Android has had an exciting month in September, with new phone releases, new updates and much more to enhance the Android experience. If you’re in the market for a new device or just looking for ways to improve your current device, check out these newsbytes for the latest when it comes to Android.
Android Users Can Lock Devices Remotely
Losing a phone is a common concern for smartphone users. After all, the more phones can do, the more you rely on it to keep your personal data safe. From recipes to important contacts to medical information, most people have sensitive information stored in a number of different apps. Android users, however, can rest easy if their phones are lost. The Android Device Manager just released in August already allows users to see the location of a lost or stolen Android phone. Users can make the phone ring or erase all of the phone’s data from the Device Manager. Now, remote password locking is enabled. To prevent others from accessing your data, you can send a new password to the phone to secure it. Of course, you’ll first need to enable this option on the Android Device Manager on your phone.
Oppo N1 with Rotating Camera Released
Just when you think that smartphone camera technology can’t be improved, Chinese smartphone brand Oppo released their phone this week featuring the Oppo N1 rotating camera. The camera is 13MP in both the forward facing and rear facing positions, differing from other smartphones that typically lose some image quality with the forward facing camera. If you’re worried about the rotating camera being fragile, worry no more. It has been stress-tested for up to 100,000 rotations. If you rotated it 40 times per day, you’d still get seven years of use out of it. The camera rotates 206 degrees and comes with a Bluetooth enabled remote button to take pictures from up to 50 meters away.
Apps Mimicking iOS Update
There have been a number of apps released for Android designed to mimic the experience of the latest iOS 7 update. The latest is an unofficial iMessage app that functions to create an iPhone-like messaging experience on Android phones. The app does not have Apple’s blessing, though, and can pose potential security risks to those who download the software. Although it does work, it functions by tricking the Apple iMessage server into thinking the device is a Mac Mini. It requires users to enter their Apple ID credentials, which can be risky since the data is being piped through Chinese servers. Like other apps that have been released this week, such as the one that was aimed at making the Android interface look like the iOS interface, it will likely be removed from the Google Play store soon.
As always, Android development moves at a fast pace. Some developments improve the user experience while other unofficial apps and modifications can be potentially dangerous. Do your due diligence before installing any software on your phone that could potentially compromise your information.