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LifeLock is a company that claims it can protect consumers from identity theft, but it found recently that its own apps might be part of the problem. The company bought Lemon Wallet late last year, gaining control of its mobile wallet apps on iOS and Android. Now those apps have been pulled from their respective app stores after concerns over the safety of data stored in them. Oops.
There's still no standard for connected devices around the home, but Belkin's WeMo home automation system is a pretty popular option. The Android app hasn't wowed users in the past, but it's getting an update today that might (I hope) address some of those issues.
Another week has arrived, and with it comes an assortment of apps and games with reduced prices. These deals could go away at any moment, so you'd better get to it and snap them up.
It's hard to be Sprint these days. Its LTE rollout is lagging way behind the competition, it's losing subscribers and cash fast, and everyone is making fun of its "Framily" plans. That's too bad, but Sprint isn't going to get back in our good graces by charging money for things we already have or don't need in the first place. That's just what it's doing with the new Total Equipment Protection (TEP) Plus plan.
The rumors surfaced last week, and AT&T made it official yesterday evening. The telecom company has agreed to pay nearly $50 billion in cash and stock for satellite TV provider DirecTV. If approved by regulators, the new AT&T would have control of about 26 million TV subscribers.
Koush has certainly been busy since his departure from Cyanogen Inc. After getting AllCast working on the Fire TV with a receiver app, the AllCast Receiver is now in Google Play for use on any Android device. This essentially makes your device a streaming target in AllCast, letting you send media from one device to another.
Apple and Google have been fighting it out over patents ever since Android devices went on sale. Until today, that involved more than 20 ongoing lawsuits (in the US and Germany) between the two technology behemoths. In a joint statement earlier today, Apple and Google have announced all that is over. They will be ending the patent cases and will instead work to reform patent law.
We wouldn't let you ride off into the sunset after a long week without some new apps and games. This is important stuff. Not only do you get to save some money, but you get to help some hardworking developers do their thing. Everyone wins.
In some ways, the food truck is the closest thing we have to hunting wild game in an urban setting. It's food, but it moves. How are you supposed to find food that moves? With the NomNom Finder app, which has just arrived on Android.
Google changed the policy for app refunds from 24 hours to 15 minutes a few years ago, but Android users eventually adjusted to it. There is still a less prominent way to seek a refund after the 15 minute window if you have a legitimate gripe – it's tucked away in the Play Store order history. However, at some point recently, Google changed the way these refund requests worked.
HTC's software versioning is a little more complicated than it is with other Android OEMs. You might have Android 4.4.2, but be lacking many of the features found on a newer device because you have an older version of Sense. HTC can, and does, update these independently. Such is the case with last year's HTC One – some versions of the M7 are getting Sense 6 today to go with their KitKat ROMs.
One of the most popular ways to make use of Google Voice on Android has long been GrooveIP. This app was able to route voice calls on a device through Google's free IP call service. Google finally ended third-party access to Google Voice yesterday, but GrooveIP was ready with an alternative.
The Galaxy Tab 3 might not be the best line of tablets available, but this is a legit deal. The Tab 3 10.1 is still listed for $300 on Amazon, so this refurbished deal is a good value if you're looking for big, cheap tablet. That's how we like 'em – big and cheap.
California lawmakers have been working on a bill for some time that would require a so-called "smartphone kill switch" in every phone, but Minnesota has beaten California to the punch and become the first state to enact such a law. It mirrors the California law very closely, but goes a step further by banning some cash sales of used phones.
The people behind Pressy have been keeping quiet in the last week or two as the most recent estimated ship date came and went with no almighty Android buttons arriving at backers' doors. Nimrod Back has now updated the Kickstarter page to explain the issue, and it's not particularly good news.
You've got a few choices when you need to know what song is playing in the background, but today there's another reason to choose SoundHound for your audio identifying needs. Version 6.0 brings a new interface to song, album, and artist pages. There are also a few more small tweaks.
Nearly every phone sold in the last few years has a 4G LTE radio, but when you place a call it's still falling back to traditional 3G technologies. The all-IP voice technology known as VoLTE (voice over LTE) is still in the early days, but AT&T is beginning its rollout this very month on May 23rd.
In some emergency situations it might not be practical or possible to make a voice call to 911, but starting today, you might have another option. It took a bit of wrangling with wireless carriers, but the FCC's deadline for having the necessary wireless infrastructure in place is today. That doesn't mean everyone will be able to text 911 yet, but the pieces are in place.
The top-down dual stick shooter has been a staple of mobile gaming for years, but that doesn't mean it's all played out. JoyJoy from Radiangames has a neat look and customizable controls. Oh, and there are no in-app purchases, an increasingly rare attribute.
That shiny new HTC One M8 is supposed to come with 50GB of free Google Drive space, but what gives? AT&T is holding out on us. It was actually just a bug that popped up last month, but AT&T promised it would be fixed by mid-May. Here we are right about the middle of May, and the fix is rolling out.