How to search with your voice in Android?

How to search with your voice in Android?

Android is a amazing platform with unlimited features. But to exploit its opportunities the user need to understand its possibilities.

Google’s search app allows you to search the web or your phone just by talking. Tap the microphone next to the search bar and record your search. It’s awesome and incredibly accurate.

IPhone 4 Vs Samsung Galaxy S2. Which one is the Best?

	Galaxy S2	iPhone 4
Form Factor	125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49mm, 117g	115.2 x 58.7 x 9.3mm, 137g
Screen	4:27-inch, 800x480px, Super Plus AMOLED	3.5-inch, 960x640px, LCD with IPS
Processors	1GHz dual-core, 1GB RAM	Apple A4, 512MB
Camera	8MP rear, front 2MP, 1080p video capture	5MP rear, front VGA, 720p video capture
Storage	16/32GB + microSD	16/32GB
Battery	1650mAh	1420mAh, Up to 10 hours video
Connectivity	Wi-Fi, NFC, 4G, BT 3.0, DLNA, Wi-Fi tethering	Wi-Fi, BT 2.1, 3G
OS	Android 2.3 Gingerbread	IOS 4.2

SAMSUNG GALAXY S2 VS IPHONE 4: SIZE AND WEIGHT

The Galaxy S2 measures 125.3 x 66.1 x 8.49mm and weighs in at 117g, while the iPhone 4 measures 115.2 x 58.7 x 9.3mm and weighs in at 137g. Samsung claims the Galaxy S2 would be the world’s thinnest smartphone at just 8.49mm and the feather light 117g as well. But, the iPhone 4 is a bit better than the Galaxy S2 in width and height.

Display

The Galaxy S2 has a 4.27-inch Super AMOLED Plus display with 800×480 pixels, while the iPhone 4 sports a 3.5-inch Retina display with 960×640 pixels. We see that it’s true the Super AMOLED Plus is one step better than the older Super AMOLED, but when people take a look at the pixels size only, the iPhone 4 is still the better one. The Galaxy S2′s display would still steal your heart with its large screen, anyway. Moreover, the new display of the Galaxy S2 offers a better contrast, better outdoor visibility and lower power consumption than iPhone 4.

Processor

The Samsung Galaxy S2 uses dual core 1.2 GHz ARM Cortex A9 Processor with Samsung Orion Chipset and 1 GB RAM, and the iPhone 4 comes with Apple A4 and 512MB RAM. This is what the Galaxy S2 wins over the iPhone 4, even though there’s no clear proof to show what’s going on graphically with the double RAM. For sure, the CPU built within the phone is a super fast processor that is able to run multitasking.

Camera

The Galaxy S2 has an 8-megapixel rear camera and 2-megapixel front-facing camera, along with the 1080p video capture. The iPhone 4 is a bit lower at this point, offering a 5-megapixel rear camera and a VGA front-facing camera, with 720p video capture. Do you still need another bullet to hit the iPhone 4? It’s all obvious that there’s an unbalance battle here. And, that’s not enough! The Galaxy S 2 also includes plenty of great technology such as Smile Shot, Beauty Shot, Panorama Shot, Action Shot and Cartoon Short too.

Storage

There’s 16/32GB storage offered by the Galaxy S2, and its sports a microSD too, while the iPhone 4 only comes with 16/32GB storage without microSD. The microSD you can get on the Galaxy S2 can be mentioned as a big plus to hit the iPhone 4. Effectively, you can store twice as much on it, and thus all your 1080p videos and 8-MP camera would fix it best.

Connectivity

The Galaxy S2 offers WiFi, NFC, 4G, Bluetooth 3.0, DLNA, WiFi tethering, and new HDMI technology, while the iPhone 4 only gives users WiFi, Bluetooth 2.1 and 3G network. Again, this is what to beat the iPhone 4. The 4G network, Bluetooth 3.0 and NFC technology are the form of the latest connectivity features should be installed to a new top smartphone.

