Best 5 Free Browsers for Android in 2013

Browser is inevitably becoming an important web tool to get great web experience on smartphone and tablets. Certainly there are many choices of android web browser, but what is the best web browser for android is really a confusing thing. Here I would like to suggest the best 5 free browsers for Android from my point of view.

1.Dolphin Browser/Mini
Dophin can be one of the top rated and fastest android web browsers. Featured tabbed browsing along with Dolphin Connect, you can easily sync and send contents (links, phone numbers, maps and more) between your mobile and desktop browsers. Besides, you can sync history, passwords, and bookmarks and open all the tabs that are currently running on all the other synced devices. Also, the ‘voice search’function Sonar supports speech-to-text. What’s more, you can use gestures and third-party plug-ins and tools to extend its features. It includes HD version which gets all of its features and Mini version for device to get speed.

Bad things: No Adobe Flash support and bad HTML 5 support

2.Chrome for Android
Google Chrome is one of the best and most reliable web browsers for desktop, so is it for both smartphones and tablets. The thing will be automatically synced between the pc and mobile devices simply by sign in with your Google account. It still remains the ‘incognito mode’ of desktop version. The speed and the compatibility with most web sites are very good. Also, you can easily add your favorite bookmarks with it.

Bad things: Requires Android 4.0+, no native support of Adobe Flash and takes up a lot of memory.

3.Opera Mobile/Mini
As one of the oldest web browsers, Opera is fast, smooth and easy to use. It can be easily adapted from Desktop version to mobile UI. The Opera Link can also sync the contents (Speed Dial screens, bookmarks, tabs and others) between desktop browser and the mobile one. In addition, it has built-in support for Twitter and Facebook sharing. The text wrapping makes it convenient to read news. Best, the Opera Turbo can help you save data by detecting slow connection and compressing websites with Opera Software Turbo servers. Also, it includes two versions. Apart from those, Opera can be the flash player for android device.

4.Firefox Browser for Android
If you just want to find a smoother alternative to Dolphin Browser, Firefox is without doubt a great option. Packed all the features from the desktop variant, Firefox Browser for Android is fast and smart. Firefox Sync will bring you your favorite sites, bookmarks, passwords and history on your phone/tablet if you use Firefox on the desktop. Also, you can customize it with add Add-ons/ extensions to block ads, download YouTube videos and more. It's the first mobile browser to truly support Do Not Track, and the "Awesome Page" start screen that shows you all of your recently visited tab. Also, it has Adobe Flash support and best HTML5 support.

5.Boat Browser/Mini
Boat Browser is a fully customizable Android web browser. You can easily change the buttons locations, install add-ons and set Volume Buttons and more. Besides, you can use the Bookmarks Manager tool to create new folders, drag /drop contents, delete / import / export and sync multiple files at the same time. The powerful voice control engine is very helpful and if you say “Twitter” and the browser will bring up Twitter for you. If you like the customizing browser, Boat is definitely your taste.

So which one do you want to use?

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Dual Boot Your Android Phone between Different ROMs

Have you tried installing multiple ROMs on Android Phone to experiment different experience? It is really amazing if your phone is rooted. But it will be annoyed to flash and re-flashing new ROMs just to try them out, so can we find a way to dual boot Android Phone between ROMs, such as dual boot Android and Ubuntu? Answer is yes，we can use some Android apps to do the job . Just let’s see the detailed operations.

Boot Manager($2.99)
Boot Manager has been used in the past all the time for dual booting your phone, and it let you flash the new ROM to your SD card so that you can try out multiple ROMs in your phone.

How to Use it?

• Download the ROM zip files that you wanted to install to your SD card
• Download and install the Boot Manager(Ensure that you make a nandroid backup of your current ROM before), back up your boot.img and click "Install ROMs" to choose the zip file you have saved. (check all three boxes: Wipe System, Wipe Data, and Wipe Cache.)
• When finished, download the Google Apps zip file for the ROM you just installed and go back to BootManager to install Google Apps' zip file just as the step one. (Leave all three "wipe" boxes unchecked). Also, you can install other add-on zips with this method.
• You can switch between ROMs by going into BootManager and choose "Boot Installed ROM".

