Wish to have Android apps On Windows or Mac

“Android is not just for Android devices any more. Thanks to the BlueStacks App Player, you can run your favorite Android apps on PCs running Windows XP, Vista or 7. You can run them on a PC or even a tablet running Windows 8. If you've got a Mac, BlueStacks will let you run Android apps on it as well. This nifty player won Best of CES last year -- and it's free.”
Have you got some favorite smartphone apps? Not convinced by Microsoft's new Windows app selection? Itching to see some Android action on your MacBook Pro? Don't worry, just install an Android emulator on your Windows or Mac machine and run all of the Android apps that you've grown to love.
A version is even available for Windows 8 Surface tablets. Load up to 750,000 Android apps, including games, SMS text messaging, and media apps.
The free product that lets you do this is BlueStacks App Player, and it claims more than 5 million downloads.
Here's how to go about loading and running the BlueStacks emulator:
Installation and Use
Step 1: Browse to the BlueStacks Web page on a desktop computer or laptop and click on the download button for your operating system. Choose between XP, Vista and Windows 7; Windows 8; or Mac.
Follow the usual steps for installing software, opening the .exe file. Follow the prompts to allow installation and then accept the terms of the license agreement by clicking on the Welcome to BlueStacks' Continue button.
Step 2: Verify that App Store Access and App Notification check boxes are enabled on the following screen and then click Install. Allow the BlueStacks application to load.
Step 3: Click on the My Apps tile and then on the App Search button.
Search for an app that you use regularly on your smartphone or tablet. For example, I searched for Falcon Pro, a robust, paid-for Twitter client I like. Allow the in-Bluestacks search to complete and then click on the Install button adjacent to the search result.

Tip: The app doesn't install from this search. This search just tells you which store has the app you want.
Step 4: Choose an app store from the selection. I chose the Google native Play store, but there will be others listed, including Amazon.
Tip: Choose the store that you normally use on your device. It will be cheaper to migrate an app that you've already paid for.
Step 5: Add your account details if prompted. If you already have a Google account, add it here. Allow any sync to take place and then select Finish Setup. Click on any terms and conditions check boxes and then press Continue.
Step 6: Perform a second search for the app that you want to install. Allow the search to take place and then choose Accept and Download. Allow the app to install and then open the app. This search is from within the store that you may be familiar with, like Play.
Tip: Use the on-screen keyboard that pops up rather than the PC's physical keyboard if you run into keyboard mapping issues when communicating with the app.

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Blowfish12@2013 Blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

Related articles

• BlueStacks for Mac quietly moves to beta (reviews.cnet.com)
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• New BlueStacks App Optimized For Surface Pro Brings 750,000 Android Apps To Windows 8 (microsoft-news.com)
• BlueStacks Brings Over 750,000 Android Applications To Windows 8 And Surface Pro (techcrunch.com)

Windosify android

“Windows apps on Android Wine makes it happen”

Twenty years later Wine is making an new leap on Android platform. The software makes it possible for us to run Windows software on Linux and other Linux Platforms.

While Microsoft making its new leap on metro design UI, Wine is planning it port to Android enabling us to port windows applications on Android, reports Phoronix.

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Blowfish12@2013 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R. Photo Courtesy: phoronix

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• Wine demoed on Android, runs Windows apps (neowin.net)
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[lol] Firefox os not Firefox browser

“Mozilla debuts two Firefox OS developer preview phones ”

With most smartphone makers endlessly obsessed with high-end devices sporting bigger and better specs, Mozilla’s focus on low-end devices with Firefox OS is simply refreshing.

Today the browser maker unveiled two developer preview phones for Firefox OS that it’s offering in partnership with the Spanish startup Geeksphone, which is building the phones, and Telefonica.

True to its low-end focus, Mozilla is placing the spotlight mostly on the less-powerful Keon (above). It features a small 3.5-inch screen, a 1 gigahertz processor, 4 gigabytes of storage, and 512 megabytes of RAM. With those specs, the Keon would barely even cut it as a cheap Android phone in the U.S. today. But in Brazil, where Mozilla is debuting Firefox OS phones later this year, it’s representative of devices that many consumers will actually be able to afford.



On the slightly more powerful end, Geeksphone is also working on a developer preview phone called Peak (right). It sports a 4.3-inch screen, 1.2 gigahertz dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor, and a much better camera than the Keon.