Battery Life

The Galaxy S2 uses 1650 mAh battery type, and the iPhone 4 has 1420 mAh battery with 10 hours of video watching. The Galaxy S2′s battery is definitely bigger than that the iPhone 4, and it sounds natural because the dual core CPU would use lots of energy, while the large screen do the same.

Software

The Galaxy S2 runs Android 2.3 Gingerbread, while the iPhone 4 uses iOS 4.2. You can customize the Android OS, and you can’t do it with the iOS. You can get full Flash-enabled web browsing on Android, and the iPhone 4 shows the edge when it comes to applications. In short, the iPhone 4 is still the better one while both offer multitasking. The Game Center on iOS even gives special advantage compared to what Google has to date.

Price

The iPhone 4 is still the most expensive phone, more than anyone else, while the Galaxy S2 offers a lesser price tag than the iPhone 4. Of course, it is the biggest advantage people would find on the Galaxy S2. With those incredible features and facilities, the Galaxy S2 would find its own easy to win the market’s heart then.

SAMSUNG GALAXY S2 VS IPHONE 4: CONCLUSION

Is there still anything to say? Are there still more words to comment? The Galaxy S2 is an absolute king of the smartphone of today’s market. It is a really impressive to proud of, let alone the capabilities of the phone even beat the iPhone 4 mercilessly.

What are the things need to do before selling your iPad? - 4 simple things

So, eager to trade up for the new iPad? Well, the good news is that you can still get a decent chunk of change for your old one, provided you’ve kept it in relatively good shape. Here’s a couple ways to get a few extra pennies for last year’s iPad, plus some tips for keeping your iPad data safe and secure.

1. Back it up, using either iTunes or iCloud backup

Don’t even think of giving away your iPad without first making a backup copy of its settings and data.

Backing up your iPad is as simple as syncing it with iTunes—and indeed, each time you sync your iPad, iTunes makes a backup complete with all your settings, application data, your iMessages, and any snapshots or video clips in your Camera Roll.

You can also back up your iPad using Apple’s iCloud service, which automatically (and wirelessly) backs up your iPad settings and data to Apple’s remote iCloud servers. 

Make sure you have a recent iPad backup—either in iTunes or iCloud—before wiping your iPad's memory.

Once you get a new iPad (assuming that’s the plan, of course), you’ll be able to restore the backup of your old iPad from either iTunes or iCloud; just follow the prompts as you’re setting up your new tablet. 

One thing to keep in mind is that an iPad backup file on iTunes or iCloud doesn’t include music, movies, TV shows, music videos, or your actual iPad applications. Instead, you’ll have tore-download them from the iTunes store (your iPad should do this automatically during the backup restoration process).

And what about music and videos that you didn’t purchase from iTunes? Well, you’ll need to transfer them manually from wherever you’d originally synced them, or (for music only) via Apple’s new iTunes Match service.

2. Wipe it completely

Now that you’ve backed up your iPad, you’ll need to wipe its memory completely clean—that is, unless you like the idea of letting your iPad’s new owner poke through all your email, contacts, photos, and other personal information.

Here’s what you do:

• First, make absolutely sure you’ve backed up your iPad. If you’re using iTunes for your backups, click Preferences from the iTunes menu, click the Devices tab in the window that appears, then make sure you see a recent backup of your iPad in the “Device backups” list. If you’re using iCloud, go to your iPad, tap Settings, iCloud, Storage & Backup, and check the date of your latest backup at the bottom of the screen. 
• All set? Go back to the Settings menu on your iPad and tap General, Reset, then “Erase All Content and Settings.”
• Within a few minutes (or more, depending on how much data is on your iPad), you should be looking at a gray screen that reads “iPad,” just as if you were switching it on for the first time. And with that, you’re done.

3. Find the original box, sync cable, and charger

No, you don’t need your original iPad box to sell your old iPad, but it’ll help sweeten the deal once you find a willing customer. More important, though, is the white syncing cable—the one with a USB plug on one end and Apple’s 10-pin connector on the other—and its accompanying charger, a pair of key accessories that sells for $30 through the Apple store.

