How can you improve the security of your smartphone beyond that of a regular old password, swipe gesture, and even the occasional fingerprint scanner?

How about having your phone recognize your specific touch behavior, and shutting down when anyone who isn’t you, tries to use it? Read more »

Developers are always working on making smartphones easier to use, and one of the best ways to do that is providing quick access to the features you use most on your device.

That’s the goal of Cover, the lock-screen application that social media giant, Twitter, has recently acquired. Read more »

The latest M release of the CyanogenMod 11 version is out and brings some improvements and fixes for several irritating bugs. Version M5 comes just on schedule, one month after the M4 hit devices.

The software is available for download but you’d need to check if your device is eligible. You can do that here. The US Galaxy S III (D2lte) and International Snapdragon 600-powered Galaxy S4 (Jflte) devices will not get the M5 release just yet because the CM team needs to iron out some issues with those devices ahead of the release. Read more »

Nokia finally started making Android phones but made sure the interface looks anything but Android. This includes a Windows Phone-like start screen and Nokia’s Fastlane feature from the Asha handsets.

Smartphone users are perhaps not familiar with it, so the company released a video demo of it running on the Nokia XL. Read more »

It’s no secret that app stores on all platforms have their fair share of fraudulent apps. Most of these apps will take your money and do nothing of what they say in the description or are free to install but end up doing damage in other ways, such as by selling your information or straight up installing malware.

The open nature of Android’s Play Store means it has been an easy target for scammers who don’t have to pass any security checks as one would have to on Apple’s App Store. This probably explains why there are so many antivirus apps on Android. But what happens when an antivirus app itself tries to scam you? Read more »

Microsoft revealed its newest operating system – Windows Phone 8.1 at its BUILD conference in San Francisco. One of the most talked about features of the WP 8.1 is its virtual personal assistant, dubbed Cortana.

During the announcement of WP 8.1 OS, Joe Belfiore confirmed that Cortana will be available in the US at first with the UK and China following up next. However, tech enthusiasts have found a way to use the service, regardless of where you roll. Read more »

Google is rolling out a new feature to its Google Play store dubbed People. You know how you see your friends’ +1s on certain apps in the Play Store? Well now those apps have their separate own tab.

The People tab utilizes Google+’s recommendations in the Play Store in its mobile form and has its very own certain style – shown above. On the web Google Play store you can see the same reviews and ratings by your friends with the “From Familiar Faces” option. The new feature is rolling out as we speak so you might want to check your Play store to see if you have it already. Read more »

It has only been a week since Microsoft launched its Office suite on the Apple iPad but it has already been downloaded more than 12 million times.

Microsoft seems really pleased by this so it went on Twitter to boast a little. Office offers free viewing Word, Excel and PowerPoint documents. In order to edit and create, however, one would need to shell out $10 a month for Office 365 subscription. How many of those has Microsoft secured since the apps became available on the iPad isn’t disclosed. Read more »

Apple didn’t introduce fingerprint-scanning technology in handhelds but it did make it hip again when it transformed the iconic iPhone home button into a Touch ID scanner in the iPhone 5s.

It must have generated the needed attention because other manufacturers were quick to add in their own fingerprint scanning tech. More recently, Samsung also made the leap with its Galaxy S5 flagship’s home button. But how do both technologies stack up? Read more »

Ever since HTC announced that they will be selling a Google Play edition of the HTC One M8 through the Play Store, there have been speculations on how HTC would handle the hardware and software specific features on this particular model, especially the Duo Camera feature.

Although the company clarified that the feature will work on the Google Play edition, we were still curious as to how it will actually work on the phone. Well, we can stop wondering now as Droid-Life has a video showing just how HTC has handled the new features on the GPe ROM. Read more »

CyanogenMod has unequivocally been the most popular custom ROM for Android devices. The company behind it became so popular that last year it received a $7 million funding and became Cyanogen Inc.

Keeping up with their new image, the company has introduced a new logo that shall henceforth be used with their name. Along with the name, the logo has a hexagon with a C and an arrow around it. The hexagon stands for the user, which is why it is prominently placed in the center as it is the focus of the brand, the C stands for company and community as it brings the two together and the arrow points forward towards the future. Read more »

Google’s Project Ara is well on it’s way, and big G has revealed some more information about the exciting new build-your-own-smartphone adventure.

We’ve got video released straight from Google below, after the jump. Hit it to see the cool things the Californian search engine overlord has in store. Read more »

Keep users rejoice: Google has given it’s note-taking service a major update.

It’s now at version 2.2, and will get a whole new slew of features, the most instantly recognizable of them being a way more colorful visual upgrade. Read more »

Microsoft introduced its new WP 8.1 mobile operating system at its BUILD conference in San Francisco. Jeo Belfiore, the head of Windows Phone group while demonstrating the Windows Phone 8.1 features with Cortana voice assistant also revealed that the Skype application for WP has been updated. The new version is not yet available for the general public, but it should launch in time for the WP 8.1 debut.

The latest version of Skype for Windows Phone 8.1 comes with support for Cortana voice commands. This means you can tell Cortana to Skype one of your contacts and the virtual assistant will launch the application and call whoever it is that you need without even having to touch your smartphone. Pretty cool indeed. Read more »

Line, the instant messaging app from Japan, has announced that it reached 400 million registered users, after hitting the 300 million mark in November last year. Note that “registered” is different from “active” users, a number which Line did not unveil.

The instant messenger boasts that it now has over 10 million users in 10 countries (including the US). Read more »