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Letter from the editor
Welcome
EDITORS LETTER
I love customising my stu. And not in the way a

three year old customises the walls of your living
room with a crayon, or the way my cats seem to like
customising the carpet on my stairs. I mean the good
kind of customisation, that leaves me with a better
phone, a neater tablet, just the sort of device Im
happy to carry around with me every day.
Thats the thinking behind this edition of Android User weve
looked at ways you can turn your stock phone or tablet into any
number of other devices, add new features at your discretion,
and automate your device using all the available sensors and
buttons to add functionality that simply wasnt there before.

Tasker and its ilk are some of the coolest apps you can put on
your phone, and it makes me sad that more people dont know
about them.
I think you deserve to get the device you want, rather than the
device youve bought. There are always little tweaks to be made
here and there. And there are also crucial things to install, from
the best new games to top apps for entertainment, so weve
covered plenty of those for your enjoyment. Id like to draw your
attention to Googles Ingress game especially, a massive alternate
reality title that uses the world around you to simulate a
dystopian cyber future which youre in charge of protecting or
destroying. Give it a try and youll be running your phones
battery down for a pasttime. Weve also looked at the best
console emulators, apps to keep your kids happy, ways to make
yourself healthier with the help of your phone, and weve
rounded up some of the most exciting paid-for games on the
Google Play store today. I hope you enjoy this issue of Android
User, and Ill see you next time.
Cheers!
Alex Cox, Editor
Contents
Welcome
C O N T E N TS
Editors letter
Inside the Nexus

Android in 2020
8
The future of Googles mobile OS explored
Building a new OS
12
We chat to the folk behind CyanogenMod
Automate your Android
Make your smartphone even smarter
Google Ingress
The exciting augmented reality RPG
50
HTC One
The phone with laptop-rivalling specs
68
Angry Birds Star Wars II

The birds take another tilt at Star Wars
53
Samsung Galaxy S4
70
Another winning phone from Samsung
Kingdom Rush: Frontiers

Can it breathe life into an old genre?
54
Samsung Galaxy Note 3

The innovative S Pen returns
72
18
Shadowrun Returns
55
The classic RPG makes its mobile debut
Sony Xperia Tablet Z

74
Does this mark a return to form for Sony?
Do more with
your Android
Paid-for games round-up

Eight of the best paid-for games
56
Asus Memo Pad HD 7

The Nexus collaborators own tablet
Install CyanogenMod
28
Give an old phone a boost with this mod
Health round-up
Four apps to help you keep kit
60
Tesco Hudl
77
A budget tab from the supermarket chain
Power up CyanogenMod
Top tips and secret settings
34
Console emulators
62
Play retro console classics on your Nexus
Nook HD+
The new tablet from Barnes & Noble
Install Amazons Appstore

Get free stu every day
36
Kids apps
A quartet of child-friendly apps
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0

79
Can Samsung wow us with tablets, too?
Get started with Kindle

38
Access the wonderful world of ebooks
Tell a story in six seconds
Share video stories online with Vine
40
Keep an eye out

42
Transform a phone into a baby monitor
Use an old phone as a touchpad 44
Turn a phone into a mouse and keyboard
Stream music with BubbleUPnP 46
Remote control music with an old phone
Rated
Apped
64
76
78
Welcome
Contents
Inside the Nexus
Welcome
Welcome
Inside the Nexus
Inside the Nexus

Android in 2020
8
The future of Googles mobile operating
system explored
Building a new OS
12
We chat to the people behind
CyanogenMod, a popular Android mod
18
Make your smartphone even smarter
with these amazing automation apps
Inside the Nexus
Android in 2020
Android
in 2020
The future of Googles mobile OS explored
ndroid devices are so ubiquitous that it
sometimes feels as though theyve been around
for ever. However, the first Android-powered
handset was only unveiled in late 2008, the same
year that Apple launched its App Store (the
iPhone had appeared the year before), Google announced
its own Chrome browser, and we got our first look at the
companys new mobile OS on the T-Mobile G1.
Although 2008 might not seem that long ago, the Android of
2013 is a world away from the 2008 version, when the Android
Market was in its infancy, there were no native video playback
capabilities, and the G1 had no multi-touch support. As the
smartphone market has become more cut-throat, Google has
had to keep innovating and improving its OS to stay competitive.
Having witnessed the meteoric rise of Android over the past
five years, and seen the new features and functionality that
Google has added, coupled with the latest mobile trends and a
decent idea of where smartphones are currently heading, weve
taken a peek into the future to consider what Android might
look like in the year 2020. In particular, we look at four key
features we think could play the biggest part in Androids
ongoing evolution over the next seven years.
Maps in Android in 2020