BootManager cannot support every Android phone, at the moment it can only support Samsung Galaxy Nexus, some HTC devices and Moto devices.

Safestrap(Free)
Safestrap is a CWM recovery program that allows you to toggle between your stock system and your custom ROM. You can create up to 4 virtual ROM-slots for flashing ROMs. 

For the details to use Safetrap, you can refer to detailed Safestrap instructions at droidforums since the process is kind of complex.

Now if you have tried one of the method, you can freely experience different ROMs on your Android phone.

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How to Download and Install Facebook Home on Any Android Phone or Tablet?

Last Friday Facebook has launched its new and immersive app Facebook Home , which is officially available only on Samsung Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, HTC One, HTC One X and HTC One X+ and only in USA.

The new app Facebook Home is designed to replace your home screen that makes your social networking connections the star of your phone. The app can conveniently display your Facebook news feed with scrolling images and quick access to Facebook Messenger and app drawer. But the cons are no widget support, wallpaper cannot be changed and the app consumes high Internet data and memory.

Although the rate of the new app is not positive, but if you just want to try out the Home or find the fuss of it, but you don’t own one of the supported devices above mentioned, just follow the below guide which lets you easily download and install Facebook on Android devices.

Note: The guide works well on Xperia S, Xperia T, Samsung Galaxy S Duos, Nexus 7, Galaxy S2, Xperia X8 and many more. And also for both rooted and non-root devices.

• Uninstall the Facebook and Facebook Messenger app on your Android (If you have installed). For pre-installed Facebook device, you need to root to do this step. 
• Download the Facebook and Facebook Home apk (.rar file), extract it to SD card.Also,download the Facebook Messenger apk file to SD card of Android. 
• With a file manager, install the official Facebook app (com.facebook.katana), the Facebook Home launcher (com.facebook.home), and the Facebook Messenger app (com.facebook.orca) in sequence.
• Enable Facebook Home under Facebook app settings and reboot your device.

Warning: Installing the app could break things, so if you have issues, reboot into recovery and "wipe the Dalvik cache"

Now you have the latest Facebook Home launcher on your Android device, and just enjoy it.


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Feel the BlackBerry 10 on Your Android Phone or iPhone

Are you curious about the new Blackberry 10 run by Blackberry Z10, but meanwhile you are not deciding to change from your iPhone or Android phone? Or you just want to try out the new blackberry OS before buying one? Good news for those of you, you can preview the Blackberry 10 just on your own smartphone including both iPhone and Android smartphones.

To feel the main features of Blackberry 10, just open any browser on your smartphone, and go to BlackBerry.com/glimpse to catch a glimpse of BlackBerry 10.But note that, instead of freely previewing the OS actually, this is more a premeditated walkthrough which require you to follow a set of pre-determined actions.

From the glimpse, however, you can still get the firsthand insight into what great features can be brought by the BlackBerry 10, and virtually experience some of the software’s cool functions, such as predictive virtual keyboard, the Hub, BBM Video and Screen Share and the Time Shift camera.

It seems the predictive virtual keyboard is an attracting point, that means, you may don’t need to install the third keyboard apps. In the other hand, people who are used to using the SwiftKey or others may not pay attention on it.

The Time Shifting camera means when you’re snapping up an image, the camera actually takes a bunch of images in a rapid succession. This feature is really useful.

In addition, there may be some other amazing features for you. Actually, BlackBerry 10 offers us a new way of thinking with the different features, and this preview service also gives us the chance to test out the new OS, to know the difference of it.

The experience may not be particularly fluid, but if you really have interest in Blackberry 10, just test out and feel the good of the new OS.


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Samsung Galaxy S4 vs LG Nexus 5: Buy the Galaxy S4 or Wait for Nexus 5?