These aren’t phones meant to take on the iPhone — instead, they’re aiming to get developers comfortable with Firefox OS and its complete reliance on open web standards, which is Mozilla’s big selling point for the platform. Apps for Firefox OS are built entirely in HTML 5, but will have the same sort of functionality as native apps on iOS and Android. That means the apps will be easy to build, even for amateur developers.

“Developer preview phones will help make the mobile web more accessible to more people,” said Stormy Peters, director of developer engagement at Mozilla, in a blog post today. “Developers are critical to the web and to Mozilla’s mission to make the web accessible to everyone. Hundreds of millions of people worldwide use Firefox to discover, experience and connect to the Web. A web based on open standards and open technologies. We couldn’t have done this without web developers.”

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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• Mozilla reveals Firefox OS phone (pocket-lint.com)


• Mozilla reveals Firefox OS Developer Preview Phone (engadget.com)


• Mozilla unveils Firefox OS developer preview phone (phonearena.com)

A quick look at HTC Sense 4.1

As usual, HTC is always looking to improve its software to deliver a better experience to its handsets. While the latest AT&T HTC One X  update to Android 4.0.4 had a few minor tweaks, it looks like HTC may soon have another update which will deliver Android 4.0.4 with HTC Sense 4.1. The software has managed to make its way into the hands of a few folks on XDA-Developers who have already turned it around and backed it into a new ROM for the international HTC One X.

Like the update for the HTC One X on AT&T, Sense 4.1 fixes the  “action overflow” feature in Android 4.0 by removing the menu bar that HTC had placed at the bottom of the screen and  allows users to configure the capacitive multitasking button on the device to access the menu functionality within apps. The second main feature is the return of the Quick Settings tab in the notification shade, giving users direct access to handset settings without having to dive into the main settings page or waste valuable screen real estate with widgets.

We expect HTC will be pushing out Sense 4.1 to the HTC One X, One S and One V in the coming weeks. But if you can’t wait that long, we suggest you check in with your favorite ROM developers to see if you can get Sense 4.1 a little sooner.

Other HTC Sesne 4.1 fixes or enhancements

• 
  
  Live wallpaper lag has been fixed.


• 
  
  Dedicated button in the Camera app to switch between Front/Backward facing cameras


• 
  
  Dedicated button to switch tabs in the browser


• 
  
  Removal of all 3D-Effects in the launcher


• 
  
  Updated kernel with speed improvements


• 
  
  Wifi-dropping/ Icon showing weak signal fixes


• 
  
  Better Battery life improvement

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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• Last-minute HTC One X+ emerge ahead of HTC event (reviews.cnet.com)


• HTC One X+ review (itproportal.com)


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Santa gets technical: Over 17M iOS and Android devices activated Christmas Day

Christmas Day marked the most iOS and Android device activations than “any other day in history,” according to a report from mobile analytics company Flurry – with over 17 million new smartphones and tablets booting up for the first time.

Compared to the rest of December, new iOS and Android activations soared 332 percent on Christmas Day. Every other day in December only averaged around four million activated devices. It also squarely beat out last Christmas, which only hit 6.8 million devices activated.

Smartphones and tablets are undeniably mainstream and parents, friends, and significant others are seemingly happy to shell out for the technology everyone wants. It helps that a number of new products entered the market in the recent months, including Apple’s iPad Mini, iPhone 5, Kindle Fire HD, Nexus 4, and Nexus 10. The hype and marketing from these releases surely contributed to people’s holiday wish lists.

Interestingly, however, it seems like people think of tablets as a present, as opposed to an every day expense. Throughout December, 80 percent of activated iOS and Android devices were smartphones, whereas on Christmas Day, tablets rushed up and claimed 51 percent of activated devices.

Apps also saw an expected spike on what has now come to be known as Download Day. Compared with the rest of December, app downloads increased by 112 percent on Christmas Day with 328 million apps downloaded overall. Only 155 million apps were downloaded each day in December prior to Christmas.