Apples Maps app may not have set the
world alight when it launched, plagued
at the time with glitches and missing
features, but most of the faults have been
rectified, and with a strong showing from
Nokias offering, called Here, it means that
Google needs to up its game to stay
ahead. The 2013 Google Maps refresh
brought a greater level of customisation
based on your personal searches, and
this looks as though it will only increase.
With Google Now and Google Latitude
tracking your every move, youll see
directions to your favourite pub appear
on screen every Friday lunchtime. If the
28
pub in question has an Android-powered

bar installed, you might even find your
tipple of choice waiting for you when
you arrive. Google Latitude, a successor
of the SMS-powered Google Dodgeball,
was discontinued earlier this year. It used
cellular and Wi-Fi positioning, along with
GPS, to pinpoint the location of users and
their phones. Does its discontinuation
mean that we wont see an advanced
form of location services in 2020?
Unlikely, because Google has started to
implement similar technology into
Google Plus. Google Now, on the other
hand, is billed as an intelligent personal
assistant, that analyses your past searches
and mobile use, and can accurately
predict what youre going to search (or
use your Android device) for next. With
voice recognition and a natural language
user interface, which lets you talk to your
Android device as naturally as if it were a
human, were already getting a glimpse
of what interacting with our mobile
devices in the future will be like.
As for all of the services hanging off
Maps, Google is already hiring out the
Street View cameras and enabling you to
peek inside buildings you can expect
Android 2020 to offer better imagery of
most public buildings, as well as tappable
info as you move around, and much
improved augmented reality integration.
There might even be an option to
enable Google to anonymously augment
its Street View data with the snaps you
take on your phone, to provide an even
more up-to-date view of the world,
similar to Microsofts Photosynth project
Inside the Nexus
Steve Jurvetson, Wikimedia Commons
Android in 2020
that combines photos uploaded by

people to build 3D representations of
landmarks. See http://photosynth.net
for an example of Microsoft possibly
beating Google to the punch.
Messaging
Google has made its intentions clear
with the Hangouts upgrade we got
earlier this year. With Facebook,
WhatsApp, FaceTime, Snapchat,
Skype et al to battle against, theres
no doubt well see Google push
further into the universal messaging
market, covering SMS, email, instant
messaging and video calling with
tools that are baked into Android.
You wont need separate apps for
each of these, because the UI will be
unified in a way that will make it easy
to seamlessly slip between each
method of calling your friends and
family anywhere in the world, making
your Android device an essential tool
for keeping in contact with loved
ones. While Googles interest in
letting us keep in touch with the
people who matter the most might
be debatable, one thing is for certain:
Google is determined to get us to
use and rely on our Android devices
more and more in the future. We
might even get Google Voice in the
UK by the time 2020 rolls around,
though dont hold your breath. How
far Google can go depends on the
networks and its competitors its
already launched an ultra-fast
internet service in the US, so
telecoms could be next. The
company has been sniffing around
unused wireless spectrum

frequencies, too; could we see a
Google alternative to Vodaphone, O2,
Three or EE in the UK? Its a possibility.
Dont be surprised to see free 5G
video calling and texting between
Android devices by 2020, with all of
your conversations grouped by
person rather than platform, and
archived and searchable in Gmail.
Eric Schmidt, executive chairman
of Google, predicts that every human
will be online by 2020 (no doubt
hoping that well all have a Google+
page, too), and the more people his
company can help get connected,
the better for Googles bottom line.
Payments and security

Over the next few years, our phones
will become even more important
for making payments, transferring
Google uses your location to give specific info

money and verifying our identity.
Everything from getting through
the door at work to logging into
Facebook could be completed with
the Android device we carry around
in our pocket.
The Google Authenticator app of
2020 could work with your devices
Googles Hangouts are great for keeping in contact, and are likely to feature in the future
29
Inside the Nexus
Android in 2020
Android hardware in 2020
A future where our bodies help identify us to our

