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Windows computers can be complicated and challenging for the average user to keep running smoothly at all times, but it's not impossible. Multiple variables at play can ruin your user experience and system performance, making it sometimes tricky to pinpoint precisely what's happening. For example, junk files cluttering your internal storage can build up over time and slow things down. You can also have a system infection or virus on top of that, adding yet another layer of problems. This guide will take you through some of the most common troubleshooting steps for computer slowdown.
Amazon isn't exactly impartial when it comes to tablets... you may have heard about this little thing called the Kindle Fire. But they aren't ones to let competition get in the way of a little profit, which is why the latest update to their storefront app includes compatibility with a plethora of new Android tablets, including the coveted Nexus 10. Previously it was limited to Android 4.1 tablets with very specific resolutions. The free app is available on the Play Store.
Since its launch, we've had bittersweet feelings about the Amazon Mobile app for Tablets. The app shows promise as a tablet-friendly shopping solution, but until now has suffered an extremely limited compatibility, only working with tablets running 4.1 and up and carrying a 1280x800 resolution.
It's always exciting to see a new app hit the Play Store intended for tablets, but it's even better to see an existing app's UI updated to accommodate larger devices. Looking to bring Android tablet users a more aesthetically pleasing experience when reading the news, the New York Times Company today updated its app to version 3.0 with an interface that is no longer just a blown up version of its phone-centric counterpart.
Android's tablet-optimized app selection being what it is, we're always excited to see a useful new app get revamped for bigger screens. It's true that a separate app package isn't technically necessary for transitioning to a great tablet layout, but Amazon has taken a step in the right direction, having just released Amazon Mobile for tablets to the Play Store.
It seems like the Android world is getting a ton of extra tablet love in the past few months. Today, Skype joined the party by finally introducing an optimized UI for those of you with a little more screen to love. While the new look is nice, it bizarrely forces your slate into landscape mode. Even on the Nexus 7, you have no choice but to use the wider layout. This probably isn't a bad thing, since it looks great in this mode, and might seem cramped otherwise. Still, this is the only app outside of games we've seen do this, so it's a little jarring. Unless you're on a 10" device that already defaults to landscape mode, in which case you probably won't notice much.
OnLive, a hugely popular on-demand gaming service which came to Android late last year, announced tonight the release of L.A. Noire: Touch Edition, which Founder and CEO Steve Perlman dubs "BY FAR the highest-performance game ever designed for tablets."
With today's Motorola XOOM release, we are finding ourselves searching for apps and games optimized specifically for larger screens and raw Tegra 2 power. It doesn't look like we'll have too much trouble, as quality games have already started pouring into the Market.
While browsing some new arrivals this afternoon, I noticed that Qik, one of the large players in the mobile video chat business, today released an app called Qik for Samsung, clearly targeted at users of Samsung Android devices. Qik has been releasing apps customized to certain classes of devices, or even individual ones, for as long as I can remember, starting with the EVO 4G last year, so seeing yet another variant doesn't surprise me (see Qik for Sprint, Qik for T-Mobile, and Qik for Atrix).
CNN is not the only news organization with a tablet-optimized Honeycomb app - USA Today today (ooh, 2x "today"s in a row, it must be your lucky day) jumped on the same bandwagon with their own take on what a tablet news app should be like. News, Money, Sports, Life, Tech, Travel, Photos, and Weather sections are available, and... well, there is not much else to say about this - it's a news app on a larger screen. You can find the download links towards the bottom of the page.
If you remember, during Google's Honeycomb showcase in the beginning of the month, one of the tablet-optimized apps demoed was made by CNN. Considering CNN is one of the Honeycomb/XOOM launch partners, the new app showed up in the Market like clockwork for an easily digestible price of free. For those who need a refresher, here's the video from the presentation again:
The raw power behind NVIDIA's soon-to-be ubiquitous Tegra II chipset makes for some interesting possibilities when it comes to gaming. However, there are certain pitfalls when one manufacturer leap-frogs the competition. Being the first to market in this latest generation of system-on-chips, NVIDIA has developers and exclusives pretty much at their beck and call. Who are you doing to develop for, the company with a multitude of devices hitting the market right now, or the "other guys" without any firm release date? NVIDIA's in a strong position right now, and it's going to do its best to solidify that.
Google's Mobile blog (as well as their Finance blog) announced an update to the Google Finance mobile webpage on your Android (or... iOS) smartphone. The changes certainly aren't subtle: Google has streamlined finance to appear very similar to all the in-browser Google mobile web-apps. As an Android user, you may be asking why Google bothered - there's already a Google Finance app on the Android Market. The answer? The website, simply put, is just a lot more awesome.