Nokia’s HERE Maps launched on Samsung’s Galaxy smartphones recently to offer “true” offline navigation and an alternative to Google’s preloaded Maps.

But the app was in testing only on Samsung’s smartphones even despite the leaked apk file that allowed us all to sideload the HERE navigation on non-Galaxy smartphones. Now that’s about to change – Nokia is releasing the apk for all Android smartphones so you can try HERE maps for yourself. Read more »

Apple published a switch from Android to iOS guide? Two can play that game – Google has a dedicated page that helps new users switch to Android.

It’s not Google’s first guide though, last year Eric Schmidt himself posted an iOS to Android guide. Read more »

The Samsung Galaxy Note 4 adopted the metal frame of the Galaxy Alpha but disassembling it doesn’t seem too hard if you know what you’re doing. The metal frame comes off with the back side of the device and brings the antennas with it. The middle part is the motherboard, which houses a collection of sensors and chips.

One of the more interesting discoveries from the internals of the Galaxy Note 4 is the confirmation that the 16MP optically stabilized camera uses a Sony IMX240 sensor, rather than the 16MP ISOCELL sensor made by Samsung. Read more »

One of the cool features of iOS is that the screen lights up whenever you get a notification. This does consume a bit more battery than just having a notification light but it’s far more informative, and you know not just what the notification is about but can also get a brief look at the contents of the notification, making it easier to decide if you should act upon it or ignore it.

With the updated lockscreen notifications in Android Lollipop, Google has now also added a feature called Ambient display mode. This will allow the phone to light up the display when notifications arrive. Even better, it will wake the screen when you pick up the device, similar to the Moto X. Read more »

Sony opened the pre-order books for the Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact in the United States. The IP68 certified compact slate is available to order directly from Sony’s official online store.

Only the 32GB version of the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact is available for pre-order for the time being. Read more »

The next version of Google’s beloved Gmail app for Android will feature a a lot more than new material design. Gmail 5.0 for Android is bound to make most email clients for the OS redundant by offering support for accounts beyond those hosted by Google.

Gmail’s hot new feature appeared in a short walkthrough video. Read more »

Thinner and lighter than an iPad mini, more resilient to water too. It’s the Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact, the third member of the Z3 family. Like the other two it’s waterproof and has front-facing stereo speakers, a Triluminos display and Snapdragon 801 chipset plus a camera with Exmor RS sensor.

There’s not much to the box – a charger and a microUSB cable. It may be worthwhile to invest in a magnetic charging dock or at least a cable so you don’t have to open the flap that protects the microUSB each time you want to charge the tablet. Read more »

Thanks to the hard work of very talented developers over at the XDA-Developers community, the LG Nexus 4 has received Android 5.0 Lollipop earlier than Google is rolling it out officially. In addition, you can now get all of the Google apps with the updated looks on your own phone.

However, only rooted users may apply and the apps won’t work on all smartphones. Currently, the latest Material Design Google apps that are available as downloadable .apk files include Play Music, Play Books, Keep, Calendar, Gmail, Drive, Maps, Messenger and Fit. Read more »

Angry Birds Transformers is the latest and tenth installment in the Angry Bird series of games. Made in collaboration with Hasbro, Angry Birds Transformers is based on the Transformers series, the original animated one, not the terrible movies made by Michael Bay.

After a soft launch the game is now available worldwide on iOS right now and will be available on Android at the end of the month. Anyway, let’s get on with the review. Read more »

Meizu’s fourth generation flagship is chilling in our office right now and we’re thrilled to take you through our hands-on experience. Right off the bat, the Meizu MX4 strikes us as a premium built smartphone with terrific handling.

Glossy plastic from former Miezu MX smartphones is a thing of the past now and the MX4 features a very high quality feeling matte plastic. The whole phone is very well put together and the metal frame really helps to achieve a premium in-hand feeling. Read more »

Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact has not even hit the shelves, yet you can already snag one with a sweet discount. Sony UK is already offering the IP68 certified compact slate on pre-order with £30 off and a case for 1p in the United Kingdom.

The promo brings the price of the entry-level Sony Xperia Z3 Tablet Compact with 16GB of built-in memory below £300. Read more »

The Nexus 9 has been put up for pre-order on the Play Store in India. India is one of the 22 markets worldwide that will be getting the Nexus 9 on day one.

The Nexus 9 is available in two configurations in India. There is the base 16GB version with Wi-Fi, that is priced at Rs. 28,900, and there is the 32GB LTE model that is priced at Rs. 44,900. The Nexus 9 is only available in the Indigo Black color in India for now. Read more »

The Sony Xperia E3 is Sony’s cheapest LTE smartphone on the market. It packs the usual set of characteristics for a lower-midrange smartphone, including a Snapdragon 400 chipset, 1GB of RAM, 5MP snapper and a 4.5″ 480x854px display.

The design isn’t as bland as the market position might lead you to believe – Sony has gone with a blend of the Xperia M2 Aqua and Z3 Compact and added four color options, including Yellow and Copper. Read more »

Android and Chrome OS just took another step to becoming unified. According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, the search giant appointed the VP of engineering for Android, Hiroshi Lockheimer to also lead the equivalent Chrome team.

According to WSJ’s sources, Mr. Lockheimer will specifically head the development of Chrome OS, not the web browser. Read more »

Twitter has announced a new feature called Audio Cards. This will allow users to discover music from their favorite artists and then play it within the app itself. The feature is available on both iOS as well as Android.

Audio Cards appear as regular tweets on your timeline with the track. You tap on the track and it starts playing within the app with album art and playback controls. You can minimize the Audio Card and continue to browser your timeline. Read more »