Why is Smartphone Battery Life So Bad?

Phones have improved dramatically in the last ten years. Modern smartphones seem like a technology from an alien civilization when placed next to the original cell phones. But battery life hasn’t improved. In fact, battery life feels like it’s getting worse. Old dumb phones could run for a week or more on a charge, but modern smartphones often struggle to make it through an entire day. Battery technology doesn’t seem to be advancing fast enough....

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Why Do Carriers Delay Updates for Android But Not iPhone?

We’ve looked at the reasons why your Android phone probably isn’t getting updates before, and one of the reasons why is because each carrier must subject each update to a testing process before releasing it — if they ever release it. This causes Android updates trickle out carrier-by-carrier. But updates for Apple’s iPhone are available everywhere when they’re released — so what’s going on? Carriers Control Most Android Phones Android...

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What Android Data is Backed Up Automatically?

Much of the data on your Android phone or tablet is backed up by Google (or the individual apps you use) automatically. Your photos can also be backed up automatically, but aren’t by default. However, some data is never backed up automatically. We’ll explain exactly what data is backed up automatically and what isn’t, so you can rest easy knowing your data is safe – or take steps to back up some application data on your own. What Google Backs...

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How to Share Data and Files Between Your Android Phone and PC

Android doesn’t have an iTunes-like desktop program, so the process of syncing your data may not be as obvious as it is with an iPhone.  However, you don’t need a desktop syncing app — even iPhone users are leaving iTunes behind. While you can move files back and forth with a USB cable or wireless network connection, the ideal way to keep data in sync between your devices is by relying on online services that do the work for you. Transfer...

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Type Faster: 6 Tips and Tricks for Mastering Android’s Keyboard

If all you do with your Android phone or tablet’s keyboard is tap out words, you are missing a lot of great features. There’s more to learn about a keyboard than you might expect. Of course, you can just type out words without paying attention to any of these features — but mastering them will help you type faster and save time while entering text. Voice Typing If your hands aren’t free — or you just feel like dictating — you can tap the microphone...

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How to Install Android in VirtualBox

Click on image to enlarge Want to run Android on your PC? The Android-x86 Project has ported Android to the x86 platform from ARM. Android-x86 can be installed on netbooks with supported hardware, but you can also install Android in VirtualBox. Android can be run as just another virtual machine, like you would run a Windows or Linux virtual machine. This allows you to play with the Android interface and install apps in a full Android environment...

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