Sunday, 19 October 2014

best Android 4.4 custom ROMs

September this year, Google launched its Android 4.4 KitKat OS update – the first to be named after an actual brand, albeit sweet. Android world has been jazzed up since then with 4.4 KitKat features, new OS capabilities, and of course the custom firmwares.
Although there haven’t been too many Android 4.4 KitKat based custom ROMs so far considering the holiday season that only followed after a couple months of 4.4 KitKat release. Still, there are many and just too many nightlies, weekly builds and almost-stable custom ROMs. Here, we are putting together some of the best Android 4.4 custom ROMs trying to give us some KitKat-ish flavor. android 4.4 custom roms

CyanogenMod Android 4.4 KitKat:

We have already shared a lot of CyanogenMod 4.4 guides with you. The latest CM 11 is based on stock Android 4.4 KitKat, however, still a Nightly. Although the ROM is a bit unstable as development goes on, but bugs keep getting fixed quickly. Almost all the devices from major OEMs are supported by CM 11 nightlies.

SlimKat Android 4.4 KitKat:

SlimKat devs have also updated their custom firmware on Android 4.4 KitKat. This performance driven custom ROM has a plenty of fans in its circle. If you are on the look out for a good Android 4.4 custom ROM, here is the list with available devices support so far. ROM is now being updated weekly so expect regular healthy improvements.Android 4.4 custom roms

Infamous Android 4.4.2 custom firmware:

Developed by Team Infamous, the ROM has been updated to the latest Android 4.4.2 OS and packs features from Google Edition stock Android. You can check this guide about updating Samsung Galaxy S4 to Infamous Android 4.4.2 custom firmware. For more details, check Infamous Development.best Android 4.4 custom roms

OmniROM Android 4.4 KitKat:

OmniROM Android 4.4 KitKat supports a plethora of devices from Samsung, Google, Sony, LG, Asus and, HTC. We have already done a few guide posts of OmniROM 4.4 for Note 2, Galaxy S2 and others. The custom firmware is developed by some ex-CyanogenMod devs and some new developers. Click this link to check out complete list of supported devices.top 5 Android 4.4 custom roms

Cataclysm Android 4.4 custom ROMs:

Cataclysm Android 4.4 custom firmware is currently only available for Nexus devices. The firmware is quite new, nevertheless, gaining popularity. Do search for their stability issues and performance upgrades before updating this ROM. Also, here is an XDA thread for Cataclysm for Nexus 5.Android 4.4 custom roms

LiquidSmooth Android 4.4 custom ROM:LiquidSmooth Android 4.4.2 on Galaxy S3 I747 Android 4.4 custom roms

Added to the list of Android 4.4 KitKat custom ROMs is the popular LiquidSmooth custom firmware. Based on Android 4.4.2 KitKat AOSP sources, LiquidSmooth is reportedly a very fast and stable custom firmware packed with a ton of features like SlimPIE, Lock screen Style, Notification Reminder, Hardware key rebinding, Custom Carrier label, Smart Pulldown, Advanced Reboot, Listview Animations, Liquid Dungeon, and much much more. You can read some of our guides on LiquidSmooth Android 4.4 custom ROMs for Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, Samsung Galaxy S3, and Samsung Galaxy S4.

Resurrection Remix:

Android 4.4 custom roms

Resurrection Remix is a beautiful mixture of various popular sources including CM, PA, AOKP, and original Remix. This stable Android 4.4 based custom firmware offers some great features like Halo, Active display, Lockscreen Notifications, Application side bar, Omniswitch, Notification panel tweaks, Music Toggle, Pitch Black UI Mode, Camera mods, ListView Animations, Custom system animations, Custom progress bar, and more.
You can read our tutorials to flash Resurrection Remix Android 4.4 KitKat for Samsung Galaxy S3 and Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini.