computers isnt too far fetched
NFC (Near Field Communication) chip to
automatically log you into Gmail when
you sit down at your laptop, for example,
or pay for your flight when you step on a
plane. NFC works when two compatible
devices are brought close together.
Without even needing to touch, they can
transfer data between each other. Its
clever stuff, and were already seeing an
increase in the number of NFC devices
available to buy. Apple also has Passbook,
an application that creates barcodes that
can be used for buying goods and
paying for public transport, among other
things. Theres no doubt that Google will
want an equivalent in place, too.
Weve seen tattoos and pills shown off
as possible authentication triggers of the
future, and Android 2020 will play a big
part in proving you are who you say you
are, whether its at a coffee shop or the
Google I/O conference.
Basic face recognition is already
available, but in the years to come it has
the potential to get much more accurate.
It might even be joined by fingerprint or
retina scanning built into Androids
camera app, or at least part of the
phone, now that Apple has shown that
fingerprint scanning is a viable option
with its new Touch ID technology. The
more information Google gets you to
store on your Android device, the
better security youll want to have
and you can be sure that Google
will be looking into ways to make
sure that Android is as secure as
possible. Biometric data
combines almost
impossible-to-crack security
technology with ease of use,
and it relies on a lot of
technology that is already built
into our Android devices, such
as microphones and cameras. Its
easy to imagine that Google will be
looking to implement biometric security
into Android in the near future.
30
Its clear that hardware innovations

are going to play as big a part in
Androids future as it has in its past.
Besides the obvious smaller, thinner,
faster improvements for our phones,
bendable screens should be in place
in the near future the likes of
Samsung have the tech already in
production, and Android will change
to adapt itself through scrolling
screens of news, status updates and
other notifications.
Ever-changing, ever-optimising
displays will be the order of the
day, and the batteries and mobile
processors of 2020 should be able
to keep up.
Google Glass has, of course,
generated plenty of buzz this year,
good and bad, as has the rumour of

an Apple iWatch to compete with
the Galaxy Gear. It looks as though
the wearable tech revolution is
about to take off, and by the time
2020 rolls around, this could mean
miniature devices on our glasses,
wrists and clothing, ready to capture
every single moment and record
every little movement.
You might not need to take
photos any more, because Google
will simply pick out the best pictures
from the unedited stream of the
days events. Nor will you need to
decide what to eat for dinner
Android 2020 could know what
youve been doing today (and what
youre probably doing tonight), and
can pick out the most
suitable foods for you, or
direct you to a suitable
local restaurant, based on
the type of food they serve
and the positive reviews
they get from diners.
The only certainty about
Androids future is that it
has a fight on its hands to
stay competitive. Apples
new-look iOS 7 has given
The more information

Google gets you to store
on your Android device,
the better security youll
want to have
Android in 2020
Google plenty to think about, not

least with its tie-ins with Facebook,
Twitter, Bing, Flickr and Vimeo.
Androids continuing integration
with Chrome and the desktop and
laptop PCs will make for an
interesting story, too theyre both
run by the same man, Sundar
Pichai, and perhaps Googles
biggest challenge will be to
convince us that we can trust it
with more and more information
about where we are, who we
communicate with and the way we
live our lives. If the past five years of
Android are any indication, though,
Google has the determination,
foresight and technical
knowledge to make that future
a real possibility. The next
seven years are going to be
very exciting indeed for
Android owners. Q
Inside the Nexus
Google Glass is one

of Googles most
exciting innovations
Expect a number of new ways to

integrate with Google in the future
31
Inside the Nexus
32
CyanogenMod
CyanogenMod
Inside the Nexus
Building a new
operating system
CyanogenMod is changing from a community-driven
Android mod to a big business venture. We talk to its
founders about this opportunity and their concerns
yanogenMod is one of the
most popular third-party
Android ROMs available,
with over eight million
users, but theres a
predicament thats been weighing on
the minds of its development team.
I think that for every one person that
does install CM, theres maybe five or six
that try but dont finish. I had one of our
board members try to install it, and he
actually gave up, laughs Koushik Dutta,
one of CyanogenMods lead developers
(known to the community as Koush). He
said, Its mind-boggling that you have as
many users as you do, given how difficult
and technically-inclined you have to be
to do it.
The problem of getting people to
actually use its software isnt something
the CyanogenMod team has taken
lightly. In fact, its one of the spurs that

has pushed the team into turning its
community-based, open-source Android
spin-off into a full-on business venture:
Cyanogen Inc. With seven million dollars
in funding behind it, the core CM team,
including Koush and CyanogenMods
founder Steve Kondik (known as
Cyanogen), is now working on turning
the enthusiast-friendly ROM into a
mainstream hit. And the first challenge is
making it easy to install.
Jumping hurdles
What we hear from everybody is that,
Yeah, I share this with my friends and I
think its great, but then I tell them what
they have to do to install it and they bail,
says Kondik, with the air of someone
whos pitching a product theyre proud
of. So weve made this installer. We say
33
Inside the Nexus
CyanogenMod
The CyanogenMod team actually

