Hot Android News Stories

News: The Galaxy S5 Has Been Rooted!

Chainfire, the renowned Android dev who brought us tools like CF-Auto-Root and 500 Firepaper, among many other apps and tools, has done what he always seems to do, which is root devices before they hit the shelves, this time for the Samsung Galaxy S5.

News: KitKat Rolling Out for the AT&T Samsung Galaxy Note 3

After leaks and rollouts from rival carriers, AT&T has finally released their official Android 4.4.2 KitKat update for the Galaxy Note 3. If you haven't received your update notification, force a manual check by going to Settings -> More -> About Device -> Software Update -> Check for Updates. Make sure you're connected to Wifi and have at least 50% battery remaining. This update includes:

News: What's New & Improved in Sense 6 for Your HTC One M7

After all the leaks and peeks of the HTC One M8, it has finally been officially introduced to the public, available for purchase at most U.S. carriers. HTC also unveiled Sense 6 during the launch event, the newest iteration of its operating system, and thanks to their new Advantage Program, the update shouldn't be too far behind for the older One (M7).

News: The New HTC One Will Go on Sale "Minutes" After March 25th Announcement

Well, that's one way to get a leg up on Samsung! Announced earlier today, Carphone Warehouse has stated that the new HTC One, dubbed the M8, will go on sale around 4pm on Tuesday, March 25th, "minutes" after the official announcement to unveil the product from HTC. According to the press release, the "handsets will be transported directly from the venue of the launch announcement to six Carphone Warehouse stores in London". A first for a smartphone manufacturer, the move will give HTC a coupl...

Fearmongering 101: The Case of the Samsung Galaxy Backdoor Exploit

Yesterday, the Free Software Foundation published an article written by Paul Kocialkowski. A software developer for the the Android fork system Replicant, Paul stated that his organization discovered, and later patched, a "backdoor" vulnerability that existed in older Samsung Galaxy devices, including our beloved Galaxy S3s. Only problem is, it's kind of bullshit—but we'll get to that later.

News: New Features and KitKat Compatibility Added to HTC Backup for Your HTC One

If you are using the the AT&T variant of the HTC One, you are well aware that the carrier opted not have the HTC Backup app pre-installed on the device. Luckily for us, HTC said "screw it" and put the app on Google Play, allowing anyone with an HTC One, regardless of carrier, to be able to download and use the app—if you're an AT&T customer, grab the app and let's take a quick walkthrough (again, the rest of us on other carriers should have the app already).

News: Google Play Celebrates Its Second Birthday with Limited Time Deals

Today Google Play turns 2, and it's celebrating by offering deals for a selection of apps, books, magazines, movies, and music. The deals certainly aren't "door busters", but they're deals nonetheless. While a few games have been included in the promotion, the discounts are mainly on in-app purchases, so they're not readily identifiable. And if you've been dying to grab the Grumpy Cat book but thought four bucks was just a tad too much, head to Google Play and grab it for two bucks while it's...

News: KitKat Update Rolling Out Right Now for the T-Mobile Samsung Galaxy Note 3

As reported by member Rick, the Android 4.4.2 KitKat update is rolling out right now for the T-Mobile variant of the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, matching the Sprint and US Cellular updates from last week. While we don't have any specifics from T-Mobile regarding the update, it can be assumed that it brings the standard KitKat features such as immersive mode, transparent status bar, lock screen upgrades, and cloud printing support.

News: Everything You Need to Know About the New Samsung Galaxy S5

The Samsung Galaxy S5 was just officially announced at Mobile World Congress. The new flagship device will be available worldwide beginning April 11, 2014, including all major U.S. and international carriers. With over 200 million Galaxy devices sold to date, the S5 doesn't stray too far from the trend, at least not aesthetically. We've still got a high-grade plastic shell with perforated back covers, and four color choices at launch. Our highlights of the release event are as follows.

Final Release: Upgrade Your EVO 4G LTE to Android 4.3 Right Now

All you Sprint customers still rocking the HTC EVO 4G LTE got some good news last night. Per Martin Fichter, a US Vice President at HTC, the once flagship Sprint device has been issued a final update, taking the device from Android 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) to Android 4.3 (Jellybean). While not the latest Android version, this update also carries the upgrade to Sense 5. As the company stated in their Reddit AMA, HTC will continue to update their flagship devices to the latest Android versions ...

News: Unpacked! Samsung Teases Galaxy S5 Reveal Date

Falling in line with tradition, Samsung is ever-so-subtly teasing their big Galaxy S5 reveal at an event dubbed Unpacked 5. Just like with previous releases, we've seen a steady stream of information leak about Samsung's next flagship, from possible UI elements to more detailed hardward and software information. Now, we've got a date to look forward to, on the first day of Mobile World Congress no less.

News: More Samsung Galaxy S5 Details Trickle Out

The guys over at @evleaks continue their slow trickle of leaks about Samsung's upcoming flagship device. The first drop is simple enough, a confirmation that Samsung will continue its branding strategy, naming their next device the Samsung Galaxy S5. These next two are a little more interesting, despite their graphical shortcomings—screenshots of two APKs, or application files, from an "official" Galaxy S5 system dump.

News: Google Tells Samsung to Get with Its Program

Fresh off the heels of their latest agreement, Google and Samsung may soon be further aligned in their mobile technology outlook. The two tech giants signed a cross-licensing patent agreement, but that doesn't mean that Samsung was just going to start putting out stock Android devices. Quite the opposite really, as we saw from leaks of its new Magazine UX. The new user interface was shown during Samsung's presentation of it's latest Galaxy tablet at this years CES, and as reported to Re/code,...

News: KitKat Rolling Out for the Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Rolling out right now are the latest KitKat updates to both the Exynos (SM-N900) and Snapdragon (SM-N9005) variants of the Galaxy Note 3. These over-the-air (OTA) updates will be staged out, beginning with networks in India, South Korea, and Switzerland. As reported by @lalithbhaskar, and confirmed by Sammobile, the latest update brings Android 4.4.2 to Samsung's current flagship device. If you reside in one of the mentioned regions, you can force a manual check by going to Settings -> About ...

News: KitKat Rolling Out for the HTC One

HTC has started rolling out it's KitKat update (Android 4.4.2) for the HTC One to French carrier SFR, expanding on the original update to it's Google Play Edition devices from November. Update roll outs tend to begin in Europe, Asia, and Africa before hitting stateside, but the release means we can't be too far away from a public build. As always, US carriers take much longer than their international counterparts, but the French OTA (over-the-air) update means that, for all intents and purpos...