BlackBerry Is Bringing Voice Calls To BBM App For iPhone And Android [VIDEO]

As most of you will have gleaned, BlackBerry is a struggling brand just now, and the decision of the Canadian company to roll its prized BBM out to Android and iOS was seen by many as a sign of its desperation. In October, we learned that BBM for Android and iPhone was would also, at some point, offer free voice calls to other users of the app, but despite the confirmation BlackBerry’s VP Andrew Bocking on its imminent arrival, it looks as though we won’t be getting the feature until early on next year.

VoIP and IM apps have become a significant part of the mobile market, and despite established services such as Viber, Skype et al, companies seem unafraid to have a stab at pushing their own offerings. In BlackBerry’s case, it’s not so much a fearlessness as a lack of other viable growth options, and this delay on the voice chat feature will do very little to help its cause.

The BBM app itself has had a reasonably successful start, with the vast majority of users enjoying the fact that they can connect to their BB-toting buddies without the need for a third-party entity like WhatsApp. Sure, there were suspicions of fake reviews of the BBM app being put up on the Google Play Store not so long ago, but considering the fact that this most treasured of utilities is even available to non-BlackBerry customers shows just how far the company has slipped down the pecking order.

As well as bringing BBM Voice calls, BBM Channels will also be hitting the iPhone and Android apps, and with more emoticons and an improved file sharing infrastructure, those still sticking with the app should be in for something of a treat.

Currently in beta, the features will roll out in the next couple of months, according to BlackBerry, although since this echoes the sentiments of October’s announcement, we’re not getting too carried away with excitement just yet.

After replacing its CEO and gathering together some investment funds from numerous sources, BlackBerry was hoping that its tanking brand would be able to turn its fortunes around. However, with today’s earnings call, at which the company announced losses of $4.4 billion for the third quarter, one has to wonder how many more chances the company has left.

One thing’s for sure – the BBM updates cannot come soon enough.

(Source: BlackBerry)

How To Flash Custom Android ROMs With Utmost Ease

Being able to take a smartphone and then tinker with it to the nth degree is part of the charm of the Android community. Being able to be the best looking, highest spec device on the planet and then put your own, heavily customized or completely stock version of Android onto it is the reason many people swear by Android over its iOS and Windows Phone competition. We’ve flashed more than our fair share of Android ROMs in our time, and we know both how much fun, and how frustrating an enterprise it can be.

Which begs the question: if we can find it frustrating, what about people who are less savvy? While it’s true that the average man on the street probably doesn’t have an XDA-Developeraccount and no doubt won’t want to start flashing things like CyanogenMod onto a smartphone, it’s safe to say that there are plenty of shades of grey in-between them and us, leaving plenty of potentially confused and often scared Android owners.

It’s for this exact reason that apps have begun popping up that try to make the flashing of ROMs a less geeky affair, and even the folks at Cyanogen managed to get an app into the Google PlaS store that did just that, which was later pulled for various reasons. Another entry into the arena goes by the name of CustomDroid, and it’s available now.

Created by an XDA senior member, CustomDroid can unlock the bootloader on some devices, flash a custom recovery, and finally flash a custom ROM. It can’t currently root the device or flash the required custom kernel, but we hear that such capabilities are currently being worked on.

While not all devices are supported, most of the main ones are: Nexus 4, Nexus 7, Nexus 10, Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Nexus One and HTC One are all on the list, though there are obviously some notable exceptions. It’s early days though, so we’re willing to give CustomDroid the benefit of the doubt for now. Hopefully in time we will see new devices added to that list, making flashing custom ROMs easier for even more people.

Oh, and you’ll currently need a Windows PC to get in on the action.

CustomDroid can be downloaded now, and is absolutely free.

(Source: XDA-Developers)

This New Accessory Turns iPhone Or Android Into A Dual-SIM Device, Also Acts As Camera Remote [VIDEO]

Dual-SIM smartphones are part of normal everyday life in countries like China. The majority of local Chinese manufacturers invariably offer some kind of low-end, low-cost piece of kit that mimics the look and feel of a popular device but comes with the ability to run two SIM cards at any given time. That type of device is extremely rare in the European and American markets, but does come with a very tangible benefits for the user. James Sung, the man behind the original dual SIM peel case, has recognized these benefits and is back with a new product called Teleza, which he thinks is the perfect solution to our dual-SIM requirements.

Teleza is essentially a stylish looking piece of hardware that connects to a smartphone or tablet through the Bluetooth protocol. The gadget is being advertised as a "Dual SIM Remote", which is actually a pretty apt description of its intended functionality.

The hardware has two SIM card slots built in that allows the user to compliment the manufacturer added slot on their smartphone, taking the total number of unique calling numbers on the device to three if required. Business travellers, regular tourists and international students will definitely see the benefit of being able to grab a local number when out of the country.

It could be set that the functionality alone is worth the $129.99 price-tag. However, there is more to Teleza than it meets the eye. The hardware can also act as a remote control for the camera on the connected device, allowing users to capture that all important selfie shot from up to ten meters away. The likes of Instagram and Vine will soon be overloaded with images and videos captured using the Teleza as a selfie aid. It also acts as a media remote control for music and movies playing on the device, allowing the user to play, pause and skip the currently playing media without actually having to have the iOS or Android powered device in their hand.

Teleza will be available in two different versions. The DSR iPhone Edition will support the iPhone 4, 4s, 5, 5s and 5c. The DSR+ Android and Tablet Edition will have the same level of support for Apple’s iPhones but also work with most Android powered devices and tablets.

