Droidiser

I had received a few requests about the rooting method for Lava Xolo Q800, and it's time for me to write one. Just like most phones on which bin4ry root tool doesn't work, clockworkmod recovery had to be ported to this device so that superuser could be flashed. The credit for porting clockworkmod to the Xolo Q800 goes to Sameer@X, a really new (and talented) member on xda.

If you are hearing about the term "Rooting" for the first time, you might be wondering, "What does rooting anWhat is rooting" and "The crazy list of things that you can do only if you are rooted". If you are a readaholic, you might also want to learn more about clockworkmod recovery.

Android device means", or "Why risk your warranty for Rooting?" I have covered these questions in my previous articles "

Before You Proceed Further:

Rooting will void your manufacturer's warranty.
Neither me nor anyone else on this planet can be help responsible for anything bad happening to your device.
Charge your battery to decent levels so that your phone doesn't shut down amidst the process

Stuff you would need:

SP Flash Tools zip
Clockworkmod Recovery zip
Drivers for your phone
A Windows 7/XP based computer/laptop
A Lava Xolo Q800 :P

The guide involves two steps:

Installing clockworkmod recovery on your device
Flashing superuser app through the cwm recovery

How to Install Clockworkmod Recovery on Lava Xolo Q800:

Install drivers for your phone using the drivers file provided above, or using pdanet to install drivers. Disconnect your phone after driver installation is done.
Extract the Flash tools zip file and the cwm recovery zip file to any folder you want.
Start SP_Flash_Tool.exe
Click on Scatter Loading button. A pop up window will ask you to locate the scatter file. You can find the "MT6589_Android_scatter_emmc" file in the folder in which you extracted clockworkmod recovery.
Click the Scatter loading button and locate the scatter loading file
In the list of partitions that appear after the scatter file is loaded, untick everything except recovery. Then click on recovery, it will ask you the location of the recovery file, which is, again, present in the folder in which you extracted clockworkmod recovery zip.
Tick the Recovery checkbox
In the menu bar, go to Window and select the option "Write Memory". Then, in the Write Memory tab, check the EMMC radio box.
Under "Write Parameter" heading in the same write memory tab, click on Open Raw Data and locate the Recovery.img file.
Finally, change the Begin Address to 0x2d80000 and container length to 0x600000.
Enter the values in the highlighted boxes
Click the write memory button (the one adjacent to the Open Raw Data button). Switch off your phone and connect it to the pc. The progress bar, present at the bottom of the Flash tools, will start moving. Once the process completes, a green ring will appear in the flash tool, which means everything went fine and the clockworkmod recovery is flashed successfully.

Tip: If you want to flash TWRP recovery instead of clockworkmod recovery, just use this recovery.img instead of the one that is present in the clockwormod recovery zip file.

Now, we shall move on to the second step, after which you would be a proud owner of a rooted Xolo Q800.

How to Root Lava Xolo Q800:

Transfer this file to your device's sd card.
Switch off your device.
Press Volume Up + Power button simultaneously till the phone boots up. Press Volume Up to boot into clockworkmod recovery.
Use Volume Up and Down buttons to select the "Install Zip from sdcard" option by pressing the power button.
Locate the file you transferred to your sdcard in step 1.
Let the flashing process complete.

Congratulations! Your hard work (and mine too) has paid off. You can now try out all those rooting benefits you had been drooling for forever. Post any issues with this guide in the comments box below. Do follow us if you find our articles helpful.

Remember the good old days when the password of Micromax's FTP server was out in the open? Well, time has changed and so is the ftp's password. In this article, I shall try to point out why this might not be a wise move by Team Micromax, why i was forced to do this and what it can do to rectify the shortcomings thus caused.

Why Micromax shouldn't have changed its FTP's password:

No running around for Stock ROMs of any Micromax Android mobile: For any Android mobile, it takes some amount of development to extract out stock ROM of it. Micromax FTP provided stock ROMs for all of its Android mobile. So, anyone uing a Micromax Android mobile could play around without worrying about ending up with a bricked device, as flashing stock ROM would have allowed you to go back from where you had started. This was one reason I recommended even those Micromax phones which had next to no development, as I knew there is a way to get the device to its original state. Micromax looses out on this advantage now.
Developers could get important files and other stuffs: Developers are the people who play wit their device the most and would need some stock files. Micromax ftp did this job for quite a long time till the password was changed. Some more advanced tools like IMEI rewrite tool, opening the handset etc. were also available via the ftp, which made it the go to place whenever someone needed to press the panic button on his Micromax mobile.
Updates from the comfort of one's home: This should be the highlight of all the points listed down here. Micromax, as of now, doesn't seem capable enough to provide updates via OTA (Over The Air), and thus, this was a really nice alternative for people who wanted to get their hands on the latest Android update on their Micromax smartphone. At least advanced users were able to update their phones from their couch, sparing the Micromax service centres some time to concentrate on providing some real service, other than just updating customer's phones.

Why Micromax might have been forced to take this step:

The FTP server contained a lot of private information about the company's offerings. A few files contained the amount it costed Micromax in various spare parts of its different mobiles. The ftp website was meant only for its customer care staff, and often conatined information about the phones that the company was planning o launch in the near future, for instance, the Micromax A115 had been listed a long time back on their ftp site, and now it is rumored that he phone might be Canvas 3D with its launch planned to be in the month of April itself.

What Micromax should do now to rectify this

If this post somehow gets noticed by any Micromax employee, this is what Micromax should do to do themselves and us a favor.

Create a Micromax Developers website:
Micromax needs to do some work to concentrate all Indian developers working on Android phones to work in a way that will help them in their sales. First of all, Micromax should create a website for developers, like HTC, where it provides kernel source of all its phones, and if not that, at least provide tools to help people mess with their phones in a more pleasant way, by providing them with stock files and updates on that website.

A majority of the readers on this blog have a Micromax device, if you are one of them, and even if you are not, do let us know about what you think about his situation and if you can think about any other solution that I have provided.

HTC First, the ever-so-hyped Facebook phone is finally available to the general public, though only in the USA, as of now. US Telecom Operator AT&T has priced the phone at $99.99 for their two year contract. A contract free model of the HTC First can be yours for $449.99, which seems to be slightly overpriced keeping in mind the mid range specs of the device.