Gummy Android 4.4 KitKat custom firmware:

android 4.4 kitkat
Gummy is a comparatively new custom firmware popular for its speed and performance. Gummy is based on Android 4.4 AOSP sources and packs features like: Status Bar Mods, Hardware Key Mod, Many Wallpapers, Performance Control, Application Permission Controls, Carrier Label Options, Lock clock widget, QuickSettings, Theme Manager, and much more. You can read more about Team Gummy from this link.
Follow these guides to try Gummy Android 4.4 KitKat custom firmware for Samsung Galaxy S3 T999 and LG G2.
Other Android 4.4 custom ROMs:

Android 4.4 custom roms

Among the other Android 4.4 custom ROMs include Dandroid custom firmware which is popular for its customization level.
Purity 4.4 KitKat is also one latest custom firmware which only supports Nexus devices for now. Purity’s older versions are famous for its visual customization; Android 4.4 update soon will get the similar level of customization too. You can check this list to see which Nexus devices are supported.
ShoreDroid Android 4.4 is one of the few early adopters of 4.4 KitKat. Based on CyanogenMod, AOSP and OmniROM, ShoreDroid 4.4 supports a few devices in its early builds.
ParanoidAndroid, although was a bit late, is now also available in the popular mix of Android 4.4 KitKat based custom firmwares. Check this guide to flash PA on Nexus 7. Likewise, Carbon too is now available; check these guides to flash Carbon Android 4.4 KitKat on Samsung Galaxy S4 i9500, Galaxy S4 i9505, Galaxy S4 i337, Galaxy S4 Mini, and HTC Desire.

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Compared: Android Lollipop vs. Android KitKat

We take a look at how Google's newly launched Android Lollipop compares to Android KitKat

Android L is a HUGE update that sees Google taking its already mature platform several steps further. The Big G has tightened up nearly every element of its mobile platform, refining the look and feel of Android across the board, as well as touching up back-end tools and protocols to make the platform even more efficient.
Android 5.0 Lollipop has now launched officially and will be initially available on a brand newNexus 6 phablet and Nexus 9 tablet. Motorola will be next to follow up with the updates and then soon we expect news from Samsung, HTC, Sony and all the rest.
We are also expecting the first wave of Android Lollipop custom ROMs from the likes of CyanogenMod will begin popping up during Q4 too. It should begin to happen once Google makes the source-code readily available, if that’s more your thing.  
Android Wear is also a pretty significant addition to the Android fold too, and Google has made developing apps for wearables as easy as possible. At launch, Google confirmed developers would able to easily rejigg their applications with simple coding to leverage the growing number of wearable devices running Android Wear.
This move should ensure there are tons of applications and content available on wearable devices like the LG G Watch, Moto 360 and Samsung Gear Live once they become more prevalent later on this quarter. Google I/O 2014 was certainly a memorable one, and if you want to know how Android Lollipop shapes up against Android 4.4? Look no further - we're putting them head-to-head. 

Android 5.0 Lollipop vs. Android KitKat: Design

The big news regarding Android Lollipop is the fresh look, dubbed "Material" by Google. While there are some similarities between Material and the look of "stock" Android KitKat, the designers at Mountain View are clearly forging a new path here, in purely aesthetic terms. 
The flatness seen in KitKat is still present and correct, but it comes with a twist: realism. Animation is going to play a big part in the new design, and Android Lollipop will adopt real-time shadows to give its interface more depth and make it look a little more dynamic. The shadows are there because Android Lollipop will make much more use of layers in the UI, allowing developers to do all kinds of visual customisation within their apps.
Another big change is that the famous Android "soft" buttons have been given a face lift, and look even more stylish than before - even if they do call to mind the symbols we used to see on our old VCR players. Android Lollipop is clearly an update on the existing KitKat style, but Google is embellishing it with new visual tricks to make things even more alluring. From what we've seen, it strikes us as massive improvement over the often flat and uninspiring Android 4.4.