We have got the details of the Samsung Galaxy S4 on Mar.14, and the amazing science fiction features just make us have an impulse to buy it. But just wait, do you have heard of the rumored Nexus 5，the next generation of Nexus 4? There is no need to say that how success that Nexus 4 is, so what about the Nexus 5, which is said to be launched in October? Will it bring new surprise? And should you Buy the Galaxy S4 or Wait for so-called Nexus 5? Although Google hasn’t confirmed the device, but next，let’s still explore something about Samsung Galaxy S4 vs LG Nexus 5.

Specs 

	Samsung Galaxy S4	Rumored LG Nexus 5
Display	4.99” 1920 x 1080 Full HD Super AMOLED Display(441ppi)	5.2″1920×1080 OLED Display(440ppi)
CPU	International version:1.6 GHz Quad-core A15 +1.2GHz Quad-core A7;Samsung Exynos 5 Octa US version: Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 APQ8064T;1.9Ghz Quad-core Krait 300	a quad-core 2.3GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 800
RAM and Storage	2GB RAM;16GB/32GB/64GB;up to 64GB expanded storage	3GB LPDDR3 RAM; 16/32/64GB of internal storage
Camera	a 13MP rear camera;a 2MP front camera	a16MP rear camera (4k video recording @30FPS); a 2.1MP front camera (1080p video recording @30FPS)
Battery	removable 2600mAh battery	3300 mAh Lithium Polymer battery
OS	Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean(Which is confirmed to update to Android 5.0)	Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie

Undoubtedly, from the specs, we will find that LG Nexus 5 seems the ideal of the smartphone，and it is just hard to believe the so-high specs. But who knows, Galaxy S4 can give us the fiction feeling, maybe Nexus 5 can really mix these high hardware.

Software

We know, Samsung Galaxy S4 bring us the Smart Scroll/Pause, Floating Touch, S Translator, S Voice Drive and other S series. And the software offers us more convenience, while Nexus 5 may be similar as Nexus 4, the pure Android 5.0, known as Key Lime Pie, which is expected to launch in May at Google I/O. So, we may need to wait for the Android 5.0 to know the new features. Besides, the LG Nexus 5 would be controlled through a series of gestures to perform tasks like navigation and zooming.

Ending

There are not many things about LG Nexus 5, but the things leaked here is enough to give you a reason to wait for it. The choice about Nexus 5 and Samsung Galaxy S4 may be mainly stay on mainly the timely Android and the price.

Just wait for my update.

Samsung Unveiled the Sharp and Unbeatable Features of Galaxy S4

Finally, the long-anticipated and high-end smartphone Samsung Galaxy S4 was debut today. You may have heard of some Galaxy S4 rumors, but there are some fascinating features unveiled on the “Samsung Unpacked” event that you have never got. So, what’s the specs and features of this new Galaxy phone that may compete with iPhone?

Galaxy S4 Specs

Weight and Dimensions: Appeared with 136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9mm, Galaxy S4 only weight 130g,which makes it undoubtedly comfortable for people when carried with the large device.

Display and OS: With Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean, Galaxy S 4 features a 4.99-inch (12.67cm) 1920 x 1080 Full HD Super AMOLED Display boasting an intense 441 ppi pixel density.The display is obviously very great for video playback.

CPU: International version includes the 1.6GHz Quad-core A15 and 1.2GHz Quad-core A7 featuring Samsung Exynos 5 Octa while US version is packed with 1.9Ghz Quad-core Krait 300 featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 APQ8064T.

GPU:International version comes with a 3-core and 533Mhz PowerVR SGX 544MP3 GPU while American version includes an Adreno 320.In terms of GPU, because of different CPUs and Samsung give the different match.

RAM and Storage: Galaxy S4 offers 2GB RAM and also gives you three internal storage models: 16GB/32GB/64GB.If you don’t think it is enough, S4 has a MicroSD card slot which allows you expand the storage up to 64GB.

Battery and Connectivity: Galaxy S4 features a removable 2,600mAh battery that provides 500Ah more juice than the battery in the Galaxy S3.The phone will be available with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, 3G, 4G LTE and TD-LTE, as well as NFC, to be all fast and truly accessible. Besides, it supports the infrared function for TV-watching.

