A developer at Xiaomi has published an AOSP version of Android 4.4 KitKat for the Xiaomi Mi 3 and Mi 4. This is a strong indication that the company intends to officially release stock, vanilla versions of Android for a select number of phones for users to flash.

The ROM is compiled using the official kernel and as a result is stable and without too many bugs. In fact, just now, the latest published ROM includes support for over-the-air updates and the Xiaomi developer in question says upcoming updates will be available via the OTA. Read more »

PopKey is going to be a very special keyboard for iOS. The idea here is something along the lines of – why write words when you can simply send people animated GIFs instead?

That’s right, PopKey bills itself as “the world’s first animated GIF keyboard”. And it’s coming soon to an iDevice near you. Read more »

Google announced availability of the first set of Android apps for Chrome OS. The list of four applications includes Vine, Duolingo, Evernote, and Sight Words.

The apps’ availability is a result of project App Runtime for Chrome (Beta). Read more »

HTC’s been releasing many of its apps that are preinstalled onto its smartphones in the Play Store over the past few months. And today a new one has become available: the Sense 6 lock screen.

It follows in the footsteps of the Sense launcher, SenseTV, and the HTC Service Pack. Read more »

Google quietly extended the return window of apps from the Play store. Users now have two hours to decide if they want to keep their purchase.

The new timeframe is a drastic improvement over the previously offered fifteen minutes. Read more »

Microsoft has released a new version of Skype for Windows Phone 8 and Windows Phone 8.1 today. Skype 2.22 for Windows Phone has a new feature built-in: location sharing.

It also allows you to save pictures people send you, and control notifications for individual conversations. Read more »

The famous SwiftKey Keyboard app has finally made its way onto iOS for the Apple iPhone, iPad and iPod touch.

The popular keyboard app that has become well known in the Android community for its ability to make typing on touchscreen devices easy, brings its hallmark autocorrection and word prediction to iOS users. Read more »

Ever since Google launched Hangouts, people have been waiting for the company to truly incorporate voice calling features into the app. There’s been a way to use your Google Voice number (if you had one of those) to call people, but from now on things got a lot simpler. The requirement to have a Google Voice number is gone, basically.

Rolling out during the next few days, an update to the Hangouts app for Android will let you call people for free – if they also use Hangouts, or if they’re in the US or Canada. For those who use Hangouts on iOS or the Web, voice calls will be available the next time you open the app. Read more »

On stage at the iPhone 6 and Apple Watch announcement today, Apple announced the availability details regarding their upcoming Apple iOS 8.

Apple iOS 8 will be available as a free download on September 17. Read more »

The first public beta version of the Opera Mini browser for Windows Phone is now out in Microsoft’s dedicated app store. You can grab it and test it on your device, as long as it runs Windows Phone 8.x.

The beta was announced last week, when Opera prompted people to sign up in order to join its “beta testing group”. That seemed to imply that only those who signed up would be able to play with the Opera Mini beta, but that’s not the case – anyone can get it from the Windows Phone store. Read more »

WhatsApp, the popular messenger for mobiles that recently fell under Facebook’s wing, has received an update to its iOS version.

The latest build includes the ability to share slow-motion videos directly from within the app, add captions added to photos, and archive chat logs and contact groups. Read more »

Google’s Play Movies & TV app for iOS got treated to a significant update. Version 1.2.0 of the app brings offline movie playback to the Apple’s platform.

The app’s newly built-in functionality should appeal to those with limited amount of data in their wireless plan, or simply spend time away from less than perfect network coverage. Read more »

Sony unveiled the new Xperia Z3 on Wednesday, which brought some improvements over the Xperia Z2. The changes weren’t groundbreaking though (the 6-month update schedule means smaller upgrades) and now Z2 owners have even less to feel envious about since the Xperia Z3 launcher and widgets have been ported to Android 4.2 and above.

Owners of other Sony smartphones can join the party too, it’s not a flagship-only event. Read more »

Did you like the so called Color OS running on the Oppo Find 7 and Find 7a? Oppo’s take on the default Android looks and behavior was quite good, with lots of new eye-candies, features and services.

As of today Oppo is recruiting beta testers with LG G2 willing to test the Color OS ROM on their smartphone. Once completed, Oppo will launch the Color OS ROM to all compatibles LG G2. Read more »

Today Google has posted an official list of features it will add to the Android Wear platform before 2014 ends. The company has also confirmed once again that all smartwatches running Android Wear will get the updates as soon as these are going to be ready.

This is no surprise, as Google is pretty much in charge of the update process for Android Wear devices, looking to avoid the fragmentation situation that’s persistent in its smartphone and tablet operating system. Read more »