4. Clean the screen, but not with Windex

Sure, go ahead and clean the iPad's screen—but no water, please!

The nice thing about the iPad’s aluminum shell and durable glass screen (well, relatively durable, anyway) is that they both shine up like a new penny. A gentle wipe with (as Apple recommends) a soft, dry cloth should do the trick.

Whatever you do, though, don’t use a damp cloth, nor should you ever spray your iPad’s screen with glass cleaner. The iPad is deathly allergic to all things liquid, and water damage isn’t covered by Apple’s standard one-year warranty. Just don’t do it.

What is Google Cloud Print?

Google cloud print is based on the idea that printing can be more intuitive, available & useful. Cloud Using Google Print can make your printers are available from any web enabled Google Print cloud, desktop or mobile applications. To start printing by Google Cloud Print, connect a printer to your account. Google is compatible with printers prepared & classic clouds.

What is Google Cloud Print?

Replicate complex printing architectures of traditional PC systems operating in these new class of devices is not desirable & often not feasible. Nobody in the printing ecosystem – users, developers, manufacturers of printing – wishes to extend the GCP eliminates the necessity for drivers & provides all the printing functions to a new generation of mobile applications & web-based “driver’s disorder .. ”

There are significant trends in computing today, the shift towards web / cloud-based applications & the proliferation of networked mobile devices. As these web applications & mobile devices have become more capable, users expect the same capabilities they have on their PCs, & the impression is at the top of the list.

This is accomplished by using a print of clouds. Applications no longer depend on the local operating technique (& drivers) to print. In lieu, as shown in the diagram below, the applications (whether a native desktop / mobile app or web application) the use of PCBs to send & manage print jobs. GCP is responsible for sending the print job to the appropriate printer, with particular options chosen user, & provide the job status of the application.

google cloud print

Google Cloud Print Components

Applications

Any application can use Google Print Cloud, including web applications (like Gmail & sure third-party applications) & native applications (eg, a desktop word processor or a tool Android / IOS). These applications called Google Print Cloud API. You can use these APIs to collect the knowledge necessary to demonstrate their own user interface for custom printing options or basically use the common print dialog box that offers Google Cloud Print (see “User Interface” later in this page). There’s also APIs to query the status of the print job. Cloud Google Print is now integrated with Gmail for mobile rings & Google Docs & will integrate with more applications in the approaching months. Third Party Application developers can use Google Print Cloud on your web, desktop & mobile applications.

Google Cloud Print Service

Cloud Google Print is a web service offered by Google. Users associate printers with your Google Account. The printers are treated the same way that the documents are in Google Docs: it’s easy to share printers, along with co-workers, friends and family anywhere in the world. No need for complex network configurations for the print job sharing! In addition to associating printers with a Google Account user, GCP also stores the capabilities of each printer model to the appropriate print options can be shown to the user before sending a print job. Once the service receives a print job is sent to the printer. The service also receives regular updates on the status of the print job from the printer and makes this state can be obtained from the application.

Printers

Print Cloud Google removes the ambiguity between the two types of printers: printers ready and not cloud the cloud.

Cloud Ready Printers

Printer Prepared cloud are a new generation of printers with native support for connecting to the cloud of printing services. A cloud prepared printer does not need a PC connection or for any print driver. The printer is basically registered in or more services from the cloud of printing & print jobs waiting. They think that the impression of clouds has giant benefits for finish users & industry, & will increasingly come to be expected of users, given the speedy transition to cloud-based applications & knowledge warehousing & mobile computing. They also think that the only way that the benefits of cloud printing can be done is if the protocols are open, apply freely &, when feasible, based on industry standards. They hope you print multiple cloud services, & users ought to have an option in which the services they use, & printers that are connected to each. HP has launched its line of prepared ePrint clouds that can connect to Google Cloud Print, & more prepared cloud models will be announced in coming months.