HTC First didn't make any news for its specs, all the hype it gathered was because it is the first Android phone running Facebook Home, a home screen made by Facebook to keep you always connected to your friends and family.

The HTC First will be available in four different colors

If you are from the States, and are looking forward to buy this one (or just to know what this phone packs), here are the detailed specifications of the phone:

Dimensions:

12.6 x 6.5 x 0.88 cm
124 g

Android 4.1 Jelly Bean
1.4 GHz Dual Core; Snapdragon 400 chipset
Up to 16 GB internal memory
1 GB RAM
4.3" 720p HD Screen
5 MP Rear Camera with LED Flash, 1.6 MP Front Camera
Bluetooth 4.0, NFC

After US, the phone is expected to reach European shores first, followed by the launch in other countries later on.

If the only thing that gets you excited about HTC First is the Facebook Home, then you are in luck. The app can be downloaded from the play store via this link (launched in US only, as of now).

For those who are out of United States and thus, are out of luck, can download the standalone apk files, thanks to the guys over at MoDaCo. You will have to download and install the Facebook app, Facebook Messenger app and the Facebook Home app itself. Make sure you have turned 'Unknown Sources' on in your phone settings, so that you can sideload the APK files outside the Play Store app. At present it looks like you might face an error parsing package if you are on Android v2.3 or below, we can't be sure if Facebook plans to add support for the outdated devices later.

There are a lot of situations in which you might want to delete all the contacts from your phone, for instance, when you have to give your mobile to someone else for a day or two. If you need to do that on an Android device, then this guide is what you must have been looking for. Without any ado, I shall get to the guide directly. Rest assured, it is a really simple trick and I'm simplifying it even further for even the most basic user. This should work for all Android versions (till now).

Before you delete all your contacts, you might care to take a backup of your contacts. You can back them up in your sd card by going to Contacts > Import & Export.

Delete all contacts from an Android device:

Open Settings on your Android phone/tablet.
Go to the Applications section. Further, select the "All" tab to list down all apps (all apps include system apps, one of which we need to tinker.)
Scroll down the list, which should be sorted alphabetically, to find the app named "Contacts Storage".
Tap on the app once to open its details.
Tap the clear data options.
Tap OK on the warning message that pops up on your screen. This will clear all your contacts from your phone.
Tap the OK button when something like the pic above pops up on your device

If you wanted to delete your contacts to hand over your phone to someone (just for lending, or say, when you sell it), you might also want to remove your Google and Facebook accounts from your device.

Wasn't it a really short guide? If you face any problem even in this one, I am here to help. You just need to let me know about your problem via the comments box below.

Micromax A89, a mid-range Micromax Smartphone in the Ninja lineup, has received a port of the beautiful Lewa OS. The phone, which is preceded by Micromax A87 and succeeded by Micromax A91, has had its fair share of development, with the phone getting rooted and getting clockworkmod and TWRP recoveries in its early days. The phone apparently did well in the market at the price point at which it was launched.

Though the name might mislead you, Lewa OS is more of an Android skin than a complete OS. Just like MIUI, Lewa OS emphasises on beautifying various elements of the Android ecosystem. If you can rewind a little bit, Micromax A110 had also received a port of the Lewa OS, and as both the phones run on the same chipset, it was a matter of time before the rom got ported to A89.

These screenshots will help you decide whether the Lewa OS rom is worth the 180 odd megabytes of your internet plan (it matters when you are on a limited data plan, right?)

Image Credits: dan.man

How to install Lewa OS on Micromax A89:

Let me get to my favourite writing section, the how to guide. The guide below should be a cakewalk if you have done something like this before. And even if you haven’t, everything occurs for the first time once.

Root your Micromax A89 Ninja.
Install Clockworkmod/TWRP recovery on your phone.
Take a full backup of your device using the recovery you just installed (just in case).
Download the Lewa OS rom and transfer it to your device’s SD card.
Switch off your device.
Boot into your custom recovery (i.e. either cwm or TWRP) by pressing Power + Volume Up button till the recovery screen shows up.
Using Volume Up and Down buttons to scroll (if in clockworkmod), select the option to perform Factory Reset.
Select the option to Install zip from sd card and choose the zip file you copied in your sd card.
Let the installation process complete.
Perform a factory reset again.
Go to advanced and select “Wipe Dalvik Cache”.
Reboot your device and enjoy your new rom!

If you have fun using Lewa OS, or find any bug in the rom, you should head over to the originating xda thread and thank/contact dan.man, the rom developer. Subscribe to our newsletter to hear the latest from us.

According to AndroidPolice, a future update of the Google Play Services app will introduce XBox Live like multiplayer fun to Android devices. Though this isn’t confirmed by any official, AP has got some proof to back their claims.

AP got hold of the MyGlass app, which, as the name says,runs on Google Glass. It seems that Google Glass Team accidentally ended up shipping the full Google Play Services with their MyGlass app, even though GMS (short for Google Play Services) doesn’t seem to be of any use on Google Glass, as Glass isn’t meant to run heavy/complex apps (as of now).

In a folder named Games in the MyGlass APK, there are smali files named something that would interest a lot of us Android Fans. To list down a few, the files indicate that GMS will support Real-Time Multiplayer (like real-time racing games. Most Wanted, anyone?), Turn Based Multiplayer (like in Chess, Crossword, Draw Something and other similar games), Chatting while the game is being played or before the game even starts, leaderboards (for some bragging rights) and, of course, the option to invite your friends
.
What this means is that now Game Developers won’t have to do all the matchmaking, leaderboards and other stuff on their own servers, rather it will be done by Google. I am sure you must have played some Multiplayer Games on your Android phone already, that experience is going to get better with the intervention by Google.

If you are really getting excited by even the news of this, be patient, all of us are in for some delicious Google Treat. Till Google announces this, or makes it available for your device, go ahead and download (mirror) and extract the app to see for yourself. Or give the original article a read. Do share this story with your friends to let them know about the upcoming fun you might be having with them!

