Moborobo Desktop Management For Android!

I have downloaded ‘Moborobo’ desktop management for Android tool on Win XP, you may have seen a recent review of swiFTP which i use all the time? This app however has much more to offer than just wireless file transfer upon first look! This review comes straight off the back of using the app for a minimal amount of time but has all the features you could want from a desktop sync management tool!

Upon first look it will provide you with a place to control your contacts, apps, pictures, SMS and more!

GO Launcher EX (snApp review)

If you are anything like me you will have tried a few of the alternative launchers available from the Google play store, there are many to choose from such as Launcher Pro, ADW, Apex, Mobo Launcher etc. I have tried a few but have settled on the excellent GO Launcher EX as a replacement to HTC Sense on my Sensation XE! Now there isn’t anything really wrong with the Sense UI but it doesn’t really tick enough boxes for me, I would love to use a mixture of both Sense and GO but I don’t think that’s possible.

GO Launcher EX is a complete makeover including theme support, homescreen effects, dock customisation and much much more to boot! The homescreen is the first noticable thing when you first start the application, icons magically change and a new shortcut bar appears on the bottom of the screen. You can change the transitions between screens with cube, barrel, star and many more effects.

 

Twitter Updated 3.2.0, Gets Notifications!

The official Android app saw an important update today and currently sits at v3.2.0, whilst i’m not a massive user of Twitter i do dabble and get the blog posted to the Antics twitter account and, I have a personal account where I follow people of interest from all walks of life. The thing I like about Twitter is the short messages posted and not a whole epic drama written for all to snooze over!

The connect tab has been updated to show both interactions and mentions in one place, the discover tab now shows who your friends follow, when their lists are updated and which tweets are retweeted and faved. Possibl the biggest update comes in the form of push notifications when someone interacts or retweets you.

 

Download the update from the ‘Play Store’

 

 

Chrome Browser For ICS 4.0 (snApp review)

After using the stock browser on ICS 4.0 for about a day and feeling really un-impressed with it’s limited features and bland looks, I decided to venture into the other browsers available! I used Mozilla firefox for a short time before i got fed up with it being slow and clunky. I don’t think the desktop idea has really tanslated well enough to the mobile version yet for me to be impressed, and this was deleted within two days!

Chrome Beta is only available on devices running the latest O/S IceCream Sandwich 4.0 and in certain countries, check with http://goo.gl/6ARvc to see if your country can get it yet?

If you are running ICS4.0 and want to download Chrome do so at ‘Google Play Store’

The browser is just that, a straight forward page viewer and isn’t fancy in the smooth, sleek or sexy department. It is however rather functional, it will link with the beta desktop Chrome version and show any open tabs from both devices on each others browser.

  

Pages look well rendered and clean, pages load quickly enough but when you have more than 2 tabs open it does slow down a little! The only beef I’ve had is the fact that the Chrome desktop browser can eat RAM rather quickly!

Dropbox Updated v2.1.3

I got an update to Dropbox v2.1.3 this morning it lists pereformance improvements and bug fixes, from what I can tell the app is markedly faster to navigate than previously. This update follows the 2.1 update recently which brought the below:

• Automatically uploads photos and videos in the background using Wi-Fi or data plan.
• Up to 3GB of free space for uploading photos automatically (in 500Mb increments).
• Upload files of any size.

 

Downlad the update from ‘Google Play Store’

Instagram Updated to v1.06

Instagram Updated to v1.06 brings the following:

• Various bug fixes
• Lux is now available on supported galaxy ace devices!

 

Download from ‘Google Play Store’

Fake Instagram Malware Threat!

Another fake app containing malware is doing the rounds now in the form of the massively popular camera app ‘Instagram’ which has only recently been ported to the Android platform in recent weeks.

 

Sophos revealed that the app has been listed on various websites for download and, seems to eminate from where most of the world’s other malware and mobile nastys come from, Russia! In tests run by Sophos the app didn’t even come close to emulating what the ‘real’ app does, it relies on the background sending of SMS to make the cyber criminals money.

Graham Cluley from Naked Security says, “Sophos products detect the malware as Andr/Boxer-F.

Android malware is becoming a bigger and bigger problem, of course. Just last week we reported on a bogus edition of the Angry Birds Space game that was being used in another attack.

It’s quite likely that whoever is behind this latest malware campaign is also using the names and images of other popular smartphone apps as bait.”

This is one reason i rarely download a popular app or game from anywhere other than Google Play

Rovio Updates Angry Birds Original!

Rovio have released an update to the original version of the massively popular game Angry Birds, 15 new levels have been released named Surf ‘n’ Turf and features pigs being bombarded on a beach by some ‘Angry Birds’.

For Rovio to release 15 new levels on their original product when they have just released Angry Birds Space just shows that the company really does have the end user at the core of everything they do! The update comes in at 16Mb so would be advisable to download over a wi-fi connection.

Download from Play Store

Angry Birds – Infected With Malware?

Have you ever used an unofficial App store for your android device? There are more sources for apps out there than just the Play Store, and some of these places aren’t as safe and respectable as we are led to believe.

Some version of Angry Birds – Space have been infected with a Trojan which allows cyber criminals to take full control of an infected device. The download is a fully functioning version of the hit game but also installs a malicious script which can be used to steal personal information such as banking details etc. The Trojan connects to a remote site and tries to install further malware on the device and can even be used in mass attacks on large corporations like Sony.

The download hasn’t been found on the Google Play Store but on other unofficial app stores, if the option to install apps from non market sources is ticked on your device within the security settings you can download and install from anywhere. Whilst the Play store isn’t a fortress against malware  and other malicious scripts it’s much more of a controlled environment than an unauthorised marketplace.

Graham Cluley writes on the ‘Naked Security‘ blog – “SophosLabs recently encountered malware-infected editions of the “Angry Birds Space” game which have been placed in unofficial Android app stores. Please note: The version of “Angry Birds Space” in the official Android market (recently renamed “Google Play”) is *not* affected.

The Trojan horse, which Sophos detects as Andr/KongFu-L, appears to be a fully-functional version of the popular smartphone game, but uses the GingerBreak exploit to gain root access to the device, and install malicious code.”

snApp Review – Winamp (Free)

After playing with the dull boring stock music player app I knew I had to find a free replacement, i tried MixZing but didn’t like it much. I use WinAmp on my desktop so I thought I’d give it a go on the mobile.

 

The first thing you notice is the UI, it’s much improved over the stock player and can be familiarised rather quickly. Buttons are self explanatory and all in one place without having to bring up secondary menus. Equalizer settings are only available in the pro version unfortunately so no cranking up the bass for me!

App Review – GMote

After many issues and a headache in trying to get the VLC Stream and Convert to work on my HTC Sensation XE i turned to Gmote, I wish I had done this sooner. I was looking not just for a VLC remote but a streamer to play files from my PC on my handset, Issues with rtsp protocols and ports prevented this with VLC Stream and Convert but Gmote worked right out of the blocks.

Install the gmote server from gmote.org then go to Google Play Store and download gmote for Android for your device. Install the .exe server file as normal on your PC and you will be prompted to add media paths to music and video files on your PC, your device will need these paths to read the files later on!