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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• Christmas Day saw 17 million iOS and Android devices activated (phonearena.com)


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• Christmas day saw 17.4 million iOS and Android device activations: Flurry (mobilesyrup.com)


• Record-breaking 17.4 million Android and iOS devices activated on Christmas Day; tablets top smartphones (bgr.com)


• Christmas Day 2012 saw record-breaking number of iOS and Android activations (digitaltrends.com)


• Flurry: 17 million iOS, Android devices activated on Christmas day (tuaw.com)


• Activations by iOS, Android smash all previous records (electronista.com)


• 328m Christmas Day app downloads fuel festive boom on iOS and Android (guardian.co.uk)


• Record-breaking 17.4 million Android and iOS devices activated on Christmas Day; tablets top smartphones (news.yahoo.com)

[virus] Fake Android app can launch DDoS attacks from your phone

Researchers at Doctor Web found a new trojan app in the Google Play store that can launch distributed denial of service attacks when opened.

Android.DDoS.1.origin, as it’s called, is Russian and disguises itself as the Google Play icon once downloaded. When opened, the app takes its victims to the actual Google Play store so as to distract the user. In the background, however, it searches for its command and control server — and if a connection is made, the app sends the infected phone’s number to the criminals. These hackers then administer commands to the app via text messages.

Commands include launching a DDoS attack or sending other text messages. Doctor Web suggests that the text message function could be used to spam others in the phone’s contact list, prompting them to either download the app or something else the hackers are pushing.

Nowadays when we think of DDoS attacks, we often are reminded of Anonymous, the hacker collective that launches a number of these attacks in the name of political protest. We’ve seen DDoS attacks take down a number of important websites including the CIA’s, financial institutions, and others. These attacks send large amounts of traffic toward a certain website’s servers in an attempt to overload the system and shut it down.

With this app, however, hackers with DDoS intentions are roping in innocent bystanders to do the dirty work. This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a campaign like this. In the case of the CIA website’s take down, Anonymous was accused of distributing links on Twitter to low-orbit-ion-canons (LOIC). These “cannons” send thousands of packets of information to a targeted server per second. When the Twitter links were clicked on, unsuspecting visitors would suddenly be roped into the attack.

Doctor Web goes on to say that the app can cause the phone to perform poorly, and can actually run up the owner’s bill by texting premium numbers.

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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• [Resolved] Minor DDoS attack (easydns.org)

Fact for the day: 8-07-2012

Grace Hopper, a woman Admiral in the navy, was the inventor of COBOL. Admiral Hopper wrote COBOL to be a programming language for general business use. It was supposed to be easier to understand than either Fortran or assembly language.

The name 'worm' appeared in the 1970 movie 'Shockwave Rider' to describe a program that propagates itself through a computer network.

Apple based their Lisa (later Macintosh) operating system on work done on graphical user interface at PARC which was run by Xerox. It was here that idea of the desktop and the mouse as we have it today was created.

Estimates suggest as much as 50 percent of the power used in desktop PCs is wasted as heat and expelled through fans on the power supply.

All the three founders of Apple Inc - Steve Jobs, Steve Wozniak and Ronald Wayne - worked at Atari before creating Apple.

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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• Grace Hopper and the Invention of the Information Age by Kurt W Beyer - review (guardian.co.uk)


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• Retrieve data from a txt file in cobol (daniweb.com)


• Scala Less Popular Than COBOL: Programming In The Real World (nerds-central.blogspot.com)


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Report: $99 Android-based game console Ouya on the way

A $99 Android-based video game console that’s free-to-play and “built to be hacked” is currently in development, according to the tech site The Verge (via Kotaku.)

Ouya will have a “high-concept developer ecosystem that’s as free as can be,” The Verge said. The startup behind Ouya claims every customer who buys a retail box will get a software development kit, giving everyone the capability to publish games on the platform. The aim is to disrupt the console business by giving a path for indie game developers to reach gamers more easily and directly.

The console will reportedly connect to your TV. Its sleek look is the work of designer Yves Behar, the chief creative officer of wearable technology company Jawbone and designer of the One Laptop per Child XO laptop. Ex-IGN executive Julie Uhrman, former Vice President of Game Publishing at Microsoft Ed Fries, and Lab126′s Muffi Ghadiali are also allegedly working on the project.

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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Android 4.1 Jelly Bean: Tour & Features Walkthrough [video]

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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Android app swipes contactless credit card details

Got a credit card equipped with a contactless payment chip? Then watch out next time someone bumps into you in the street - they may have just mugged you with an app.

Contactless cards use near field communications (NFC) chips to exchange your payment details with a merchant's till, and some smartphones also come equipped with NFC chips to let you use them as a wallet. Now security researcher Thomas Skora has written an app that turns any NFC phone into a reader and successfully read card numbers, expiry dates, transactions and merchant IDs from German credit cards.