A recovery is an important partition in an Android device, which allows people to recover (as the name suggests) their phones/tablets from creepy situations. More often than not, the stock recoveries, i.e. the ones which come pre-installed on any device, suck at the purpose they are present for. This welcomes third party recoveries like Clockworkmod and TWRP to the scene.

Clockworkmod recovery has been around for a while, and is unarguably the most popular stock recovery replacement. Clockworkmod recovery is created by Koushik Dutta, a well known Android developer, recognized for the popular ROM Manager app. Clockworkmod recovery comes in two versions- Touch CWM or Non-touch CWM. A large majority of the devices are stuck on the non-touch version, fiddling around with their volume keys to scroll up and down the long lists of items.

TWRP recovery, on the other hand, is relatively newer and brings in a modern interface, adds a few options and customizations here and there, which are indeed quite handy. Created by Team Win, TWRP is an abbreviation for Team Win Recovery Project.

Learn about each individual feature of clockworkmod recovery in detail.

Let’s start the “Which-one-is-better” debate!

CWM vs TWRP: Showdown

The Interface:
I think everyone might agree on this, clockworkmod isn’t the best looking recovery out there. Even the touch version of the cwm recovery doesn’t feel as good as TWRP recovery. TWRP recovery has nice big buttons, and a pure touch interface adds to the fun.

TWRP also has an option to turn the display off after a specified amount of time. Confirming things and unlocking the screen requires you to perform a swipe gesture. On the other hand, while there is no such thing as screen lock, confirming things require you to swim across waves of “No” to find and select the “Yes” option.

Installing ZIPs:
Installing ZIP files is one of the most used features in a recovery, thus, as expected, both the recoveries are equally good at installing zip files. The ease with which you can locate the zip file you want to install is comparatively better in TWRP, thanks to its in-built file manager, we shall discuss about it later. A zip file isn’t specific to any recovery, still, any file that is flashable via clockworkmod should (theoretically) work without any glitch on TWRP, and vice versa.

Backing Up and Restoring backups:
While selecting the backup option in clockworkmod directly starts the backing up procedure, doing the same thing in TWRP presents you with some nice options, allowing you to control which partition you want to backup, in which storage you want the backup to be and also, if you want compression to be enabled or not.. These options are really useful when you want to backup only one partition, say system, to test some dev kinda stuff.

Coming to restoring backups we have taken, there is an advanced restore option available in clockworkmod recovery, allowing you to restore only one partition of your choice. Again, this could have been made better by allowing to select/unselect as many partitions as you want, to restore. TWRP recovery bests clockworkmod recovery in this section, by giving exactly what I asked for in the previous point.

Another nifty feature available in TWRP recovery is the option to rename the backups. Though this can be done with clockworkmod recovery backups too, this option isn’t present in the recovery itself. We have to manually do that using a file explorer, and need to take care while doing that too. (If you aren’t careful, you might end up with md5 mismatch errors while restoring the renamed backups.)

One thing I liked about the newer versions of the clockworkmod recovery is the blob file structure it uses to take backups. With blob structure, the first backup is of a large size, but the subsequent backups are considerably smaller in size.

Other not-so-often used options:
Clockworkmod recovery has some nice features like:

Wipe Dalvik Cache
Wipe Battery Stats
Mount/unmount and format any partition
Partition SD card
Fix permissions

TWRP Recovery has the following ones:

Fix permissions
ADB Sideload
Partition SD card
File Manager

I would like to comment on few of these options. Partitioning the SD card in clockworkmod is by default set to ext3 file system, with no option to change it. In TWRP, it can be changed to ext4.

File Manager option is really handy. Think of a situation when your phone doesn’t boot up due to a change you made in a system file. You simply undo that change by transferring that file to your pc, copy that file to your sd card and move it back to its original place. And Eureka! Your phone is up and running again. I seriously miss this option in clockworkmod recovery.

Conclusion: For me, TWRP wins over clockworkmod recovery, without any doubt.

Please note that most of the things I have discussed above regarding clockworkmod recovery are based on CWM v4.0.0.5, and a bit of knowledge about newer versions has come from trying out newer cwm versions on my friend’s mobile. TWRP recovery reviewed above is 2.4.4.0
Please let me know about anything new that cwm might have introduced but I have missed.

Samsung has finally put the wraps off its current flagship device in India, in a press event held at Kingdom of Dreams, Gurgaon attended keenly by the tech media. The Korean manufacturer has decided to launch the lucrative Exynos Octa core version of S4 in India at a justifiable price of INR 41,500.

The launch of the Octa Core version has made many potential S4 buyers. India is one of the few countries where the Octa Core version will be available, even US has to be content with the 1.9 GHz Quad core version of the device.

Pricing:
The price tag in itself doesn’t seem justifiable for a phone, given that one can get a more than decent laptop at that price point. But considering the price of other flagship devices like the HTC’s One (42k) and Apple’s iPhone 5 (starts at 45k), and the unbelievable hardware it comes loaded, we have a deal here. Some people had been speculating that the S4 might come at a steep price of 50-60k, giving Apple a real challenge in terms of pricing, we are happy that Samsung has decided not to compete in the pricing race.

Availability:
The device will be available from 27th April i.e. tomorrow. From 12 a.m. to 4 p.m., the S4 will be available in Samsung’s premium brand stores in the metro cities and Samsung e-store. Those who manage to get a S4 during these initial 4 hours have been assured a surprise gift. Elsewhere, the phone will be available from 4 p.m. onwards.
To the joy of many S4 lovers, Samsung has confirmed that the S4 will be available under the highly advertised 0% E.M.I. scheme.

Galaxy S4 Bundles:
Samsung has teamed up with Vodafone to provide unlimited data, up to 3,000 local/STD minutes and 750 national SMS. It will be interesting to see whether the unlimited internet plan is truly unlimited, because there is no true unlimited 3G plan in India till now. Just like Samsung did with Galaxy Grand, Galaxy S4 will also come with goodies worth INR 12k. Samsung hasn’t provided any details about what the goodies will be but it will be reasonable to speculate that Samsung will provide some e-content for free.