comprises thousands of contributors
its one-click, though in reality its more

like three clicks. But weve been doing
some pretty extensive usability testing
on it, because the big goal here is to get
CM to as many people as possible. We
think that the whole walled garden
approach is fine, but its getting tired, and
people want an alternative, and weve
absolutely proven that. By having this
installer, the current growth is just going
to go crazy. Its just going to sky rocket.
Hes not joking after announcing the
Cyanogen business, the brand new
servers were brought to their knees from
38 million downloads in just one month.
And the team was keen to point out that,
while the installer is seen as the crucial
first step to making CM more popular
outside of hardcore Android users, its
only the beginning.
We need to make it really easy to
install, and then we have to start building
I dont want the reason

users come to us to be
because the competition
is awful I want it to be
because were awesome
compelling reasons for people to install

it, says Koush. Right now, the main
reason people install it is because what is
out there is just not very good, he
hesitates to say. Its clear that he doesnt
want to insult anyones work, but its also
clear that this is the thought fuelling the
will to develop CM into something
larger. Hes back into a confident stride
when he continues, And I dont want the
Beyond phones
One of the opportunities for the
new company is looking at a world
outside of smartphones. We got a
lot of interest from TV stick
manufacturers, especially after the
Chromecast was released, says
Koush. My mailbox blew up from
probably seven or eight different
parties that wanted to put CM on a
34
TV stick and build something really

compelling. But I dont think thats
something that we can focus on
right now with a team size of 17.
Weve got to keep our objectives
laser-focussed for the time being.
But it certainly is interesting I
would love to do something like
that with more resources.
reason that users come to us to be

because the competition isnt good. I
want the reason users come to us to be
because were awesome.
To get to a point where users are
being attracted to CM, the team is taking
a few different approaches. One aspect is
to build more useful services into the
operating system, including networkbased services. Were contracting a
really notable security researcher,
Moxie Marlinspike, to build a secure
messaging/iMessage product for us,
says Koush.
In with the new

Another big change will be getting CM
installed on phones as the default
operating system, starting with a
partnership with Oppo on the N1, a
new flagship phone. Oppo had given us
support in the past, and when we were
7+(<<2
/$16
100%N
JARGEOE
FR
AVAILABLE IN STORE AND ONLINE
Inside the Nexus
CyanogenMod
Limited editions of
the Oppo N1 will run
CyanogenMod
by default
Improved installer
The installer for CyanogenMod is one of
the most important pieces for growing its
audience, and it was a challenge both
technically and in design.
Theres hundreds of devices out there
and they all work differently, and they all
have their own different set of quirks.
Every manufacturer has their own tools
that you need to use to flash them, and in
a lot of cases, they were never really made
for anybody to do anything like this,
explains Kondik.
When we did the first version of the
tool, we did our very first usability test,
and we had a really smart guy with an
engineering background hes at VP level
at a pretty big company. We put him down
in front of it and asked him to install CM,
and the response we got was not the one
that we had anticipated, to put it mildly.
He ripped the thing apart, laughs
Koush. It was funny, because he was an
iPhone user, and an Apple user, so he
didnt use Android and he didnt use
Windows, which is the installation
platform. So, basically, everything that
could possibly have gone wrong did. But
it was really eye-opening, because we
want to make this completely accessible
to anyone who has absolutely no
knowledge of how any of this works. And I
think its that thing, that we have such
deep understanding, that we werent able
to initially realise what the difficult points
are, because we just take it for granted.
We approached it and built it basically
from the ground up maybe four months
ago from a brand new angle, and it was a
dramatic improvement over what we had.
36
forming the company, I told them what

was going on. For the global release of
the N1, theres an officially supported
version of CM, and theres also going to
be a limited edition that will actually run
CM by default, says Kondik. This is just
the beginning of bigger things, really. We
have the chance to do some
experimentation and get everything in
place to support something like this, and
then next year well do something
bigger. Its got to be done right, though.
You cant just put some branding on a
phone and sell it. Youve got to provide
something that you cant get elsewhere,
especially if you want to make money off
the thing. Its going to be important to
have a really great platform, really great
services. People arent just going to shell
out $800 for a device unless its really
giving them something that they cant
get elsewhere.
Mass appeal
Theres also the opportunity to use the
teams knowledge, and the flexibility of
CMs Android roots, to make something
new that appeals to a different audience.
One of the things that were doing now
is were working on a version of CM
well, actually, building on top of it to
create something thats more tailored to
a bigger sector of the market, says
Kondik. CM is absolutely perfect for
people who are technical, and
everything is designed for people who
are technical. We dont want to dumb it
down, but we want to wrap some of that
stuff in a prettier face. Sometime next
year, were planning on launching
something quite a bit bigger thats
geared more towards a broader market.
These plans help to explain why the
team wanted to take the chance to push
CM further by creating a business around