Android 5.0 L vs. Android KitKat: Security

Google has made massive strides with Android when it comes to overall security, coming up with innovations such as pattern unlocks and facial recognition. KitKat didn't bring much new to the table in this respect, but it worked well enough. Android Lollipop's big advance is going to be about making security more convenient, and it will do this using two methods: Android Wear and your current location.
In the first case, you can use your shiny new Android smartwatch as an authentication tool to automatically bypass your phone's passcode when it detects the watch nearby. In the second example, you can designate safe zones – your home, for example – where your phone will switch off your lock code. While both of these features could potentially create a security risk, if someone steals your phone and your smartwatch, they have access to all of your personal data, for instance, but they will overcome the irksome issue of having to continually unlock your device every few minutes.

Android 5.0 L vs. Android KitKat: Notifications 

Notifications have been Android's strong suit since day one, and Google is making them even better in Android Lollipop. The big change here is that they're being integrated into the lock screen – something Google previously experimented with when it developed lock screen widgets which allowed you to view emails and events without actually unlocking your phone.
As well as making notifications the first thing you see when you pick up your handset, Google is working on making them smarter when the phone is in active use. For example, in KitKat a call would totally interrupt whatever activity you were involved in, be it reading a book, browsing your emails or playing a game. In Android Lollipop, events such as these will pop up at the top of the screen, a la Samsung’s Galaxy S5, meaning you can choose to jump to that event or ignore it with a quick tap without leaving your current task.
Compared to Android 4.4, notifications are going to be smarter, more intuitive and less intrusive than before. KitKat's notifications system is decent enough, but it was basically recycling what had come before, so it’s good to see some out-of-the-box thinking from Google in this respect.

Android 5.0 Lollipop vs. Android KitKat: Battery Life

Project Butter was Google's way of making Android feel smoother and slicker, and now the company has revealed Project Volta – a system which will provide developers with a better means of determining what elements of their apps are draining battery at an unnecessary rate. Because Volta will open up the battery stats to devs, they can tinker with their code to make apps more efficient and spot potential problem areas.
Android Lollipop will also take a leaf out of HTC and Samsung's books by coming with a battery saving mode by default. This will help users get as much mileage out of each charge as possible by throttling certain functions when juice is low. Such improvements will ensure that Android L is leaps and bounds ahead of KitKat, which only offers basic stats on what process is gobbling up the most power.
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Android 5.0 Lollipop features

Android 5.0 Lollipop release date and features
Android Lollipop will come preinstalled on the new Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 devices that were launched in tandem with the OS via the Google blog. These devices were made available for pre-order immediately with an on sale date of 3 November; therefore Android L will be made officially available on the same day.
Excluding the new Nexus 6 and 9, there has been no official rollout date for the Google flagship smartphones, with only a ball park figure of the “coming weeks” being given. Our experience tells us that the new devices will be allowed a few days grace period with Android 5.0 Lollipop before other eager smartphones and tablets begin to update. Note that some manufacturers may take weeks or months to ready their devices for the new OS.

Android "L" v5.0 new features

Google has revealed numerous details about Android 5, which it's currently called Android "L".
Android 5 will feature a new UI centred on a what Google describes as a "Material Design" look, support for 64-bit chips, and clever login authentication via smartwatches.
The L Developer Preview is a "radical new approach to design" said head of Android Sundar Pichai, describing it as the most comprehensive release the company has done.
Matias Duarte, VP of design, said the new Material Design UI is inspired by paper and ink, with bold colours pulled out from images in an app or web page.