Non-cloud Printers

Most printers obtainable today fall in to this section. This section includes printers connected directly to the PC (eg by a USB cable) & network printers (Ethernet or WiFi). This section also includes the recent crop of “connected to the Web” printers that offer users access to definite web services (such as maps & film tickets) directly from the LCD screen on the printer. While these are “connected site,” are not prepared printers clouds as described above, because they don’t have the ability to communicate directly with a print of clouds in search of print jobs.

They wish users to print to printers do not cloud through Google Print Cloud. This is accomplished by using a connector, a small piece of program that runs on a PC where the printer is installed. The connector is responsible for registering the Google Cloud Print printer & wait for print jobs from the service. When a jobarrives, the connector is sent to the printer using the operating process program of the PC original printer &job status sent back to the service.

So far, they have developed a connector for Mac & Windows, & are developing for Linux. To help users avoid the trouble of installing other program on their PCs, these connectors are shipped with Google Chrome. By basically installing Google Chrome on your PC & activate the function (which is disabled by default), users can print by Google Cloud Print clouds to lack of printers. obvious disadvantage of this approach is that the PC must be turned on & connected to the Web for print jobs to reach the connection (& therefore the printer). The current requirement that encourages enthusiasm for working with industry to build native support for printing services of clouds in the next generation of printers. They are also waiting to see clever people in the community to build small hardware connectors factors (such as routers with print server capabilities) to permit users to get all the benefits of connection without leaving your PC on.

What is “Google Play”? - A new home for Android apps, music, videos, and books

So much for the Android Market. In its place: “Google Play,” Google’s new digital hub for Android apps, games, and media.

In a blog post Tuesday, Google said it was consolidating the Android Market, Google Music, and Google eBookstore sites into Google Play to reduce the “hassle” of finding and organizing apps, tracks, videos and books for your various Android devices.

You can still browse for apps just as before, with the main app product pages (like this one) serving up product descriptions, screenshots, user reviews, and buttons for buying and/or installing a given app to your Android device.That’s the theory, anyway. In practice, Google Play (which you can check out right here) looks an awful lot like the old Android Market.

Up at the top of the Google Play page, just above a rotating carousel of promos, you’ll find tabs for “My Music” (the new home of Google Music), “My Books” (which replaces the Google eBookstore), and “My Movies” (for video rentals and purchases).

OK, so what happens to your old apps from the gone-but-not-forgotten Android Market, or your Google Music tune collection? Don’t worry—they’re still there, just where you left them. Indeed, the books and albums I bought from Google Music and the eBookstore are present and accounted for, except now they’re sitting under a “Google Play” banner.

What will be changing, though, is the Android Market app on your Android smartphone or Tablet. Google says it’ll be upgrading the app to the “Google Play Store” app in “the coming days.”

Google is also promoting the Google Play launch with daily discounts during the next week;check out this blog post for more details.

So, what do you think: will putting all of Google’s Android wares under a single “Google Play” roof make it easier to shop for apps, music, videos and books? Or will you miss the Android Market? Let me know what you think!

Samsung Galaxy S3 Review with latest Pictures

The Samsung Galaxy S iii is one of the biggest gadgets of 2012. With its predecessor topping the Android charts in the previous year and pretty much sweeping up all the best mobile phone awards it could find, it’s of little surprise that the world has its ears like a safe cracker to the web for news about the next member of this highly acclaimed super-smartphone dynasty.

Naturally, it’s our job here at Pocket-lint to sweep up any such tidbits of information and mould them in our experienced grip until we have a fully formed model of what we all expect the Samsung Galaxy S III to look like. Whether that turns out to reflect what the real phone shapes up to be remains to be seen, but read on to find out the shape of things right now according to the Samsung Galaxy S III rumours.

Samsung Galaxy S III quick facts based on rumours so far

If you take all the latest intel, fact or rumour, on the new Samsung Galaxy S3 or S III depending on how you write it, the phone will have a 4.8-inch screen, be powered by Samsung's own Exynos chip, feature slightly curved design like the Galaxy Nexus and come with an 8 megapixel camera. 

