| Updated: Top 225 best Android apps 2013 Dec 10th 2013, 14:43, by Paul Douglas 
Best Android appsWhether you've got an older Android device or one the latest Android-powered tablets or phones, there are plenty of choices when it comes to loading it with extra software. There's an app for pretty much everything these days, and it's easy to spend hours browsing the selection in the Google Play Store. That can be a downside as it can be a problem to separate the wheat from the chaff. That's why we're here. We've tirelessly trawled Google Play looking for the best downloads on offer - many of them are free but if there are apps that we think are worth the money we've included those, too. We've got alternative browsers, keyboards and music players, brilliant free games, apps for kids and a whole lot more. Read on for links to all of our roundups. 80 best free Android appsMost of the good stuff on Android is free, thanks to the work of developers who do it for love alone. From social networking apps to ones to inspire you with new ideas at work and at home, these 80 free Android apps should be any Android owner's installs... 
Read 80 best free Android apps 80 best free Android gamesWe've worked our way through a whole load of Android games to reveal the ones you should download to your phone or tablet, and these are our picks. 
Read 80 best free Android games 10 best alternative Android appsEven if you're using a phone layered down with a custom user interface like Sense or TouchWiz, there are many alternatives to your pre-installed tools and settings. These are our 10 favourite alternate Android apps. Read 10 best alternative Android apps 10 best free Android apps for kidsThere are plenty of child-friendly apps in the Android Market. From educational apps to fun apps, we've rounded up 10 your kids will love. 
Read 10 best free Android apps for kids 10 best office apps for AndroidAndroid has a wealth of productivity tools at its disposal, ranging from free and simple text editors and "to do" lists up to impressively feature-packed and rather costly suites of document management apps that promise PowerPoint and Excel editing on your mobile. Read 10 best office apps for Android Best Android browsersWe wouldn't recommend sticking with Internet Explorer on a PC unless you've tried out some of the alternatives, and you're doing yourself no favours if you've never ventured beyond the stock Android browser for getting around the web. We've listed eight of our favourites below. Read Best Android browser: 8 compared for speed and features Best Android keyboardsThere's an abundance of Android keyboards on the Play Store, and you can change them until you find one you like. With this in mind, we've selected nine of the best Android keyboards available . Read 9 best Android keyboard apps reviewed and rated Best Android music playersThe best way to unify your Android music player experience is to use one of the many standalone apps out there, all of which offer their own take on how to best make your MP3 collection sing out of your phone. Here are 10 of the best ways to get your mobile managing your tunes today. 
Read 10 best Android music players Best Android movie playersIf you have a relatively modern handset with a fast processor, the following media apps will spice up Google's rather boring movie playback options and widen your options when it comes to video viewing. Read 10 best Android movie player apps        |  | Samsung Galaxy S5 and Note 4 may ditch AMOLED for LCD Dec 10th 2013, 13:47, by Hugh Langley 
Samsung's tradition of packing its Galaxy and Note phones with AMOLED displays may have come to an end. The latest rumor is that Samsung is looking to fit PLS LCD displays on its future phones, including the Samsung Galaxy S5 and the Galaxy Note 4 – both of which are expected in 2014. According to G 4 Games, who picked up the story from the hit-and-miss etnews, the reason is that Samsung is looking to cut down on production costs. For your considerationThe important thing to note here it that Samsung is apparently only "considering" at the moment, so don't get too overworked by the news. But the reports state that Samsung could make a decent 20% cost cut by opting for PLS LCD over AMOLED, so it's no doubt a big decision for the company. Especially as, at the same time, Samsung is said to be looking to put AMOLED displays on its top-end Android tablets.        | | Blip: Android's menu button is now an EX-BUTTON says Google, again Dec 10th 2013, 11:50, by Kate Solomon 
While Android phones are still being made with a physical menu button on them, Google is making it pretty obvious that they're not wanted by shifting all functions to the on-screen capacitive button in KitKat. Writes Google engineer Adam Powell: "The menu button is not pining, it's passed on! The button is no more! It has ceased to be! It's expired and gone to meet its maker! It's a stiff! Bereft of life, it rests in peace! If you hadn't nailed it to a flagship device it'd be pushing up the daisies! THIS IS AN EX-BUTTON!!" Okay then. Just need those pesky manufacturers to get on board, eh? YouTube : www.youtube.com/watch?v=npjOSLCR2hEMore blipsLet's get physical with some more blips.        | | LG making iPad-mini-rivalling Nexus 8... maybe Dec 10th 2013, 10:01, by J Rogerson 
This isn't the first time that we've heard the Nexus 8 might be a thing that exists or that LG might be making it, but now we have more fuel to add to that fire. A recent tweet from @evleaks states that a tablet with the model number LG V510 is indeed a Nexus tablet and it backs that up with what seems to be an inventory manifest which shows that the LG V510 is a Google device. 
