Android

The Most Important Gadgets of 2013

Every year, we’re hit by yet another wave of new gadgets. Some of them are good, a lot of them are bad, but a very select few manage to be important. Here are the gadgets that had the biggest impact on the technological landscape in 2013. The following are listed in no particular order, and…

WSJ: Google and Audi Are Working on In-Car Android

The Wall Street Journal is reporting that Google has been working with Audi to develop in-car entertainment and information systems based on Android—and the pair plan to make an announcement at next week’s Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. The newspaper explains that the announcement will also detail collaborative efforts with other manufacturers—it specifically names…

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Well, one holiday week has drawn to a close, and another is nearly upon us. Frankly, that means a slow-ish week for apps. And yet! There were still some notable newbies to the app scene. Download these babies and let your phone feel as bloated as you do. Multi-Platform Updates Translate Powered by Translate.com, this…

Google Play’s Giving Away Yeezus And Much More For Free

Google Play is celebrating the end of 2013 by giving away a bunch of free stuff — including Kanye’s latest album Yeezus and CHVRCHES’ The Bones of What You Believe. Along with the free albums, Google Play Music has a bunch of free “best of 2013” singles and free favorite songs that didn’t necessarily come…

LG G Pad 8.3 Google Play Edition Review: Android’s iPad Mini

Your pure-Android tablet options at present are a decidedly mixed bag; you’ve got the terrific seven-inch Nexus 7 2013 edition on one hand, and the aging 10-inch Nexus 10 from late 2012, just crying for an update. There’s a lot of room in between for something Goldilocks might like. https://gizmodo.com/nexus-7-2013-review-the-best-small-tablet-even-better-947533058 So, Google did the same…

How to Make the Switch from iOS to Android

You’ve been hanging back, waffling back and forth. Android or iPhone? But it’s decision time, and you’ve made the call: it’s time to trade in the Cupertino Kool-Aid for some Kit Kats. Here’s how to do it right. Contacts and Calendars Migrating your contacts and calendar dates from iPhone to Android is as simple as…

How to Make the Switch from Android to iOS

Android is a fine OS, but the lure of a new iPhone may be too much to resist. If you’re going to make the switch, you won’t want to leave any scrap of your precious mobile identity in Android’s cold robotic embrace. Here’s how to pack up everything you’ll need to bring to your new…

Our Favorite Android, iOS, and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Gizmodoers, the holidays are upon us! And it’s a safe bet you’re either traveling somewhere, or waiting for people to travel to you this weekend. Either way, plenty of time to sit around and play with your phone. Here are some new toys to stuff your phone’s stocking. Multi-Platform Updates Plowz It’s driveway-shoveling season, and…

Google Just OKed a Phone That Runs Modded Android Out of the Box

You like to mess with your phone? Unlock that bootloader and flash some ROMs? Soon there’ll be another option for would-be tinkers who want to run mods. Google just approved the first ever Android phone to run the ever-popular Cyanogenmod right out of the box. The hardware’s not new. It’s literally just the Oppo N1—a…

Google ‘Started Over’ on Android the Day the iPhone Launched

Apple changed the mobile industry with the iPhone, and has been known to suggest that others have copied it along the way. Now, one of Android’s original software architects admits that Google had “to start over” the day the iPhone was announced. When the iPhone was launched in 2007, Andorid had already been in development…

What Do Your Android Reader Apps Know About You?

When you read a book or an article on your Android device, how much power—and access to your personal data—are you giving the app? A new comparison of 17 of the most popular reader apps, compiled by Matt Bernius, answers that question, and in some cases users may be revealing much more than they think.…

Every Android Phone, Ranked

There are something like one million Android phones for every person on the planet right now (plus or minus one). Most of them suck. Many are great. Here’s the definitive list that tells you which is which. Here are the ground rules. Every Android phone available on the websites of the big four US carriers…

Our Favorite Android, iOS and Windows Phone Apps of the Week

Feel that holiday spirit in the air? It smells like pine trees and whatever toy parents are beating each other up over this year. Share the giving spirit and present your phone with some sweet new apps. Multi-Platform Updates Viber This week’s update brings the ability to make VoIP phone calls to any phone number,…

Google Removes New Android Privacy Feature, Says It Was an Accident

Yesterday, we published a blog post lauding an extremely important app privacy feature that was added in Android 4.3. That feature allows users to install apps while preventing the app from collecting sensitive data like the user’s location or address book. https://gizmodo.com/the-awesome-privacy-tools-in-android-4-3-1481775527 After we published the post, several people contacted us to say that the…

A Hockey Stick Sensor Shows How Far You Are From Gretzkydom

When it comes to sports, they say it doesn’t matter if you win or lose, just how you play the game. And if hockey’s your thing, with the FWD Powershot sensor on the end of your stick you’ll know for sure if you played the game better than everyone else out there on the ice.…

The Awesome Privacy Tools in Android 4.3+

To date, there has been no way to run apps on Android with real and reliable privacy controls. Android version 4.3 and higher take a huge step in the right direction, letting users install apps while denying some of the apps’ attempts to collect the user’s data. Android was built from scratch to have quite…

Android Device Manager, Google’s desktop tool for finding a misplaced phone, finally has an Android app. Now you can locate your Android using your other Android. [Google Play Store via Lifehacker]

Nexus 5 Camera With Android 4.4.1 Test Shots: A Speed Focus Machine

The Nexus line’s reputation of bad camera phones seems to have stopped at the Nexus 5, but Google isn’t limiting the improvement to hardware. The Nexus 5’s 4.4.1 update took what was already a much better camera and improved its launch time and focus speeds by half a second. That may not seem like much,…

This Is Supposedly Nokia’s Rumored Android Phone

A few weeks ago, @evleaks popped out another very real-looking image of a handset nobody had ever seen before. This time it was an odd, red Nokia phone. According to the Verge, it’s not just any old Lumia Windows Phone: It’s Nokia’s long-rumored entry to the Android market. Say wah? The Verge’s Tom Warren cites…

​Moto G Review: The Best Cheap Phone, But Still a Cheap Phone

Cheap smartphones—we mean really cheap, off-contract smartphones—are terrible. They’re tormented by horrid, pixilated screens, they’re slower than your grandma, and they feel like they’re held together by Scotch tape. The $180 (off-contract!) Moto G is none of those things. It definitely has significant shortcomings, but put simply, you can’t get a better cheap phone. What…