It will be available on Vodafone and O2 in the UK in the coming weeks and run Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich. You'll also be able to get it at Phones 4u too in the UK. It won't feature LTE for the UK and it is unlike to me made from Unicorn horns. 

Samsung Galaxy S III screen

The Galaxy S II had a whopper of a display when it arrived and Samsung even inched it out a little further for the LTE version, so one might expect something similarly grand for the Samsung Galaxy S III screen.

According to the leaked information on Phandroid.com in October, that’s exactly what will be happening with 0.1” addition taking the total to 4.6” on the diagonal. The same rumour talks of a much expected upgrade in the actual technology of the screen too. First it was Super AMOLED, then the SGS2 made it a Super AMOLED Plus and then the Galaxy Nexus came out with a 720p Super AMOLED HD. Apparently the Samsung Galaxy S III will have a Super AMOLED Plus HD. What this means in real terms has not been said but, in practice, it’s either going to be a 720p or 1080p resolution.

The only other story so far on the matter came from Samsung itself. Just after CES 2012, the company produced a video with its new product launch triumphs fresh from the show and some bright spark with the pause button at the ready spotted a large, but not Galaxy Note style, mobile device seven minutes in. What we see is a broader mobile with virtually edge-to -dge screen across its width and even less black along the top and bottom than you currently get on the SGS2. It looks great. The chances are, however, that it’s some kind of mock up but one never quite knows.

The latest rumours suggest that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will have a 4.8-inch screen based on a number of leaked images that show the supposed SGS3 next to a ruler, and more recently of a screen protector that shows it will be bigger than the HTC One X. 

Samsung Galaxy S III camera

Again, it’s really, so far, only October’s leak that’s given us anything to go on in terms of the Samsung Galaxy S III camera. The word on the slide shot is that the 8MP rear-facer is going to be upgraded to a 12-megapixel backlit sensor which should improve performance under low light conditions as well as up the resolution. What’s more is that the sensor is apparently the same size as one you’d find in a compact at 1/2.3" and that might have some very interesting optical improvements so long as the lens put in front of it and circuitary behind it are up to scratch. That’s also if the leaked photo happens to be true, which looks a bit less likely when you notice a couple of typos. 

The possible mock up in the post-CES promo video gives us another potential clue as far as the front-facing camera goes and that’s only to say that it’s in the same position as before. One would hope to get a little more resolution than the VGA version in the SGS2 but more on that when we hear about it.

Samsung Galaxy S III processor

The Phandroid.com roadmap listed a dual-core 1.8GHz Exynos 4212 chip backed up with 2GB of RAM as the engine room of choice for the Samsung Galaxy S III smartphone. On the one hand, the memory seems about right but, what with Tegra 3 and quad-core processors looking to rule the waves in 2012, the Exynos 4212 seems a touch short.

Indeed, according to a report in Androidandme.com in November 2011, it will, in fact, be an all-new Exynos 4412 system-on-a-chip instead. The Exynos 4412 is still based on an ARM Cortex A9 CPU architecture but comes with four cores running at a 1.5GHz clock. The GPU attached is said to be a Mali-T604 GPU with a 5x faster factor than previous Mali chips and up to, again, four cores to work with.

Samsung has since confirmed that the phone will feature its own Exynos chip, although rumours are now starting to surface that in the US the phone will come with Qualcomm's S4 processor instead. 

Samsung Galaxy S III form factor

Form factor-wise, while the Phandroid.com rumour reports Samsung taking a step away from the squared-off candybar shape to disentangle itself from any iPhone infringements, the more interesting information is in the February 2012 story from Korean publication ETnews. The suggestion here is that the Samsung Galaxy S III will be just 7mm thick, thanks to printed circuit boards, connector parts and chips that are 10 to 20 per cent thinner than conventional units. That would make it 1.9mm thinner than the SGS2 and more akin to the Samsung Nexus in design, something that many of the leaked photos suggest. 