Android 5
The UI has been given "elevation", meaning app designers can "float" items at different heights, with some layered higher than others. "What if pixels didn't just have colour, but depth?" Duarte asked.
Android "L" will also feature animated touch feedback, and use more animation throughout the design.
The system has been created to work across different devices, from tablets to watches. "Your users will already know their way around the app no matter what screen they use it on," said Duarte.
Android 5 Gmail redesign
New features
Notifications will be shown on the lock screen, allowing "instant" interactive access to messages right from the screen, rather than forcing you to tap through to the app.
Google showed off a new authentication system. Rather than always require you to login, it judges where it is and who you are, by using your voice, location or a Bluetooth watch. If you're wearing your smartwatch, it doesn't ask for a password; take the watch off, and it requires your security pattern or pin.
New search tools let you search within apps. For example, if you search for a place you had previously viewed in Google Earth, it will give you a link to reopen the app in the right location.
As expected, Android 5 will come with a tool to lock down and wipe a device if it goes missing.
Google hinted at a host of other features in the following slide:
Android 5
Performance
The L preview runs exclusively on Google's new ART runtime, which should offer up to 2x performance boost, the company claimed. All existing app code will work without any changes from developers.
It's also 64-bit compatible, and works on ARM and x86.
Google also revealed graphics performance improvements, saying the updates offered PC-level gaming performance on your tablet.
Google promised better battery life and two new tools. Battery Historian helps track battery use more accurately, while Battery Saver is a new setting that can extend time between charges by up to 90 minutes.
Google is making the Developer Preview for "L" available tomorrow so app makers can update their UIs to match the new Material Design look.
Normally, Google names its Android releases after desserts; this time around, it hasn't revealed the name - which was expected to be "Lollipop" - instead sticking with the letter alone


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HTC One Android 5.0 Lollipop

The HTC One Android 5.0 Lollipop update details have been officially confirmed over the past 24 hours, as the company has promised to push Google’s latest version of Android out to an array of its latest devices.
Yesterday, as expected, Google announced three new products and the all-new Android 5.0 Lollipop. Previously called the Android L release, and it will be available to consumers first on the new HTC Nexus 9 tablet beginning November 3rd. However, those with many smartphones, including the HTC One or One M8 are probably wondering when their phones will receive the latest software.
The Android L release was first announced in June as an update to the latest Android 4.4.4 KitKat, a version of Android that HTC had yet to even release on its smartphones, but now they’re up to speed and promising quick updates within 90 days of Android 5.0 Lollipops release date. Read on for all the details.
New-HTC-One-M8-vs-Nexus-512-X3-620x413
When Android 4.4 KitKat first came out, it had a few issues. Eventually back in June Google released Android 4.4.3, then quickly Android 4.4.4 with some important security patches. Most manufacturers updated to Android 4.4.4 KitKat, but HTC was still working on Android 4.4.3 and decided to simply integrate the latest changes into Android 4.4.3 instead.
However, they changed their tune on that and last week started pushing the latest Android 4.4.4 KitKat update to the HTC One M8, and the HTC One M7 from 2013, and now it looks like they’re about to push ahead to Android 5.0.
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Samsung keen to boost investments in the Indian 4G market and Smart City projects

samsung-logo-feature-9
In a meeting with Indian Telecom Minister, Jong-Kyun Shin has expressed Samsung’s interests in India’s 4G market and the Smart City projects. India’s Telecom Minister, Ravi Shankar Prasad, is on a 5-day visit to South Korea to attract investments in the country in the field of electronics manufacturing under the ‘Make In India’ program. After the he met with Samsung officials, he tweeted, “Met CEO Samsung. Discussed NOFN and Smart city projects. They are keen on India’s 4G mobile market. (They) want to increase investment.” Major Indian telecom operators in India are in the process of rolling out 4G networks in the country.
The Indian Telecom Ministry later stated that Mr. Shin has “expressed great hope in the India’s 4G mobile market and expressed his desire to make big investments in India”. Apparently, Mr. Shin also appreciated Indian engineers for making Samsung a big success worldwide. Samsung has one of its second largest R&D centre in India. It also manufactures mobile phones and television sets in the country.
Samsung might also invest in India’s National Optical Fiber Network programme and the Smart City plan. The Indian government is planning to connect 250,000 villages to the Internet by 2017 through its National Optical Fiber Network program. India is also planning to develop 100 ‘Smart Cities’ by modernizing existing mid-sized cities and building ‘satellite towns’ for larger cities.
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