Camera: Galaxy S4 also has the high-pixels cameras covering a 13MP rear camera and 2MP front camera.

Galaxy S4 vs HTC One vs Nexus 4 vs iPhone 5?

Click to enlarge the image

Galaxy S4 sharp features

Smart Scroll/Pause
You may have heard of the rumored eye tracking technology, and it is finally designed for S4 with the name of Smart Pause. The technology allows the handset’s front facing camera to track your eye movements to determine when to dim the screen or pause videos when you’re not looking. Amazing?

Floating Touch
Another awesome feature of the S4 may be the Floating Touch which is very similar as Air View used on Galaxy Note. With the Floating Touch you can interact with the touch screen by hovering your fingers just a few centimeters above it without the S Pen. The features is generally used for E-mail, Calendar, photo album.

Camera features
The 13MP rear camera supports auto focusing, and better, both the rear and front camera will have zero shutter lag. The dual-camera feature makes it fun to shot and display photos and videos from front and rear facing cameras simultaneously. The imaging technology, “Samsung Orb”, based on "Photosphere" ,will allow for panorama imaging, as well as 3-D-like photography. Besides, you can use the Sound and Shot feature and Drama Shot feature to get more enjoyment.

Other Smart Features
Except for the Smart Scroll/Pause and Floating Touch, Galaxy S4 brings other smart features. S Translator help you communicate with local people when in foreign; Adapt Display help you adjust the screen to the best whatever you are doing; S Voice Drive takes voice commands while driving, and turns up the size of text; Smart Switch lets the contents transfer to the computer and sync to S4. Air Gestures lets you operate the screen with gestures and more.

Thoughts

Undoubtedly, Galaxy S4 is an eye-catching device.With the awesome specs and smart features, the phone pays more attention to the smart inactive between people and the device. The phone is said to be release in the late of the April and the price is still the mystery. Galaxy S4 will sell well, but can it be over the iPhone?


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Enjoy YouTube on TV with the feature “Send to TV”of YouTube app

Do you want to view YouTube videos or YouTube music videos on your TV? Maybe you have tried YouTube XL through the Internet, which is another interface for accessing YouTube, except everything is huge. But there is another easy solution to watch YouTube on TV from your phone or tablet via Xbox 360 or PS3 or Wii. That is the "send to TV" feature of the YouTube app. The feature supports Android and iOS, even Windows Phone 8 smartphones. Following is the simple guide of how to watch YouTube on TV with the YouTube app.

Step 1: Get the YouTube app coming with whatever device you will connected to your TV. Here we take the Xbox 360 as an example.

Tip: Except for Xbox 360, you can choose other devices including an Android phone or tablet, and a PS3, or a Wii, or even an Internet-connected smart TV that includes an up-to-date YouTube app. You can check the devices on Google’s compatible devices list.

Step 2: Go to the app’s YouTube settings on Xbox 360. Click the option for pairing devices to generate a nine-digit number.

Step 3: Open up the YouTube app on your phone or tablet(paring device), go to setting, and select “Pair YouTube TV”. Enter the nine-digit number generated by the Xbox 360, add Your TV name.
Note: Windows Phone 7 based devices and Windows Tablets are not the compatible devices of the "send to TV" feature.

Step 4: If the phone is paired with Xbox 360, a little TV button will pop up at the top of any video you watch on the mobile app. Tap it and select your TV from the list and then the video will start right up on the big screen.

If you want to pause or adjust playback or even jump the video back to your phone, you can tap the TV button again on your mobile app and select the phone from the list.

This method is very helpful for people and it is easy to do it.It is something like Apple's AirPlay video streaming,but it is more convenient.Whether you use Android or iOS, you can enjoy the YouTube videos on your TV.Just enjoy the fun.


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How to Switch From iPhone to Android?

Nowadays, many best Android phones like Galaxy S3 and the special sharp features of Android system may attract you very much, but you are just an iPhone guy. The iPhone or Android? It is a question for you. You may have ever thought of the switching from iPhone to Android, but whatever, when you have decide to move to Android, you need to do something to sync data to your Android. Here are some tips.

