wipe data factory reset’ option to perform a factory reset. When the factory reset is complete, tap on advanced options to individually wipe the cache, dalvik cache, data and system partitions as well. This is a very important step and should be followed each time you install a new Custom ROM on your Android smartphone or tablet. In future if you are simply upgrading to a newer version of the same ROM, you will only need to wipe the cache and dalvik cache.

 5.  After you are done wiping everything, return to the main recovery menu and tap on the ‘Install zip from SD card’ option and choose the Unofficial CM12.1 ROM ZIP file that you had transferred to the device’s internal storage earlier. Flash the file and wait for the installation to complete.

 6.  Once the ROM ZIP file is flashed successfully, flash the GAPPS package in the same way.

 7.  Now tap on ‘reboot system now’ to reboot your device.

That’s it. You should now have the Android 5.1 Lollipop Unofficial CM12.1 custom ROM running on your Samsung Galaxy S5.

In case you find a bug you wish to report or there is anything else related to this ROM that you wish to discuss, you can follow the official ROM thread on XDA at this link.


Download PicLab - Photo Editor v1.6.2 apk Android app




Add beautiful typography, apply stunning filters and photo effects, and add an ever-growing collection of shapes, light FX, textures, borders, patterns, and more to your photos and share them to your favorite social networks!

The app was designed with you in mind. Making it fun and effortless to edit your pictures is our goal.

PicLab Features:

• Typography
- Choose from a wonderful collection of fonts from some of the best designers in the world.
- Easily resize, rotate, and adjust the opacity of text.
- Multiple text layers to create beautiful typography

• Photo Filters
- Apply one of our 9 gorgeous photo filters - with many more stunning filters on the way.

• Photo Effects
- Adjust the brightness, saturation, contrast, blur, and exposure of your photos.

• Overlays and Masks
- Choose from a collection of over 100 (and growing) shapes, borders, overlays, textures, and more to add that extra flair to your photos.

...and More!

We can't wait to see your creativity in action with PicLab! Use the hash-tag #PicLab on Instagram and Twitter if you'd like to share your photos with the community :)

Download PicLab Android App :

Download Turbo Wheels v1.0.4 apk+data Android Game




Turbo Wheels is the most exciting mini cars racing game where you don't need brakes, they just slow you down.

Choose your favourite car, they are plenty and fully upgradeable, each with their own unique handling and style!

Experience more realistic car engine optimized for Android devices and get ready for a winners race, because the second place is the first loser!

Features:

* 25 unique mini cars in five different categories (Sport, SS, GT, Formula & Classic)
* 4 different countries (Brazil, Japan, Canada & UAE)
* Over unique 16 tracks
* 4 different race modes (Race, Time, Coins & 1 vs 1)
* Race against the opponent car 1 vs 1 to unlock his car
* Hours and days of exciting gameplay


Support
Turbo Wheels is a graphically intensive 3D game, and although it runs well on many devices, we recommend 1 GB RAM and dual-core processor for an optimal gaming experience.

Download Turbo Wheels Android Game :