Samsung Galaxy S III connectivity

The Phandroid.com report from October 2011 stated that the Samsung Galaxy S III would come equipped with both NFC and LTE connectivity. That certainly makes sense, given that two of Samsung's recent top phones have included these standards, so there's no reason why the company would deprive their upcoming flagship model of them either. The question for UK users, of course, is whether we'll see the LTE version this side of the Atlantic?

Samsung Galaxy S III software

With Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich the latest version of the Google Mobile software for the first part of 2012, it's pretty much a cert that that's what will be adorning the Samsung Galaxy S III. The variable is the UI on top and, although there's been no word either way, the obvious choice is whatever the latest version of Samsung's TouchWiz is. Currently, it's TouchWiz 4.0 as released on the SGS2, so either that or an all-new TouchWiz 5.0 would make the most sense.

Samsung Galaxy S III pictures

We've tracked plenty of concepts so far from around the web showing a variety of different designs all purporting to be the Samsung Galaxy S 3. 

Indeed, it's often the pictures that tell a thousand words with the mistakes of the pretenders revealing themselves and the hopes and dreams of thousands of fanboys in the oohs and ahhs of the vector-drawn, dream mock-ups.

Here, for your pleasure, we've collected them all. So take a look at the Samsung Galaxy S III in pictures, see if you can spot the patterns and let us know which one you would most like it to be.

- Samsung Galaxy S III: 21 leaked pictures and concepts, but are any the real deal?

Samsung Galaxy S III video

On 20 April, just under two weeks before the phone's official unveiling, Vietnamese website Tinhte.vn has released a video of what it claims to be the Samsung Galaxy S III. And certainly, it's innards, operating system and processor match up to what we already believe.

The casing of the device in the video doesn't look as slick as we'd expect, so it's likely that it is a fake shell or prototype build, but everything else looks convincing. Tinhte has also got a reputation for getting its hands on notable products before release, including several iPhones that turned out to be spot on.

Samsung Galaxy S III price

There’s been no word on the Samsung Galaxy S III price for the time being. One would expect it to come in at under the cost of the iPhone, as is usual for top Android phones, but not a huge amount less. Naturally, bigger and better technology is going to drive the price up but the original £499 PAYG/£40pm contract release tag of the Samsung Galaxy S II would seem like a decent guide.

Samsung Galaxy S III review

Expect plenty more coverage as we get closer to the release date and a full and thorough Samsung Galaxy S III review once we've had a chance to get Samsung’s latest top super-smartphone for 2012 into the Pocket-lint labs.

What are your hopes and dreams for the Samsung Galaxy S III? Let us know in the comments.

What are the things to know before unlocking your AT&T iPhone?

Want to use your AT&T iPhone with another carrier, such as T-Mobile or an overseas network? If so, good news: AT&T will now “unlock” your iPhone for use on another compatible wireless carrier, although there are a few “ifs,” “ands,” and “buts” to keep in mind.

Read on for 5 things you need to know about getting your AT&T iPhone unlocked, starting with…

1. What’s the difference between a “locked” and “unlocked” phone, anyway?

When you buy an iPhone (or just about any phone, for that matter) from a wireless carrier like AT&T, the carrier will typically “lock” the phone to its network—meaning you won’t be able to simply pop in a SIM card from a competing network (like, say, T-Mobile) and start chatting away.

That said, your carrier may also unlock your phone once your contract is partially or completely expired, so long as your account is in good standing (i.e., you’ve been paying your bills on time). Once unlocked, you can use your iPhone on any compatible GSM network, provided you’ve got a working SIM card for the network in question (more on that in a moment).

You can also buy an unlocked iPhone directly from Apple, but they’re outrageously expensive—as in $549 and up, versus $99 for an 8GB iPhone 4 with a two-year contract.