Warning: Since Android apps and iPhone apps are not compatible, so you cannot get any iPhone apps when you move to Android.

1.Set Google account

Use Gmail as your default email client on your Android device .Go to Menu> Settings> Accounts> Sync > Add Account> Google. Create a new Google account or just finish the existing information to associate your Gmail account with your new phone.

2.Sync Contacts and Calendar

• On your iPhone go to Settings>Mail, Contacts, Calendars.
• Set up a new "Microsoft Exchange" account or add Gmail account by going to Add account > Gmail.
• Input your email address and login info.
• Select "Server" then either input the ME server address or "m.google.com" for Gmail.
• On the final screen, select what you want to import—Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and/or Reminders—then hit Accept.

If you prefer to use the iTunes to sync the contacts, then you can following the next steps.

• Connect iPhone to your computer and open iTunes.
• Select your iPhone from the list on the left pane and select the "Info" tab
• Check "Sync Contacts With" and then choose "Google Contacts" from the drop-down
• Enter your Google log-in info when prompted then hit Apply to sync.
• After that, double check your contacts at www.google.com/contacts to make sure they're showing up in Google.

Make sure you disable the Sync With Google option when you've finished otherwise the system will dump redundant entries into your contacts list.

3.Sync Photos, Music and Videos

For syncing photos and videos, you need to sync them to the computer at first and then sync them from computer to Android phone.

Windows:

• Connect the iPhone with the PC.
• Right-click your iPhone, select Explore and copy the media files to your desktop.
• Connect the Android phone with PC, and drag and drop the iPhone photos and videos to your Android pictures folder DCIM, music goes to Music. 

Mac: 

• Connect the iPhone with the Mac.
• Open the Image Capture and download these files to the desktop.
• If you are using new Android runs ICS or above, download Android File Transfer Utility to your Mac, and then drag-and-drop.

Android can't sync with iTunes, so after the syncing of media,you'll need an alternative service to load new media onto the device. You can use Google Play  to help you load your collection directly from iTunes.

Alternative way

Or you can use the DoubleTwist or other third party app to sycn music to Android, and you can syncyour photos with Picasa or Flickr, because you'll still be able to see them from your phone.

4.Sycn SMS and voice mail

You need a app to help you sync SMS messages. The free app My SMS is the good option which syncs text messages among your various devices—phones, tablets, laptops, and whathaveyou—and is compatible with both Mac and Windows. Download the app on both phones and follow the setup instructions and the app will easily help you do that.

For the voice mail messages, you just need to pay some money. Programs like PhoneView (Mac - $30) and iExplorer (Mac and PC - $35) can be quite helpful. You'll be able to copy not just voicemail to the desktop, but also your call history, contacts, bookmarks, notes, and media files as well with them.

5.Enjoying Android Apps

When you have done all above, just experience the Android apps.You can go to the free Google Maps GPS Navigation to feel step-by-step driving directions or voice-enabled, turn-by-turn navigation;you can talking to your Android phone by running voice searches;you can use the Google Voice app to make and receive calls from within Gmail, manage your text messages and voice mail on your PC, and block individual numbers from calling you;you can go to the Google Play store to choose the apps and game...Try to get the best Android experience.

How to Unlock the Android Device if You Forgot the Passcode?

Sometimes you may just make the mistake when setting our new passcode or others, and also you don’t remember the PIN number, so you cannot enter into the smartphone or the tablets, so how to unlock an Android? What will you do unlock an Android phone or tablet? Following are some solutions to get back to your device.

Solution 1:Google Account Confirming

Android devices is heavily integrated with Google, and when you first turned on your device, you were likely asked to sign up for, or link, a Google account to your device, which does good to unlock you device if you forget the password or pattern.

Tip: If you have not sign up or add Google account to your device, just go to Settings >Accounts>Add account>Google> Existing or New to set the Google account.