Galaxy S4 Specifications:
We are sure no one on the internet will be unaware about Galaxy S4 specs. Not someone who is reading about the launch of S4 and has reached the end of the article. Still if you have took a time travel from the past, or were living in a cave, let me tell you the specs yet again:

5 Inch Full HD screen (1920x1080 pixels) with 441 ppi
Super AMOLED display with Gorilla Glass 3
HSPA+ support (up to 42 Mbps speed)
1.6 GHz Octa Core version (we’re talking about the model being launched in India)
13 MP rear camera with Zero Shutter Lag
2 MP front camera with 1080p recording and zero shutter lag
16 GB internal memory, external micro sd card supported (up to 64 GB)
2 GB of RAM
2600 mAh battery
Dimensions:

136.6 x 69.8 x 7.9 mm
Weighs 130 grams

Best Deal Online:

The device can be yours for as low as INR 39,425. TO get the S4 at this price, go to the next store and apply this coupon at the checkout: ICICINXT-MOB

This is it. Now, if you are having a budget of above 40k and were waiting for the launch of S4, this is the time for you to decide between HTC One and the Samsugn Galaxy S4! If you ask me which phone I would have gone for if I had that much of a budget, my answer would be a S4. The reason: I prefer performance over looks and S4 has got the best chipset any smartphone has had till date.

Samsung Galaxy S III was the greatest smartphone the world had ever witnessed at the time of its launch. With the launch of Galaxy S4, the specifications of Galaxy S III might sound historic but at the current price point (INR 25k in India), it is still a lucrative phone to go for.

And if you are a proud owner of a Samsung Galaxy S III i9300 and would love to upgrade to the latest Android v4.2, then you can do so, by following a few simple steps, I shall be coming to them shortly. This is one of my favorite perks for getting a flagship android phone from a renowned brand, it is bound to get the latest Android updates for quite a long time.

There are two types of upgrades that can be done on your Galaxy S III. One is the official leaked firmware (thanks to sammobile) and the other one is by installing a third party custom firmware/rom. Though under normal circumstances, I would recommend you to go for the official upgrade, but because it is a leaked firmware, you will still end up voiding your manufacturer warranty, one of the major reasons one would prefer an official update. So, though it is an official update, it is still not an official update. I hope you understand what I am saying.

Before you proceed:

Backup your contacts by syncing them with your Google account.
Backup any other important data you have as flashing ROMs always puts your data at risk.

Update Samsung Galaxy S III using official leaked Android 4.2 firmware:

Download the leaked firmware package here.
Unzip the package in any folder on your PC.
If you haven’t already, install drivers for your phone using KIES. Disconnect your phone when the driver installation is complete.
Switch off your device. Press the Volume Down + Home + Power button simultaneously till you see a warning message trying to scare you. There isn’t any reason to be scared though, just press the Volume Up button to proceed to the download mode.
Start Odin. You will find it in the zip file you extracted in step #2.
Connect your phone to the PC using USB cable. A blue sign in Odin will confirm that Odin has detected your phone. (Don’t proceed further unless you get Odin to detect your S III.)
Click the PDA button in Odin and locate the I9300XXUFMB3_I9300OJKFMB3_HOME.tar.md5 file (you will find it too in the extracted folder).
Don’t play around with any other settings in Odin. Make sure re-partition is not enabled in Odin.
Start the flashing process and wait for it to complete.
Reboot your device and drool over the latest Jelly Bean sweetness on your device.
- In case you are stuck in a bootloop, boot into your recovery mode by pressing Volume Up + Power + Home button. Then choose the option to Factory Reset your device. Repeat all the steps above again, it should work fine this time.

In case you want the goodness of a custom ROM, I shall explain the process to update Samsung Galaxy S III to the latest CyanogenMod nightly. CyanogenMod is the first thing that comes into the mind when one hears the term custom rom, right? Thanks to the extent of customization it allows, Cyanogenmod is the most popular custom rom out there.

Update Galaxy S III to Cyanogenmod 10.1 (based on Android 4.2):

You should have a rooted Galaxy S III with clockworkmod recovery flashed on it (TWRP would work fine too). It would be a good idea to take a nandroid backup once you have flashed cwm recovery.
Download the latest version of Cyanogenmod 10.1 nightly for the Samsung Galaxy S III here. An optional download recommended is that of GApps, i.e. Google Apps package.
Transfer the downloaded files to the internal sd card of your device.
Switch off your S III and boot into the clockworkmod recovery. To do that, press and hold Voluem Up + Power + Home button simultaneously till you see the recovery screen.
Scroll to Install zip from sd card. Then choose the option to Choose zip from sd card. Locate the zip file of the CM nightly you downloaded in step 2. Let clockworkmod recovery flash cyanogenmod on your S III. If you downloaded GApps too, you an flash them in the exact same way.
Perform a Factory Reset from within the clockworkmod recovery and finally reboot your phone.

I hope that you were able to reciprocate everything written above and have successfully upgraded to the latest Android version. The comments section is below this post, just in case you couldn’t get any of the steps above to work the way it should.

Chrome has become the go-to browser for most people lately even when they are on the go, thanks to
Chrome for Android. Thanks to the syncing awesomeness that comes stock with chrome, and allows you to merge your browsing records on your android device as well as that on your windows running pc/laptop, and the unmatched speed of Chrome (let alone Opera Mini), Google Chrome has been downloaded over 50 million times. This feat is even more spectacular when we consider the fact that Chrome is available only for devices which run Android v4.0 or later. As a matter of fact, Android v4.0 and above is present on just about 55.9% of the total devices that run on Android OS. Despite of all these numbers and the excellence of Google Chrome, people still can't get where the history option is. This post will try to bring this topic to Chrome developers, and will also discuss a workaround that lets you get to your history by just three simple taps. To access history on your Google Chrome, follow the few easy steps given below:

Open Chrome on your Android mobile/tablet.
In your omnibar, type and enter chrome://history/ or about://history/.
Your device's history will open, with a bar at the bottom allowing you to clear your history (and cache, and cookies and saved passwords).Note that you can always open an incognito mode if you don't want any history to be saved.
Now, we shall work on getting a quicker access to the History on your chrome browser.
On your android mobile, with the history tab still open, tap the menu button and then touch the star shaped icon (as shown in the screenshot) to bookmark it. In an android tablet, you can do the same by pressing the same star shaped icon, which is placed in the omnibar itself (just like in the pc version.

