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Android software

Add shortcuts to your notification shade on Android

Widgets can make toggling Wi-Fi, GPS, or ringtone volume quick and easy. But what if you want more options to help you skip through app menus or even the Settings area?

1Tap Quick Bar is an app that will let you customize shortcuts to be added to your notification shade. You can also personalize the look and feel of the panel that gets added -- meaning you get to pick all the shortcuts from a huge selection.

Here's a list of popular features from the developer:

Direct dialDirect message1-tap direct Web page launcherApplication shortcutApplication launcherDirect e-mail labelNew event, new … Read more

How to stay safe at Black Hat and DefCon

LAS VEGAS -- From journalists hacking the press room Ethernet to RFID skimmers swiping your ID without even touching your credit card, the war stories you've heard about Black Hat and DefCon are true more often than not.

The best way to avoid getting hacked at the annual security conferences is to not show up. Go somewhere disconnected, like a nice mountain retreat, instead of hitting the paranoia pills with several thousand other security professionals and obsessives in Vegas' urban playground.

But if you must go to Sin City, there are some actions you can take to protect your … Read more

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean could be headed to more devices

Google's latest sweet Android 4.1 update, better known as Jelly Bean, looks to be rolling out to more devices, even as many are still waiting to be upgraded to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich.

Earlier today, HTC confirmed that Android 4.1 is coming to its HTC One X, One S, and One XL.

Not confirmed but just as compelling is the report from SamMobile that Samsung has begun testing Jelly Bean for the Galaxy S3 and could push an update to its new flagship phone later this summer. A little harder to believe is the report's additional contention that testing is also under way on the Galaxy S2, and that it could also receive Android 4.1 if all goes well with its successor device.… Read more

Three cheers for Android browser competition

This morning, I installed the Firefox 15 beta on my two favored Android devices: a Samsung Galaxy Nexus phone and an Asus Nexus 7 tablet.

Big deal, you say. Installing a browser. Ho-hum.

It shouldn't be a big deal, but it is -- because you can't install Firefox on an iPhone, an iPad, or a forthcoming Windows RT tablet.

But on Android, Google has chosen to let any other browser compete directly against its own. For that reason, I regularly use Opera Mini and Opera Mobile alongside Google's Chrome. The Dolphin Browser HD, installed more than 10 … Read more

MemShrink targets add-ons in Firefox beta

A plethora of changes land in Firefox for Android 15 beta, as its desktop counterpart moves its memory management improvements up a notch.

Firefox 15 beta for Windows (download), Mac (download), and Linux (download), brings the memory management improvements developed in Mozilla's MemShrink project one step closer to the stable version of the browser, this time focusing on long browser sessions and how add-ons affect Firefox. Nicholas Nethercote, a developer at Mozilla, wrote on his blog that Firefox 15 beta is likely to be "drastically" faster than Firefox 14, in some cases.

The changes in the beta … Read more

Indie Gala Mobile 2 bundles more good games for good causes

Need some new games to while away your flight, train ride, car trip, or time in line at the post office with?

In terms of bang for the buck, it's hard to beat a bundle. Like this one: the Indie Gala Mobile 2 bundle lets you set your own price for three (or more) popular Android games -- and support some worthy causes in the process.… Read more

Rovio puzzler Amazing Alex keeps you coming back for more

Amazing Alex (99 cents) for iPhone or Android is a physics game where you're challenged to create chain reactions with objects to complete objectives. Our hero, Amazing Alex, is a kid who's stuck cleaning his room and tries to get creative with organizing his belongings by building Rube Goldburg-like devices.… Read more

The 12 best Android camera apps around

As the de facto point-and-shoot camera reviewer for CNET, I spend a lot of time living in the world of automatic snapshots and easy post-shoot editing. While I can tell you several ways a separate point-and-shoot is better than a smartphone camera (and not just in picture quality), I'd be a lying liar if I said I never use my smartphone's camera when I'm shooting.

I'm regularly hunting for new apps that will allow me to do more and work efficiently. For a long time, though, it seemed like there was a complete lack of decent camera apps for Android. I remember trying to pull together a list of apps I liked about this time last year and I could barely come up with five. That's not the case anymore.

These are the dozen camera apps that I use most frequently, which I guess makes them my favorites. I have others that I use for various things (which I've mentioned in with my other picks below), but I keep coming back to these.… Read more

Restore contacts on Android after the Facebook e-mail sync

Still sorting out the Facebook e-mail sync kerfuffle that happened upon your defenseless contacts list? Luckily, Gmail will allow you to restore your contacts within 30 days of changes made to them. Google is known for having handy tools like this, but sometimes they're not in the most obvious place.

Here's how to get your contact e-mail addresses back from the cyber abyss:

Step 1: Make sure Facebook contact sync is now off!In the app, it will be under Menu > Settings > Sync Contacts. If you don't see the option, go back to your Home … Read more