Web pages are becoming more and more complex, but browser vendors have been hard at work trying to offset that with performance and caching improvements. For example, Service Workers allow sites to cache certain data locally to speed up load times (or work offline entirely). 'Lazy loading' is another performance enhancement that has been in development, and now it has arrived in the Canary channel of Chrome.
Read MoreGalaxy S10 and Note9 cameras may use Samsung's new ISOCELL Plus tech for better low-light performance, color accuracy, and sharpness
Today Samsung has announced its new "ISOCELL Plus" technology, which aims to improve color accuracy and sharpness for the company's CMOS camera sensors. The "Plus" in this case replaces the metal grid over the photodiodes with a Fujifilm-designed material that absorbs and reflects less light, sharpening what each individual pixel can capture. That could give the upcoming Note9 or next year's Galaxy S10 even more accurate and clear photos, especially in low-light.
Read MoreGoogle now considers quality when ranking app searches in the Play Store
In a blog post today, Google has revealed that it has made some changes in how the company's search and discovery algorithms work. Now things like performance problems, crashes, and overall jank are considered when ranking apps. This is great for consumers, as it encourages developers to pay closer attention to the quality of experience their products present.
Read MoreHow Google plans to tackle power consumption even more aggressively in Android
Yesterday at I/O Google had an interesting talk called Background Check and Other Insights into the Android Operating System Framework. It's a long name, but really it's about improving battery life in Android. It went on at great length as to how, exactly, the team plans on doing that, and it's quite worth a watch. We have the video here, but if you don't have the half-hour to check it out, then you are welcome to read below.
Read MoreThe Tor Project's ooniprobe allows you to participate in the vigil against internet censorship
Experienced internet explorers will know about The Onion Router Project, and some of you may have even used it at one point (guilty). Regardless of your thoughts on it, Tor has always tried to stand for internet freedom. The organization frowns upon censorship and throttling, which is why it has released ooniprobe to help raise awareness for the issue.
Read MorePlay Store v6.7 Prepares To Preload Data For Faster Performance And May Hint At New Android Wear Features [APK Teardown]
As most of our readers know, an update to the Play Store rolled out a couple of days ago with a feature many of us have been requesting for nearly three years: the ability to join and leave beta test groups from within the Play Store. For reasons we can only speculate about, the join/leave capability was disabled about 24 hours later. While the headlining feature was covered in our original post, there are still a couple of interesting tidbits waiting for the teardown treatment.
Read More[Rumor] Google Taking Renewed Focus On Battery And RAM In Android M, Dev Preview Expected Again This Year
Photo credit: Jamie Pearson (CC BY 2.0)
As we all know, Google I/O is right around the corner. So far this year, we haven't seen too many early clues as to what Google will cover in its keynote (though Ars Technica's I/O tracker is a great place to get some ideas) outside of its new Photos app, but we do expect that Google will be telling us about Android M (internally called macadamia nut cookie or MNC).
The specifics of what Android M will bring to the table are still a mystery, but we've heard a few things that could make this an exciting update.
Read More
Google Removes Artificial 300 Millisecond Tap Delay On Mobile-Optimized Sites In Chrome 32 Beta
Did you know that the web browser on your phone or tablet waits three tenths of a second after you tap something to actually perform that action? You did if you're a web developer - it's a de-facto standard for mobile browsers, a built-in delay for the double-tap zoom function. But if you're on the newest Chrome beta, you won't see the delay, at least on mobile sites.
Why is this? According to Jake Archibald of HTML5 Rocks (a promotional and instructional project page from Google), it's because this delay is unnecessary if you're browsing on a page that's already optimized for mobile viewing.
Read MoreThe Best Of AP
Samsung Allegedly Boosting Galaxy S4 Benchmarks By Selectively Changing CPU/GPU Performance In Certain Apps [Updated]
Update: Samsung has posted an official response to yesterday's benchmark kerfuffle, explaining that the maximum frequency for the S4 is actually 533MHz, but that it is actually scaled down for "certain gaming apps that may cause an overload". The maximum frequency, according to the statement, is also attainable in "apps that are usually used in full-screen mode" like the gallery, S Browser, etc. This may not fully explain the explicit mention of certain benchmark apps in TwDVFSApp, but it is at least nice to see an official response to the situation.
Here's the full statement:
Read MoreUnder ordinary conditions, the GALAXY S4 has been designed to allow a maximum GPU frequency of 533MHz.
Futuremark Bringing PCMark Benchmark App To Android, iOS, And Windows Phone
Hardware enthusiasts are probably already aware of Futuremark and its PCMark software, a standard for testing and comparing computer hardware for years. PCMark is popular among reviewers and users for its comparison of hardware on standards that are more likely to reflect real-world, typical usage. Today Futuremark announced that it's bringing the software to the "Big three" mobile operating systems, Android, iOS, and Windows Phone. Futuremark's press release did not include a date.
Windows screenshot taken by Hardware Heaven
PCMark is designed for typical usage scenarios, unlike the more gaming and performance-focused PowerMark and 3DMark (which already has an Android version).
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