The app, called paycardreader, was removed from the Google Play store yesterday, but Skora has also placed the source code on GitHub, a code-sharing website, and says the app doesn't actually save the swiped data, it just displays it.

It is possible that more malicious app developers could use similar methods to actively steal data though - an investigation by Channel 4 television in the UK earlier this year revealed it was possible to swipe details via a phone and use them to make purchases on Amazon.

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Blowfish12@2012 blowfish12.tk Author: Sudharsun. P. R.

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10 eminent Must have Gadgets

This time we are here with a set of 10 popular gadgets which anyone must have. All of these gadgets have been cherished with some or the other enhanced qualitative configurations as well resemble an attractive look too. The entire group of the gadgets showcased here is rich in configurations and will make you feel worth taking. We are not saying that we have bring up any unique or never seen gadgets in the list rather we are going to discuss about some of the well known gadgets in order to serve you a valued list. So, let’s find out who all are the participants in the list?

Best Android tablet as Asus Eee Pad Transformer Prime: This tablet is a 10.1-inch LED backlit Super IPS+ Gorilla Glass device which carries an 8 Mega Pixel auto focus camera, runs on Android 3.2 (Honeycomb) Operating System, powered by 1 Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core processor, etc. If you are looking for a full-size tablet which ensures superb performance thereby distinguishing itself from the iPad, then you can just go for it. Get the Asus Transformer Prime’s optional keyboard dock and here you are with a full-on laptop replacement. Price: $499.00 – $599.72

Apple iPad (2012) the best as an overall tablet: This tablet is a jumbo pack with lot of improvements as it carries faster graphics, 4G wireless options, equipped with an enhanced camera, enabled with a gorgeous high-resolution display and lots more others. This latest iPad is placed at the peak of the tablet pack. Price: $499.00 – $599.99

Apple iPhone 4S as a best Smartphone supporting media: Obviously, the iPhone 4S isn’t the king of the Smartphones court but even so it’s a part of the royal family. However, this cell phone lacks 4G support and a giant screen but this handset is accorded with voice assistant, Siri, the benefits of iOS 5, and it’s astounding camera takes it to the top of the Smartphone chain. Price: $199.00 – $529.00

Amazon Kindle 2011 (Wi-Fi) best as no-frills e-book reader: It is one of the best and super-affordable ultra portable reader for those readers which are not stick to a touch-screen as this one would be an awesome one available in $79 for its buy. Price: $79.00

HP Folio 13 the giant Windows ultrabook: This device carries a 13.3-inch diagonal HD BrightView LED-backlit display and many of the other spectacular specs. When the question arises for Windows ultrabooks, then the HP Folio 13 is the best out of the list based on its performance, price, and ergonomics, a less-than-razor-thin design and lots more. This ultrabook has been developed aiming at the small businesses but can be used by anyone whoever desires to have a reliable ultrabook. Price: $899.99 – $1,379.99

Verizon Wireless Motorola Droid Razr Maxx the most durable Smartphone: The Razr Maxx spreads the entire prove that even a most powerful Android super phone can retain a thinnest form factor that too with the best promising features and marathon-worthy battery life. If you are not that lover of Ice Cream Sandwich and then the Maxx can be the extremely compelling device to you with its Razr sharp look. Price: $199.99 – $299.99

Panasonic TC-ST50 Series yet the best 2012 TV: This TV resembles the flagship-level picture quality costing a midlevel price. The Panasonic ST50 series as a videophile-grade TVs serves the best of brightness, saturation, contrast and sharpness of colors that too with Smooth Reproduction of Web Movies and Web Smoother. Price: $1,448.18 – $1,699.95

Samsung Galaxy Nexus (Verizon Wireless): This Smartphone lets you to have the best Android experience. Most of the devices are just confined with the expectation to get the update of Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” operating system later in 2012. But, this one is the only choice with the best serving Android experience. Price: $49.99 – $199.99

Sony Cyber-shot DSC-HX9V Camera: This one is the best consumer compact camera which is a perfect one as feature junkies in search of a compact megazoom. Price: $279.99 – $399.99

Logitech Wireless Boombox: It is the best wireless speaker under $150 and this boombox provides a Bluetooth speaker which sounds amazing, empowered with a rechargeable battery and is affordable too. Price: $118.06 – $168.59