Press the highlighted Star button to
bookmark the History page.

Now whenever you want to go to your history, go to your bookmarks, and open the History bookmark.

See the video version of the above guide on the left
(screen recorded on a tablet).

The steps above might solve your little annoyance to some extent, but we would really love Google to fix this in the upcoming versions, wouldn't we? Till then, share this story with your friends to let them know that there is a workaround that indeed works. By the way, in the exact same way as you entered chrome://history/, you can enter chrome://chrome-urls/ to get a full list of some hidden settings and information that you can access on your chrome. One of my favorites are chrome://gpu/, which lets you view your gpu information, chrome://memory/, which hows you the amount of memory each chrome tab is taking and chrome://flags/, which lets you enable and disable experimental features.

Chrome users who use Chrome on the go with their Android devices have been asking for extension support since long times. Looks like Chrome Developer Team has been listening to these requests and is working on bringing extension support to the Android version of the popular browser.

On what basis I am saying all this, you might ask. Well, this isn't an insider news, but I landed upon it somehow. Digging around the various chrome urls listed at chrome://urls, I found an interesting thing at chrome://flags. There was an option waiting to be enabled which was meant to enable extensions even on chrome://URLs web pages i.e. on all the pages that are listed at chrome://chrome-urls. Obviously, as there is no extension available for Android yet, there isn't any way to confirm that the option actually works or not.

This isn't a sure shot way to confirm whether there is anything like this coming for Android but the fact that this option is not available on mainstream Chrome version, but only on Chrome Beta, a playground where all new experiments are tested, adds some credibility to our belief. Also, all those options which are not meant for Android OS, or are not yet available there, are present with a Sorry! Blah Blah Blah message.

Like you, I too hope that this is true, so that I shall be able to use all my favorite extensions on my favorite web browser even when I am on the move with my awesome Android devices! If you want to check this out yourself, here is the latest version of Chrome Beta. What do you say? Isn't it time that Chrome brings support for extensions, just like Firefox and Dolphin Browser does? Voice your opinions in the comments section below.

Lava Xolo A1000 is an Android smartphone that comes with an awesome 5" HD IPS display with a powerful 1 GHz dual core processor. The phone has a decent 8 MP camera at the back and a 1.2 MP shooter at the front. Other features include 1 GB RAM, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean and 4 GigaBytes of internal memory. At the given price point, buying a Xolo A1000 is a smart decision. If you already own this device and want to root your device for obvious reasons, this guide is all you need, along with the list of pre-requisites.

Before You Proceed:

You understand that rooting your phone voids your manufacturer warranty.
You understand all risks associated with rooting your phone, and that doing any stupidity might lead you to brick your phone.
Make sure that your phone is at a good battery level so that it doesn't give up during the process.

How to Root Lava Xolo A1000:

Enable USB Debugging on your Xolo A1000 by going to Settings > Development.
Install drivers for your phone using pdanet.
Download and extract SP Flash Tools anywhere on your computer.
Download clockworkmod recovery for Xolo A1000 along with the scatter text file.
From the SP Flash Tools extracted folder, run the Sp Flash Tools.exe file
Click on the Scatter-Loading button in the Flash Tool window and locate the scatter file downloaded in step 4.
A partition list will be generated in Flash Tool window. In that list, click the checkbox next to Recovery. Then click on Recovery and locate the recovery file you downloaded in step 4.
Snapshot of Flash Tool (i)
In the Flash Tool window, in the menu bar, Click the Window button and check the Write Memory option. Then proceed to the Write Memory tab (the default tab you are on is Download tab while the Write Memory tab is the last one).
Under memory setting, select the EMMC radio button.
In the same Write Memory tab, click the Open Raw Data button. Locate the recovery.img file again (like you did in step 7).
Change the Begin Address (Hex) value to 0x1588000 and that of Container Length (Hex) to 0x600000.
Click the Write Memory button, next to the Open Raw Data button.
Screenshot of Flash Tool (ii)
The Flash Tool will start looking for your phone. Now switch off your phone and connect it to your computer using data cable.
The flashing process will begin, let it complete. With the completion of this step, you have successfully installed clockworkmod recovery on your Xolo A1000.
Now, to root your phone, download Superuser by Koushik Dutta zip file and transfer it to your phone's sdcard.
Boot your phone in recovery mode. You can do that by pressing the appropriate key combination when your phone is switched off. In most cases, it is either Volume Up + Power button or Volume Down + Power button. The key combination needs to be pressed till your screen lights up in to the recovery mode.
Select the Install zip from sdcard option and browse to the superuser zip you downloaded in step 15.
Confirm your action and reboot your phone once the flashing is done.

Enjoy your Just Rooted Lava Xolo A1000. Post anything that might be troubling you in the comments section.

Samsung has been struggling in the mid-end price segment in India lately, thanks to the success of Canvas series by Micromax. Not only Micromax, a lot of other Indian brands have managed to pull off Quad core phones for less than INR 15k. This time, Samsung aims to blow them over by the aggressive pricing for one of their latest launches, Galaxy Win, in India.

Going by the specs and the brand name, Samsung Galaxy Win I8550 (dual sim version has the model number I8552) seems to be a powerful phone. Though the Quad Core processot it packs seems to be less powerful than the one packed by Canvas HD and the likes, we still hope that Samsung, being a leader in Android hardware, will still be able to make it a powerhouse. Let us talk about the detailed specifications of the device:

1.2 GHz Quad Core processor
Qualcomm MSM8625Q Snapdragon 200 (seems like a outdated processor)
Adreno 203 GPU
1 GB RAM
8 GB Internal Memory (expandable up to 32 GB)
5 MP Rear Camera with 720p recording, VGA camera at the front
Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean
4.7 Inch TFT Capacitive Touch screen
480x800 resolution with 199 ppi density
Gorilla Glass Protection

If I was thinking about buying Canvas HD, and was in a position to shell out INR 3-4k more, than I would probably go for the Samsung offering. What about you?

