Ryan Whitwam
Ryan is a freelance tech writer, skeptic, lover of all things electronic, and Android fan. In his spare time he reads golden-age sci-fi and sleeps, but rarely at the same time. His wife tolerates him as few would.

18
Jun
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Minuum Keyboard launched an IndieGoGo campaign back in March, and by the time it was over in April, the developers had raised almost $90,000. That's 873% of the goal. It was a big vote of confidence from Android users, but Minuum promised something unique – a keyboard that takes up only a tiny strip of screen real estate, yet still provides all the functionality you need. It sounds crazy on the face of it, but what if it's not just smoke and mirrors?

The beta app has been launched for IndieGoGo backers in Google Play, exactly as promised. Let's see if it lives up to the hype.

18
Jun
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Most Android phones have big batteries these days, but that doesn't mean they always have enough juice for today's go-go smartphone user. Luckily, ZeroLemon has just started selling gigantic batteries for the Samsung Galaxy S4 and LG Optimus G Pro. Sometimes form has to take a backseat to function.

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18
Jun
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A great cheer rose up from the internet early this month when Samsung posted listings for the Qi wireless charging accessories compatible with the Galaxy S4. The cheer then quickly faded into a confused murmur as everyone realized you couldn't actually order them. The accessories have been listed as backordered ever since. At last, the white replacement back and the Samsung-branded Qi charger have shown up as in stock.

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18
Jun
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We like to keep an eye out for deals, and there is nothing more consistently wallet-friendly than the Humble Bundle. Not only can you get a killer deal, it's charity so you can feel good about spending the money, too. Humble Bundle 6 has arrived with more cross-platform games that will work on your Android device.

This time the assortment of games looks better than ever. Pay any price and you get Pulse, Stealth Bastard Deluxe, Organ Trail (note the spelling), Fractal, and Aquaria. If you pay more than the average (currently at $4.54 as this goes up), you get two more games: Frozen Synapse and Broken Sword: Director's Cut.

18
Jun
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You probably recognize the name Yandex by now. It's the Russian outfit that's been deploying alternatives to Google services in recent years, and has actually been doing a reasonably good job at it. After recently making the home screen replacement Yandex.Shell available to everyone, the company has set its sights on mobile browsers with Yandex.Browser.

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This browser has all the basic features you'd expect in any modern app, but it does a few interesting things. There is a customizable visual shortcut manager called Tablo that lists your most visited sites. Also on-board in the first release is data compression to reduce bandwidth consumption.

18
Jun
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Sony's current flagship might not have the same stellar specs as the competition, but the Xperia Z has a few tricks up its sleeve. This device is slim, water and dust-resistant, and heading to T-Mobile USA later this summer.

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This is the standard Xperia Z, not the slightly watered down ZL that launched a while back. This device has a 1.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon S4 Pro, 13MP camera, 2GB of RAM, a 5-inch 1080p screen, and LTE (if you live in one of T-Mobile's few LTE markets).

This is technically an exclusive for T-Mobile, as no other carriers will be selling the device directly.

17
Jun
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One of the most popular fitness apps on Google Play has long been MyFitnessPal. This was true in spite of how it looked – the app's UI was absolutely awful, and performance left a lot to be desired. But no more. MyFitnessPal has gotten a new Holo interface in the most recent update.

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The developers of MyFitnessPal completely redesigned the app. Performance is considerably better, and you could legitimately call the design Holo (#YOLO). The way tabs behave isn't quite within the guidelines, but the overall vibe is much closer to the way Android is supposed to look in this day and age.

17
Jun
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Nuance comes at voice interactions in a slightly different way with Dragon Assistant than Google does with Now. Google Now is a search tool first and foremost, but there are some assistant-type functions grafted on too. Dragon Assistant is more conversational and handles a few complex tasks very well. In fact, it just got a better at a number of things. Nuance is releasing a big 4.0 update on Google Play.

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This version brings more automation to the app so you'll hopefully have to touch your phone even less. The wake up word for Dragon's speech recognition engine can now be changed to whatever you want, even "Computer" in your best Captain Picard voice, if that's what you want (it is definitely what I want).

17
Jun
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If you have a device running Android 4.2, there is literally no reason to avoid checking out DashClock Widget. This app comes from Googler Roman Nurik and it completely transforms your lock screen. Despite already being excellent, DashClock just got an update with more features.

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17
Jun
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When a moderately huge phone just won't cut it, there's the enormous LG Optimus G Pro. This 5.5-inch monster is LG's newest Android device and it can be yours for just $79.99 through Amazon. That's even lower than the Fry's deal last month for $99.99.

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The Optimus G Pro is a step up from its predecessor, the Optimus G. The G Pro has a 1080p 5.5-inch LCD, 2GB of RAM, a 1.7GHz quad-core Snapdragon 600, a 13MP camera, and 32GB of storage. They even tossed in an IR blaster. It runs Android 4.1.2, and can connect to Ma Bell's 4G LTE network.

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