In this way, all you need to do it is to enter your passcode incorrectly five times and then click the new button pop up that says“Forgot Passcode? Or Forgot Pattern? Or something like that”, and then you should be asked for input the Google Account name and password , after you have gotten in, you can set a new password.

This method requires you to remember the Google Account information, if you don’t, go to www.google.com/accounts/recovery to reset the password of your Google account.

NOTE: Make sure you are either connected to mobile network or Wi-Fi.

Solution 2:Safe Mode setting

Some Android devices offer a ‘Safe Mode’ to boot into a simplified home screen without apps, but have access to settings, where you may be able to reset the screen lock.

For entering the safe mode, you need to press the Power button to get the on/off window or press and hold the physical button to get a safe mode option. You may be reboot to enter into safe mode on some device.

Note:This way doesn’t work for all Android device, but it is worthy to have a try.

Solution 3:Using the app"Screen Lock Bypass Pro"

Sometimes both the above methods are not working at all, you just have another option. Let the app Screen Lock Bypass Pro($4.2) to help you bypass the lock screen and reset/remove your screen lock password, pattern or PIN.

• Unplug the charger from your device.
• Login to the Web based Android Market using your PC.
• Using the Web Market, install this application to your registered device.
• Once installed, plug your charger into the device to activate the bypass.
• Once bypassed you will see an "Activate" button. Click it, and your screen lock will be reset.

Note: The app requires the device to be online and registered to your Google account.And it is also not worked for all devices.

Solution 4:Factory reset

Warning: Doing a factory reset will completely wipe your device’s memory, and return it the way it was when it came out of the factory. If you your device has a removable memory card, just remove the card.

•  Press and hold the combinations below until you feel the device vibrate:  A. Power button + Volume up and down (if there is a physical Home button)  B. Power button + Volume up + Home button (If there is a physical Home button)
• You may see the droid (green robot) or Android Recovery screen.If you have seen the droid, just press the volume buttons until you see Recovery mode, and then tap the Power button, which will bring you to the Recovery screen.
• Press volume down until Wipe data/factory reset is highlighted. Press the Power button and it should start the rest sequence.

Another

If you just don’t want to take your device at risk, then, you can bring it into the store where you bought it from, and see if they have a way to help.


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Ubuntu Linus Focuses on Mobile in 2013

As now we know, the mainstream of mobile operating systems include iOS, Android and the controversial windows phone. Previously as the open-source OS for PCs and TVs, the second system for PC, Ubuntu Linus is making its way to the smaller screen according to its parent company Canonical’s announcement.

Ubuntu for Android
Designed to coexist with Android on users' multicore smartphones, Ubuntu for Android was announced in early 2012, and provides the full Ubuntu desktop experience when the phone or the tablet is docked with a keyboard and monitor but the rest of the time, the phone runs Android as usual. All data and services are shared between the Ubuntu and Android environments, that is to say, all your apps on your android device is available on Ubuntu.

It gives people the chance to use the android device as both a mobile or a PC and it is obviously more than an app.

Ubuntu for phones
The office website just announced the new totally free open mobile system Ubuntu for phones, which is targeting two core mobile segments, one is the “high-end superphone,” and the other is the entry-level basic smartphone.

Different from Ubuntu for Android, Ubuntu for phones aims to offer the friendlier UI featuring the use of thumb gestures from all four edges of the screen, and application choosing both voice and text commands .Also, the software can support native and Web or HTML5 apps and the apps can run independently without the browser just tapping the special icon. Besides, ARM and x86 processors are both available on the new interface.

Ubuntu Smartphones
As Canonical announced the Ubuntu phone OS, it also announced that its plans to deliver Ubuntu-powered smartphones in late 2013. The details are not unveiled, but you can experience the similar UI using the software Ubuntu for Android.

The point of Ubuntu for mobile is when the phone or tablet is connected to a display and a mouse, you can get a complete desktop computing experience but will also get a limited mobile operating system on the go. It is a very creative conception but it seems that the operating system market is kind of crowded. Will it be a winner in 2013 in face of the strong Android?