In last couple of years, Samsung has risen to become a giant player in mobile industry. They have

world class Research and Development team, High-end laboratories, and to top it all they have latest

technologies to impress the world. Almost every single smartphone by Samsung comes with some

different and unique features. The interesting fact about Samsung is that Samsung started with low-

end mobiles in Indian market, and today one of the most expensive mobiles in Indian market is

Samsung’s.

Lately there is another company following the same strategy as Samsung. Micromax started their

journey in mobile sector through low-end, economical handsets. Soon enough though, they moved

to smart phone section, and surprising everyone, they got an overwhelming response in this sector.

Therefore, when smart phones from these companies fight in the same segment, the competition

becomes very interesting. Although Micromax is not as big a company as Samsung, their flagship

phone Canvas HD 116 is giving tough competition to Samsung smart phone from same range –

Galaxy Grand.

Which phone is better? Which device gives better deal? More importantly, which smart phone will

rule the mid-range sector of smart phones? Let us find out.

What does Galaxy Grand Offers?

Galaxy Grand is a typical Samsung phone; with a large screen, high quality camera, and all the

useful features (read gimmicks) from Samsung's own Galaxy Note II and S III.
Samsung Galaxy Grand has a 5-inch display . It has rather become the default screen

size for most of the mid and high-range smart phones these days. Such a large screen gives users

amazing experience while watching videos and playing games with high quality graphics.

Talking about Operating System , Samsung has tried to keep up with the ever-so-changing Android ecosystem.

Galaxy Grand comes with latest version of world’s most popular OS – Android

4.1.2 Jelly Bean. Jelly Bean makes the experience fast and smooth. It has many improvements over

previous versions of Android such as better accessibility, better network connection facilities,

gesture keyboard, updated lock screen, faster face unlock etc.

With this, Samsung’s own UI called Touchwiz UI gives even better user experience. It is smooth,

fluid, and ultrafast. Moreover, Galaxy Grand has set of applications developed only for Samsung

devices such as S-Voice that makes this smart phone different from others.

Galaxy Grand comes with 1.2 GHz dual core processor . This combined with 1GB internal RAM makes

this device very powerful for normal as well as advanced users. The processor supports high-end

gaming, HD video playback, better multi-tasking etc.

The 8 MP primary camera with flash makes this device even more awesome. Photo quality is great

and it supports 1080p full HD video recording. Galaxy grand also has a secondary camera, which is of

2MP. Quality of secondary camera is more than enough for video chatting, and you can even capture

some decent pictures through it.

Overall, Samsung Galaxy Grand tries to give you almost everything that is available currently in

mobile industry.

How Canvas HD A116 makes any difference

If you have already casted your vote in favor of Galaxy Grand, you should read this before making

any conclusive decision. Micromax this time with A116 has surely hit the right chord and has amazed

everyone by delivering a classic smart phone in Indian market. Canvas HD is beautiful, powerful, and

has all the latest features a smart phone can have.

Just like Galaxy Grand, Micromax A116 also has 5-inch screen display . It is large and gives great

viewing experience. The display is LCD and it uses In-Plane Switching (IPS) technology to give faster

response and high quality color reproduction. The display also has HD resolution of 1280X720p.

Canvas HD comes with 1.2 GHz quad core processor . Four cores make it better than dual core engine

that runs Galaxy Grand. Quad core processor helps in faster multitasking. It is especially better for

high end gaming as quad core is great for graphics rendering. Because of such a strong engine, apps

can run more parallel threads and thus the response time is better for A116.

Micromax A116 runs on latest Android Operating System , which is Jelly Bean 4.1.2. However, one

place where Micromax lacks is a unique UI for their devices. Because of this Galaxy Grand holds an

upper hand when it comes to User Experience despite both devices running on same OS.

When it comes to camera , Canvas HD A116 gives hard competition to Galaxy Grand with its 8MP

primary camera. You can record HD videos with 720p resolution. There is also a secondary camera of

2MP for video calling/video chatting.

What are the prices?

When it comes to price, Micromax A116 Canvas HD blows Grand away with its attractive price tag of 14,000-15,000/- while Samsung Galaxy Grand Duos is a bit pricier at about INR 14,999.

Looking at the bigger picture, we can say that though Canvas HD is new and stands alone without a big

brand name attached to it, it seems to give better deal than Galaxy Grand.

This article was written by Indraneel Pole of Shoppingwish, he closely follows latest mobile trends in the Indian market.

It’s better late than never. BBM, short for Blackberry Messenger, is finally going to be a cross platform app with its Android and iOS versions expected to be released this summer. Blackberry might have taken a cue from Google, who provides full Google suite of apps on iOS and manages to mint some cool money from the data collected from iPhone users, at the same time luring them to switch to Android.

Yesterday i.e. March 14, Blackberry CEO Thorsten Heins announced that the BBM is going cross platform. He didn’t mention any specific date for the launch, but mentioned this year’s summer tentatively. “It’s time to bring BBM to a greater audience no matter what mobile device they carry. We shall start with messaging and groups, but we’ll bring voice, screen share, and of course, channels later on”, said Heins.

According to the Blackberry team, over 60 million of BBM users use the service to send about 10 billion messaged daily. These stats are somewhat similar to those of whatsapp, a cross platform messaging app, which also boasts of over 10 billion messages per day.

This move might backstab Blackberry too, because BBM has been a USP which forces many youngsters to go for a Blackberry instead of Android. So, someone who might be thinking of going for a Blackberry to stay in touch with his friends, who already own a Blackberry, might now opt for the more open Android platform. Let’s wait and watch.

Micromax A91 is a successor to the Ninja A89 and comes with a better camera and bigger battery . The phone can be rooted with the bin4ry tool. If you don't know what it is or how to use it, this guide will help you out. As the title says, this guide will also work on Cherry Mobile Thunder, as both A91 and Thunder are basically the rebrand of some chinese device.

Before you proceed ahead:

Learn more about rooting and its benefits.
Make sure that your phone isn't low on battery. You won't want your phone to die down when you are performing the steps.
Stay concentrated on what you are doing. Don't for for the next > next > next strategy.
Rooting voids your manufacturer warranty. In case you are stuck in a bootloop (or in a whirlpool), we are not responsible.
Don't forget to enable USB Debugging. This is critically important. If you have a device that runs on Gingerbread (Android 2.3 or below), go to Settings > Applications > Development. Instead, if you own a device running Android 4.0 or 4.1, go to Settings and then to Developer options.