2. AT&T won’t unlock your iPhone unless you’re completely out of contract

In the case of AT&T and the iPhone, AT&T will only unlock your handset if a) you’re either completely out of your two-year contract or b) you’ve agreed to pay an early termination fee (about $350 or so, depending on how much time is left on your service agreement).

I just checked myself and found out I need to wait a few more months before my AT&T contract expires, so no unlocking for me (or at least, not yet).

To check if your iPhone is eligible for unlocking, just dial 611, press “0″ for a customer service representative, and ask.

3. Getting your iPhone unlocked isn’t an instantaneous process

It could take a day or more between the time you call and ask AT&T to unlock your phone and when you actually get a confirmation email (a copy of which you can see here, courtesy of AppleInsider)—think 24 to 48 hours, according to the AT&T representative I spoke to.

Once AT&T approves your iPhone for unlocking and Apple pulls the switch on its end, you’ll need to connect your iPhone to your PC or Mac and then sync it with iTunes.

If all goes well, a message should pop up on your iPhone that says your handset has been successfully unlocked. Problems? Check out Apple’s troubleshooting tips.

4. You’ll need a new SIM card to use your unlocked iPhone on another carrier

So, want to use your unlocked AT&T iPhone on T-Mobile, or another GSM-based carrier? No problem; all you need is a working SIM card from your chosen carrier. Just pop out the iPhone’s SIM tray with a paper clip, replace the little plastic SIM card, and you’re in business.

Standard SIM card and the iPhone 4S's smaller micro-SIM, compared

OK, so how do you get a new SIM card, then? Easy; just call the carrier you want to use your iPhone with and ask, order one online, or buy one over the counter.

Remember that you’ll need a voice and/or data plan associated with your new SIM—and yes, you can opt for a pre-paid, no-contract plan if you wish.

Keep in mind that the iPhone 4 and 4S both use a smaller “micro-SIM” rather than the standard, full-size SIM found in earlier iPhone models. T-Mobile, for example, offers a micro-SIM card specifically for newer iPhones; just make sure to request one when placing your order.

5. Even once you’ve unlocked your AT&T iPhone, it still won’t work on Sprint or Verizon Wireless

That’s because Sprint and Verizon both run CDMA cellular networks—a technology that’s incompatible with the GSM networks operated by AT&T and T-Mobile.

Now, technically speaking, the new iPhone 4S is a so-called “world phone” that will connect to both CDMA and GSM networks; however, Apple has made it very clear that even an unlocked iPhone 4S won’t work on a CDMA carrier.

What are the Best 10 File Explorer Apps For Android?

One of the sweetest advantages I find in Android over iOS and WP7, is the ability to use an Android device as a USB mass storage medium without any strings attached, and with that, the ability to go through all these contents right on your mobile phone or tablet. Delete, copy, move, rename are all very powerful options that otherwise, are way more restricted on an iPhone and a WP7 device. Not surprisingly, the Android market is flooded with File Explorer apps, and a new user is left bewildered with the choices at their disposal. Which one would you pick if you were new to Android and why? It is to answer this question we have grouped together, what we believe, are the 10 most brilliant file explorers for Android out there today.

Root Explorer

Easily the most popular and most needed app out there today. This app, despite being a paid one, appeals through it’s core functions, that are to access system files on an Android device and gives you read/write access within those folders as well. To say the least, any Android device that has root access, deserves to be running Root Explorer, for you will find yourself in need of it almost every time.

 

Download Root Explorer

File Expert

The UI on this app is extremely user-friendly, and the app will see all your file exploring needs satisfied. Accessing your files is a given, but the app lets you connect to cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Baidu Cloud, Box.net and a few others, access FTP servers, share content over Bluetooth, Web and more as well. To add some eye-candy, the UI can be overhauled with some themes as well. You can get this app for free of the Play Store; however, if you want root access for system files, you will have to purchase the Pro version.

 

Download File Expert

ES File Explorer

Boasting what is easily one of the finest user interfaces an Android file explorer can offer, ES File Explorer has a plethora of features to offer, including root access, for free. Access files over LAN, FTP, Bluetooth, Internet (box.net, Dropbox & Sugarsync), manage your apps or use it as a task manager, you name it, ES has got it! Oh, on a side note, you can theme up a few things in the UI as well.