Seen it all beforeWhatever it ends up being, a manual for the device, leaked by the Japanese site RBmen, suggests that its specs will be very similar to those of the LG G Pad 8.3, including in 8.3 inch 1920 x 1200 screen, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of storage, a 5MP rear camera, a 1.3MP front facing camera and a 4600 mAh battery. The manual doesn't include the word 'Nexus' but it does state that the LG V510 will be running stock Android, which strongly suggests that it will be a Nexus device. We're still waiting on a Nexus 10 refresh but in the meantime we'd quite happily take a Nexus 8 to tide us over, if that is indeed what this is. - Can't wait for the Nexus 8? Then check out the Nexus 7.
       | | The world gets into big phones in a big way as Note 3 sells 10m Dec 10th 2013, 09:44, by Kate Solomon 
While the world at large may have poo-pooed the 'phablet' at first glance, Samsung's sales figures show that these big-screened phones are becoming more and more popular with every passing iteration. The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 has blown previous Notes out of the water by hitting 10 million sales within 60 days of going on sale, which isn't making anyone more enthusiastic about calling it a 'phonblet'. It joins such Samsung handsets as the SGH-T100, SGH-E250, Samsung Galaxy S, S2, S3, S4 and Note 2 in the Samsung 10 Million Sellers Club which isn't so much an exclusive club as a list of phones Samsung has made. Infinity and beyondThe Note 2 did pretty well for itself too, hitting 30 million sales back in October 2013 after going on sale a year before - at the Note 3's current speed, it should out-do its predecessor quite comfortably. Attentions understandably turn to future Samsung products, with the Samsung Galaxy Note 4 presumably currently in development - we don't expect to see that get its big unveil until IFA 2014 which, mark your calendars, kicks off in September. Not so long to wait for the Samsung Galaxy S5, though, which should be birthed after MWC 2014 in February, at which point we may also be treated to a Galaxy Note 3 Lite.        | | 64-bit chip is no gimmick for Qualcomm as it unveils the Snapdragon 410 Dec 9th 2013, 23:03, by Michelle Fitzsimmons 
We thought it might be in for a CES 2014 reveal, but Qualcomm has up and announced its own 64-bit mobile processor weeks ahead of time. The Snapdragon 410 may lead to a few puzzled looks as its number is lower than Qualcomm's top-notch chips (Snapdragon 600, 800, 805), but the 28nm silicon is actually aimed at an entirely different handset tier. The chipset, which features integrated 4G LTE World Mode, is destined for phones in emerging markets, namely the burgeoning Chinese scene. It's an interesting angle on the 64-bit space, especially since Apple's A7 mobile processor occupies a much higher handset stratosphere. But it's likely a very shrew move, too. What's more, we don't doubt 64-bit Qualcomm processors will make it to higher-end handsets before long. Snapdragon 410 specs and aimsThe introduction of the Snapdragon 410 is a bit of a red-facer for Qualcomm as its now-ousted chief marketing officer called Apple's 64-bit attempt "a marketing gimmick" with "zero benefit" for consumers. How does that crow taste, hmm? Crammed with an Adreno 306 GPU, the Snapdragon 410 will support 1080p video playback and up to a 13MP camera. Qualcomm noted the chip integrates 4G LTE and 3G cellular connectivity for all major modes and frequencies, essentially bringing 4G LTE capabilities to every corner of the globe. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, FM and NFC are all supported by the Snapdragon 410, and it will bolster GPS, GLONASS and China's BeiDou for nav purposes. As part of today's announcement, Qualcomm revealed its plan to make 4G LTE available in all Snapdragon families, a strategy aimed at giving emerging regions a shot at being better prepared for the global growth of hyper-speed mobile connectivity. Workable on all major operating systems, including Android, Windows Phone and Firefox, the chip is expected to launch commercially in the second half of 2014 in phones that cost $150 (about £91, AU$164) or less.        | | Samsung Galaxy S5 possibly benchmarked again, comes in behind iPhone 5S Dec 9th 2013, 22:57, by Michael Rougeau 
An unknown Samsung phone that may be the Galaxy S5 has popped up in another benchmark test after doing the same just last week. The phone in Rightware's Browsermark test comes with a slightly different model number; last week it was the SM-G900S, while this time it's the SM-G900F. Those could well be two different versions of the same phone on separate carriers, so don't discount this rumor on account of a single letter's variation. Interestingly though the Galaxy S5, which should be Samsung's most epic flagship yet when it launches next year, lost to the iPhone 5S and the Galaxy Note 3. Second place is first loserThe Browsermark test flexes various aspects of a device's web-browsing capabilities and assigns it a score and ranking based on its prowess. The Samsung SM-G900F, which may or may not be a version of the Galaxy S5, scored a 3303.88, lower than the Note 3's 3353.07 and the 5S' 3669.91. 