Detailed steps to root Micromax Ninja A91 or Cherry Mobile Thunder

You didn't skip the last step in the previous section, did you? Unfortunately, if yes is the answer, you MUST go back and enable usb debugging.
Install drivers for your phone using pdanet.
Download Bin4ry's rooting tool from uploaded.to or cloudzer. I can't upload this tool on Mediafire or any other better uploading service because the developer doesn't want his file to be mirrored. You can thank Bin4ry for creating this tool here. This is the umpteenth time that Bin4ry's tool has rooted a Micromax mobile.
Extract the file you downloaded in the previous step. Right click on the RunMe.bat batch file and select Run as Administrator.
Connect your phone to the PC using USB cable.
In the RunMe.bat command window, follow the simple instructions that are given to you. First off you are supposed to enter a "1".
Later during the process, you will be asked to tap a restore button. You have to do that on your device, a popup for that will appear at the right time. Your phone will reboot a few times during the process.
When the process completes, a congratulatory message will appear on the command prompt screen.

We hope that you were able to replicate all the given steps without facing any hiccups. Believe you me, this is a really easy process. In case you mess up with the drivers for the first time, try uninstalling present drivers using USB Deviewand install the drivers again.

Google I/O 2013 kicked off yesterday i.e. May 15th. A ton of new things were introduced by Google, and we try to talk about all the major stuff in this single article.

Hangouts Replaces Talk

gTalk, Google Talk or whatever you called it, is now gone. It has been replaced by Hangouts, Google’s attempt at unifying all its messaging services viz. Google Talk, Google Voice, Gmail Chat, Google + Hangout and what not. The app is already available for download from the play store. The app has a slick interface and packs some nice animations for message being sent, read or typed. But Google still doesn’t seem to get one thing right: Unifying the messaging service. Unlike Google Voice, there isn’t any option to SMS anyone who isn’t on Hangouts, nor you can voice call anyone. Thankfully, Video calling can be done with up to ten friends at the same time, just like G+ original hangout.

All Access Subscription and a UI revamp: Google Music

Google Music introduced the option to upload your own songs and the option to buy individual tracks from the play store. But with the introduction of All Access subscription, for $9.99 per month, you get access to all the songs that are present on the Play Store. This makes Google Music one of the best music managers out there. You get Spotify like streaming service, iTunes like buying options and the option to upload your very own songs which are somehow absent from the play store.

"With our new All Access service (US), you can play millions of songs on Google Play, listen to radio with no limits, and enjoy playlists handcrafted by our music experts. Keep listening for just $7.99/month when you start your trial before 6/30/2013." reads the description of the Google Music app on the play store.

In addition to the new subscription, Google Music app for Android has undergone a major UI revamp. The app sorts your music in a more eye soothing way, and is way more elegant than the previous options. You can use swipe to remove gesture to remove songs from your queue. Google also recommends you songs based on your taste, just as it does with apps on the play store. Download the app here to experience the new UI yourself.

Google Galaxy S4!

This was the only device that was launched yesterday, and has been one of the best kept secrets recently. No one was guessing that Galaxy S4 would come with a Nexus experience, with people guessing about Nexus 5, and Nexus 4 with LTE and stuff. What came out is a Samsung Galaxy S4 without touchwiz, and with a promise of latest Android updates from Google. The Nexus version of S4 will be available for ahefty $649, and as of now, will be available on the American shores only. The specs of the device remain the same as that of the US variant of Galaxy S4 with touchwiz.

Google Play Games is real

We had speculated it earlier (thanks to AndroidPolice) and now it’s official. Google introduced Google Play Games, which introduces leaderboards, real time multiplayer and turn based multiplayer among other features. A few games have already jumped into the party and have released updates that make full use of Google’s multiplayer framework. Go download the latest update of World of Goo or Mega Run or Mortal Combat 4 to get an idea about Google’s multiplayer iteration.
Google Play Games have been the reason for the demise of Google+ Games which will disappear starting June 30.

Google Books allow you to upload your own books

Google Books finally allows you to upload your own PDF or EPUB files to read them using the Google Play Books app. This feature was one of the most requested ones and Google has listened to the audience.

Google+

The web version of Google+ has received a major update too, with a new triple column interface adding to the viewing pleasure of its rare users. As told earlier, Google Hangouts are replacing Google Talk and as expected, are tightly integrated with Google+.

Google Maps updated with better Navigation

Last but obviously not the least, Google Maps for Android will receive a major update this summer. The update will include a better navigation, again, with more eye candy. Also, there is a tighter Google+ integration with your friends’ locations popping up in your search results, if they are relevant to what you have searched.

Stay tuned for more updates from Google I/O as well as from rest of the world!

Samsung Galaxy S4 will be shipped to over 10 million people within a month of its launch, according to an estimate. So, you can guess the amount of requests I might be receiving for a few guides on this smartphone. This guide will help you root your Samsung Galaxy S4 and install clockworkmod recovery on it. If you need a bit more clarification on both these terms, read the articles below:

What is rooting and what are the cool things you will be able to do once you root
What is clockworkmod recovery, and what is the difference between TWRP and clockworkmod recovery

Read the above articles (or even if you skipped)? Let's continue our journey. Here are some of the stuffs you will need on your way out:

A Samsung Galaxy S4
A PC/Laptop running Windows
Internet Connection
Your brain

If you have all of those at the right place, take a look at the points below before you jump out to perform the steps on your S4.

Rooting voids your manufacturer warranty.
Neither we at Droidiser nor any developer shall be held responsible for any of your deeds
Make sure that USB Debugging is enabled. To do that onn your android 4.2.2 phone, go to Settings > About Phone and scroll down the plethora of information available about your device there to find Build Number. Tap on it a few times (about 7-8 times) to unhide Developer Options. Now, go back to Settings and find Developer Options there. In Developer Options, you will find the option to enable USB Debugging, do it.
Backup any important data of yours (like contacts and messages and whatsapp) using appropriate apps from play store. A simple search in play store will find the app you need.
Don't start this procedure on a S4 that is already low on battery. It can be dangerous. Make sure that your charge it.