 

Download ES File Explorer

MIUI File Explorer

When I first used the MIUI ROM on my Desire HD, the one thing that really caught my attention – apart from iPhone like UI – was the inclusion of a native File Explorer. With a very well and neatly laid out interface, the app can filter content based on music, videos, zip files, pictures etc. Moreover, you can also access content over FTP, which is set up in a single tap and you’re good to go. Earlier only available for MIUI ROMs (bundled with them), the app has now been released for the public owing to the popularity it received. MIUI File Explorer is a to the point, simple, no-nonsense file explorer app for Android. 

 

Download MIUI File Explorer

File Manager ES

Dual-pane, you say? File Manager ES takes that concept a step further, letting you open as many different file browser panels on a single screen as required. You can move files from one directory to another by simply dragging and dropping them on the desired directory. Much like a history function, the app lets you bookmark important directories that you navigate through often. It supports swipe gestures to help you navigate through the various file explorer panels easily. To add icing to the cake, the app gives you root access to complete system files as well, for free! 

 

Download File Manager ES

FileSlick

FileSlick is yet another file explorer app that uses swipe gestures as part of its navigation functions in and out of folders, as well as boasting some pretty slick aesthetics. The app goes on to offer some complex functions as well, such as toggling read/write permissions for various mount points, modifying user permissions for root mode and Server Message Block (SMB). 

 

Download File Slick

Total Commander

Not released to the Play Store even after all this while, the app certainly deserves some attention. Sporting Dual Panes, “file selection in Total Commander is even easier. Tap on the icon/thumbnail of a file to select it. You can select multiple files at once in this manner. To open a file, just click on its filename.”  The app supports a built in text editor, along with the ability to handle encrypted ZIP and RAR archives. 

 

Download Total Commander

Ghost Commander

They say, Total Commander got it’s que from Ghost Commander, and well, all we know is that Ghost Commander was the first on the scene with a dual pane for exploring files. In addition to the features offered by Total Commander, you have thumbnail views, favorite folders and a built in text editor. That said, the UI isn’t exactly the most pleasing we’ve seen so far.

 

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Super Manager

One of the most comprehensive file managers out there, and well, to be honest, it’s more than just a file manager. It is a Task Manager, APK Manager, App protector, File Manager, Backup & Restore tool, Auto Scheduler, all built into one package. Super Manager allows you access to root level files as well, and lets you extract APKs from installed apps and much much more. You have to actually try this app out to understand the plethora of functions it offers.

 

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Android Commander

Aptly titled as a Swiss knife for Android devices ,Android Commander is a lot more than your average file explorer. With a desktop client for interfacing with your Android device (of course, you’ll want root access), Android Commander is your one stop shop for exploring all the the content in your device, installing apps straight from the PC, installing and copying stuff into root level folders and a lot more. With well laid out graphics and information, the application is actually much easier to use than what it may appear from reading this. Our comprehensive review of Android Commander is linked above.

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This concludes our list of what we believe to be some of the most important and effective file explorer apps out there for the Android devices.

Honorary Mention: ASTRO File Manager

Oh wait, we missed out ASTRO File Manager! One of the oldest file manager apps out there, the app is still kicking and has some awesome features out there to offer. App backup, built in image viewer, text editor, download manager etc. This is an honorary mention for a true veteran! The app has pretty much those functions to offer that most other File Explorers offer as well, and this by no means suggests that Astro File Manager fails in comparison to those apps. Alongside an SMB and Bluetooth plugin to add OBEX FTP support for browsing devices and sending/receiving files using Bluetooth networking, the app goes on to offer a totally free ASTRO Backup, a cloud service of its own.

 

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Do you have a favorite? Did we miss out on an app you’re crazy about, and feel we should have featured here? Do share your thoughts and suggestions with us in the comments section below.