However, it is noted that the DSR+ variant is still in a beta stage with some functionality no working correctly. The hardware will begin shipping in January 2014 for $129.99. You can find more info on the product by directing your browser to: Teleza.com

Infographic: How Android Updates Are Pushed To Users

It’s always been something of a thorn in the side of people who like their Android smartphones. It’s all well and good picking up a fancy new phone with (hopefully) the latest version of Android running on top of it. Often the device ships with a version of Android that is already out of date, but while with other platforms this could be easily fixed by downloading an updated version of the software, that isn’t quite the case with Android.

People are often very quick to point the finger at device manufacturers when their favorite handset doesn’t get a timely Android update, especially when they see Nexus devices getting the latest and greatest version of Android as soon as it is available, or at the very least, soon after. It looks like someone at HTC is tired of being blamed though, because the company has taken to its own website set to spill the beans on just what it takes to get an update from Google and then force it onto one of its smartphones. As we sort of expected, it’s not as easy as some may think.

"HTC is focused on providing timely software updates for both HTC Sense™ innovation and major Google Android™ releases. In an effort to bring transparency to this process, we will be marking the steps of preparation and our progress, by device and carrier."

According to HTC, the process comprises of four distinct steps; Evaluation, Development, Integration, Certification and finally the Push to customer stage. Nothing with words like ‘certification’ in it is ever going to be done quickly, and this is no exception.

In order to better explain its situation, HTC has put together a rather large infographic which it believes will drive home the complications of something like getting an Android update ready for its handsets. In truth, the infographic confused us enough for us to just give up trying to follow it, which unfortunately seems to be what some hardware makers and carriers appear to do when trying to get updates out, too!

There’s little doubt that hardware makers are made to jump through hoops just to give their customers the latest version of the software they are so heavily reliant on, and that’s simply not right at all. It’s obvious that these updates work fine on these carriers’ networks because those with unlocked devices are using them just fine, which begs the question of what the likes of Verizon and AT&T are doing when vetting HTC and co’s work. Whatever it is, it adds time to an already lengthy process, and that just ain’t cool.

(Source: HTC)

Android Run Time: An Easy Hack To Make Your Phone Faster And Its Battery Last Longer

ART stands for ‘Android RunTime’ and its job couldn’t be more important: it runs the apps on Android devices. ART replaces ‘Dalvik’ (named after the Icelandic village where creator Dan Bornstein’s ancestors lived) which has performed this task since Android first appeared. As you might expect Dalvik was getting very long in the tooth and it wasn’t that great in the first place. In giving it the boot users will get two significant benefits:

1. More Speed

Why this happens requires a bit of tech speak.

Dalvik uses the ‘Just-in-time’ (JIT) process which means it has to transform app source code into an executable program every time it starts. That’s right, Android apps have to run through a conversion each time they are started.

By contrast ART uses the ‘Ahead-of-time’ (AOT) process and this compiles (aka does the conversion) when an app is installed. Using this method apps can launch up to twice as quickly which will have a dramatic effect on the sense of speed of your phone.

2. Better battery Life

A nifty-knock on effect of AOT processing is making app-launch a less intensive process, so your phone doesn’t have to work as hard which increases battery life. Using your phone you won’t see a major difference, but significant gains will come in standby as apps which run in the background will now do so more efficiently.

Early developer reports claim to see as much as a 30% boost in idle standby time, but there are so many variables here it is hard to measure. From my own experience with ART on a Nexus 5 I’d put it closer to 20%, which is not to be sniffed at given it will be updated and refined continuously.

The downsides

Unfortunately switching to ART also has a couple of negatives.

1. It uses more storage

Or to be more precise: your installed apps will use more storage – roughly 10% to 20%. This is because the pre-compiled apps which allow ART to run so quickly and efficiently have to be installed this way which makes them bigger compared to Dalvik’s on-demand method. For those with a lot of apps installed this could take a significant chunk of your available space, they will also take a little longer to install.

2. Some apps are incompatible

Android 4.4.2 fixed a number of incompatibility issues (including some with mega apps such as WhatsApp) such that 99% are now compatible with ART. MX Player is the only significant app I’ve found to be incompatible (update: now fully compatible). A full list of apps compatible with ART can be found here. I’ve yet to find any significant apps that don’t work with ART on 4.4.2. If you do find a key app that doesn’t work it is possible to switch back to Dalvik on the settings menu shown here.

How do I get it?

For starters you will have to be running Android 4.4 which at this moment limits you to Google GOOG +0.98%’s Nexus series or a custom ROM on a rooted device. That should change quickly though as most major handset makers have now pledged to upgrade their main handsets to v4.4 in Q1. Since KitKat is also more friendly to budget phones than previous versions of Android it should be the Android version of choice for new budget phones as well.

ART is yet to become the default setting in Android 4.4.x so here is how you enable it:

1. Go to settings then ‘About Phone’

2. Tap the ‘Build Number’ repeatedly until you get the announcement you’re a developer

3. Go back to settings where you will see a new ‘Developer options’ section

4. In Developer options change ‘Select runtime’ to ‘Use ART’

Your phone will reboot and it will take 10 to 20 minutes to convert your existing app installations to be ART compatible. You’ll see a progress count during this. Don’t worry, all your app data is safe. Should you wish to switch back just choose ‘Use Dalvik’ in Developer options. The process takes about 10 minutes to complete and again no app data will be lost.