To root the mobile, we must flash clockworkmod recovery first.

How to install clockworkmod recovery on Samsung Galaxy S4:

Install drivers for your phone either using pdanet or using official Samsung drivers. Disconnect your device form the pc once you are done installing drivers.
Download CWM recovery for Galaxy S4, developed by cofface. (In case you can't boot into clockwrokmod recovery and want to go back to stock, then you can flash the stock recovery at any time you want, using the same steps you will be using to flash cwm below)
Download and extract Odin zip file. Odin is a software which flashes files on to Samsung phones.
Right clcik on the executable Odin file from the folder you extracted in the previous step, and select Run as administrator.
In the Odin window, click the PDA button and select the clockworkmod recovery file you downloaded in step 1.
This is what Odin window should look like
Switch off your phone and press and hold the Volume Down + Home + Power button till a warning message appears on your screen telling you something about Download Mode. Press the Volume Up button to continue to the Download Mode.
Connect your device to the pc. An Added message in Odin will confirm that the driver installation was successful and everything has gone fine till now.
In Odin, make sure that only Auto Reboot and F. Reset Time options are ticked. Leave other options as they are, don'y fiddle around with anything else.
Click the Start button. Oin will thus begin the flashing process and when the flashing completes, a PASS message will appear in Odin and your phone will reboot.

The (comparatively) difficult part of this guide is done. Now, we shall proceed to actually root the phone. It was necessary to flash a custom recovery as stock recovery doesn't support flashing unsigned files.

How to root Samsung Galaxy S4:

Switch off your phone again. Now, press Volume Up + Home + Power button together till your phone boots in to the recovery screen.
Using Volume keys to scroll through the option, get to the option ROOT YOUR PHONE and press the Home key to select it.

Before doing the previous step, you can also take a backup of your device form the recovery screen itself.

Check if your S4 has been rooted successfully.

You have thus rooted your Super Smartphone! Enjoy superuser rights to run root only apps and check out a few custom roms on your phone.

Though Micromax had promised a JellyBean 4.2 upgrade for its flagship phone at the time of its launch, we haven’t heard anything about it since then. If you are a Canvas HD user still waiting for the Id ka Chaand to arrive, your wait is kinda over. Xda senior member kumar abhishek has managed to port an Android 4.2 based rom to Micromax A116 Canvas HD. He has named the rom SamHD, which seems to be apt due to the touchwiz inspired interface of the rom.

Known Bugs:

At first, WiFi, bluetooth and Camera weren’t working, but thanks to kumar abhishek’s constant efforts, these major bugs have been fixed. Only one notable bug still reins: Hardware rendering doesn’t work on 1080p videos. That might be a major nuisance for you if you happen to be a movie buff because with software decoder, it would be really difficult to play 1080p videos smoothly. Other than that, everything seemse to be sailing smoothly. So, if you can bear that, you can happily proceed further.

SamHD ROM features:

According to kumar abhishek, the rom developer, the rom has the following notable features:

12 MegaPixel Camera (I honestly don’t think that it will improve the camera performance, apart from adding a few more pixels to the shots you shoot with your originally 8 MP shooter)
Transparent Settings application (a wallpaper in the background)
Pre-rooted ROM with busybox already installed
Tweaks for more stable network signal and better internet speeds
Touchwiz styled (You are out of luck if you hate Touchwiz (like I do))
Flipboard app now works fine
Increased Flashlight intensity

If you want to try this rom on your phone, make sure that you have rooted your phone. Another point to be noted is that Rooting voids your manufacturer warranty. So, proceed ahead only if you know what you are doing.

How to Flash Android 4.2 on Micromax A116:

Make sure your phone is rooted and has clockworkmod recovery installed on it. You can find the steps to do so here.
Download the SamHD rom v2.
Transfer it to your phone’s internal sd card.
Switch off your phone first. Then to boot into clockworkmod recovery, press and hold Volume Down + Power button till you see the recovery screen.
Using Volume Up and Down keys to scroll and Power button to confirm the selection, select Wipe Data/Factory Reset. Then, go to Advanced and select Wipe Dalvik Cache.
After you are done wiping Data and Dalvik Cache, go to Install zip from sdcard and locate the rom file you transferred to your device in step 2.
When the rom is flashed completely, reboot your phone and enjoy the updated version on your Canvas HD.

We shall keep you updated with any other relevant update for your device, so, stay tuned. Post any comments below in case you need help with any of the steps. In case you want to contct the developer, here is the original thread.

If you are a tech/android junkie, try to recall the nifty feature in Jelly Bean 4.2 that allows users to verify third party apps i.e. not downloaded from play store (or sideloaded, as they say) before installing them. This is pretty useful, given the amount of malicious apps that are available on the internet which might steal your data or infect your phone with some harmful virus in lieu of providing a paid app for free.

Android justifies its “highly customizable” tag by making this option completely optional. The verification thing can be toggled from Google Settings, an app that was pushed a while back to all Android users. The good news is that this time the feature has been introduced not only on Jelly Bean 4.1, but also on really antique OS versions like Froyo and Gingerbread. I couldn’t test it on a Éclairs running device, because I don’t have one. If you are one of those unlucky few who are still stuck with Éclairs or below, let me know in the comments, whether this functionality has been rolled out to your phone or not.

An option to choose whether the user wants to install apps from unknown sources has been present in Android from the very early days. So, the power has always been in user’s hands, whether they want to sideload apps or not, but still, Google’s move will be more than appreciated by everyone. Fragmentation and malwares has made it to the top of the list of Android’s shortcoming and this is a step in the right direction.

I tried uninstalling Play Services and the Google Settings icon in the app drawer disappeared, but much to my surprise, the option to verify the apps before install was still there. The other things I tried with the verification system was to install Black Market, Pirated apps, Apps that root the phone (like z4root) which trigger the antivirus on my PC and every other apk that I could throw at it, but unfortunately, I failed to trigger any “risk found” message. If you have a link to a malicious app, give me a link to the apk (in the comments, obviously) or try it out on your phone whether it actually does anything.