But another version of the Note 3 with a slightly different model number came in just below the Samsung device, and Sony's Xperia Z1 was under that. But Rightware, the administrators of the Browsermark benchmark, noted that the Samsung device in question was running a slightly outdated version of the Chrome browser at the time the test was conducted, and that may have affected the results. Galaxy S5 specsWhen a similarly-numbered Samsung device appeared in a different benchmark test last week it arrived with some interesting specs. Those included a a 2560 x 1440 display, a 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon 800 processor, an Adreno 330 GPU, and Android 4.4 KitKat. There was also speculation that given the resolution the phone could have a 5.25-inch screen with pixel density at 560ppi, as rumors last month said of the S5. If it's not the Galaxy S5 we're looking at in these tests, it could actually be any number of handsets - Samsung has a total of four or five new phones planned for early 2014 already.        | | Android 4.4.2 already hitting Nexus devices, just days after 4.4.1 update Dec 9th 2013, 22:32, by Chris Smith 
Some poor folks have to wait years for an Android update to hit their devices, but owners of Google's Nexus phones and tablets have now been gifted two in a week. Just days after the Android 4.4.1 update landed on the company's own-branded phones, version 4.4.2 of KitKat is reportedly showing up on devices like the Nexus 5 and Nexus 7. However, all is not as it seems. Judging by early reports, it appears that the 4.4.2 update is a replacement for Android 4.4.1, which may not have been entirely stable. The change log for the update is identical to 4.4.1 in that it promises improvements to the Nexus 5 camera, with faster shooting, less motion blur and shutter lag, along with some general bug fixes. Replacement goods?According to the official forums of US network Sprint, it appears that Google may have pulled the previous update, fixed some of the bugs and relaunched it under the moniker 4.4.2. So far, Android Police reports, the update is showing up on the Nexus 4, Nexus 5, Nexus 7, Nexus 10. Have you seen the update his your Nexus device yet? Have you spotted anything new? How's that camera working on the Nexus 5 now? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. Speaking of the Nexus 5, have you checked out our review of the handset?   | | Nokia's new BH-121 is a Bluetooth stereo headset that looks like an iPod shuffle Dec 9th 2013, 20:41, by Chris Smith 
Nokia's heavily rumoured 'iPod rival' has officially landed, in the form of a NFC-enabled, Bluetooth stereo headset dubbed the BH-121. Following months of speculation and leaks, the BH-121 (formerly known as 'Guru') arrives packing a pair of noise-blocking headphones, an iPod shuffle-like clip-on body and a reasonable €39 price tag. Launching at the end of this month, the headset promises easy tap-to-pair functionality for NFC handsets, but will also hook up via the Bluetooth settings on other smartphones. It comes in four colours - and will enable users to control their music and phonecalls with the help of the built-in Play button and track and volume controls. It can also be charged via the microUSB port. Live Tile supportThe BH-121 also features a 3.5mm jack so users will be able to deploy whichever headphones they wish when using the diminutive device. When using the device with Nokia Lumia phones, the headset will also be treated to its very own Live Tile in Windows Phone, allowing users to check the battery and connectivity status, the Finnish firm announced on the Nokia Conversations blog. Will you be splashing out on a BH-121 to augment your mobile music experience? Let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. - We expect plenty of headset news at CES 2014. Plenty.
       | | AT&T heads north to sign first international LTE deal with Rogers Dec 9th 2013, 20:25, by Michael Rougeau 
AT&T customers roaming the exotic foreign country of Canada will no longer have to put up with sluggish 3G data, as long as they're willing to pay the price. The top-four US carrier just inked a deal with Rogers, the number one wireless carrier in Canada, to offer LTE data to AT&T customers visiting the US's northern neighbor. That officially makes it the first carrier to offer international LTE roaming. AT&T's international LTE plans come at a price, but for customers hoping to continue their normal data habits while abroad it might be worth it. Roger thatThe carrier's international LTE packages range from 120MB for $30 per month to 300MB for $60 per month, and finally 800MB for $120 per month. Going over the limit incurs no exorbitant fees, but instead users who do so will be charged an additional $30 charge for another 120MB of data. With these roaming packages AT&T users will be able to latch onto Rogers' network to access the Canadian carrier's LTE towers. Rogers is the biggest carrier in Canada, covering 70 percent of Canadians, and it's about to expand into 95 new markets by the end of the year. Tying the knotThis partnership re-affirms AT&T's "commitment to deliver superior international coverage to our customers," said AT&T Mobility's Executive Vice President of International, Alliances and Integrations Bill Hague. Customers who need a fair amount of data while traveling Canada may have to shell out quite a bit of cash, in some cases perhaps even doubling their existing wireless bills. But it's better to have the option than not, right?        | |
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