it, but the decision understandably
caused some concerns from the
community, while some contributors
wanted to know whether they would get
paid a portion of the new business
money for the work they put in.
I think some of the younger guys have
this vision that Steve and I got written
this seven million dollar check that went
into our bank accounts, says Koush, with
a mixture of amusement and frustration.
The money that we got is to build a
business, so its hiring people, paying
them, building out an office, paying for
the servers that have been donated for
so long, paying for bandwidth Paying
for so many different things that its scary
looking through the transactions of our
bank account.
The new company has no interest
in paying for previous contributions,
because that doesnt do anything to
push its business forward. Instead, its
going to look to reward contributors for
new work. Were going to hire some
contributors, Koush says. And we want
to do stuff that other open-source
projects do, like bounties for features.
And were contracting people.
Keeping competitive
The new company has also announced
that some of the work it will do will be
proprietary, leading to concerns over the
future of the open-source project. Kondik
understands these fears, but is fairly
bullish that theyre unfounded. When
you look at Android, it was done with a
very specific goal in mind to really
screw up an industry that had gone so
far down the proprietary software route
that it was hopeless. And they totally
succeeded. But now its happening again,
CyanogenMod
Lead developer
Koushik Dutta, aka
Koush, has every
reason to look pleased
with himself
and were hoping to be the answer to

that, he muses. But you have to find a
balance. The things that we wont be
releasing are the things that give us a
competitive edge. We wont release the
source code for our installer. That would
be crazy.
But we dont have any plans to close
source any of the existing stuff, he says,
definitively. Were building on top of the
open source project. Were not even
maintaining a closed fork of CM
internally. Anything that we need to do
to support our own applications, well
build the APIs [application programming
interface] into the open source side and
ship that. Going forward, youre going to
see two release branches. One is going to
be business as usual, what were releasing
today. Then youre going to see a version
that comes with extra stuff that weve
done that we think is pretty awesome.
Some community members have also
worried about the pressure on a business
to make money, and how that will affect
CM at large. Right now, were following
the great Silicon Valley idea of get the
users, and the money will come later,
says Kondik. But this strategy can be
problematic, with users often annoyed
when things such as ads are put into
services that were formerly ad-free. I
think our virtue, and the reason people
want to use our stuff, is that we dont do
that, Kondik continues. If we were to
do that, it would basically be suicide.
Thats the biggest thing that we hear
from everybody: Oh, theyre going to put
ads in it, crapware, and all this stuff. But
thats the opposite of our plan. Were in
this for the long haul. We think its going
Team work
Working on a project with thousands of
contributors all over the world leads to
some fantastic software, but there are
inevitable bumps along the way.
There are conflicts on a daily basis. All
day, every day, pretty much, laughs
Kondik. A lot of it has to do with
philosophical differences. We try to stay
fairly conservative with features, but there
are countless derivative works of our stuff
that are basically more of a free for all. The
thing is, we want to pass the Android
Compatibility Test Suite, because weve
always wanted to be a professional
product, so we have that in mind the entire
time. But as far as resolving conflicts, its
really pretty typical of any open source
community. It works like a meritocracy. If
something really cant get resolved, then
maybe one of us will step in and say, This
one is technically superior to this one. Its
really all about technical merit. Were not
gonna play favourites if the code in the
software is non-optimal, right?
Youre going to see a

version that comes with
extra stuff that weve
done that we think is
pretty awesome
to be a big company. Were not trying to

make a quick buck and then get out.
Were trying to build something
important. Theres too much time, and
too many emotions from too many
people involved to give it anything less
than what it deserves.
Gaining ground
Its important for a project like
CyanogenMod to remember the
emotions and history that went into
getting it to where it is today. When
Kondik and Koush look back on the early
days, they talk about the speed of
growth and voracity of its contributors as
though theyre not quite sure it really
happened. A few people had looked at
different approaches to building on
Android, but when I posted my version
up, people seemed to really go crazy
over it, says Kondik. It was really
awesome because of how quick people
were to try it out and give feedback on
whats broken and what could be better.
So I kept at it for a few months and more
people started using it, more people
started submitting patches and wanted
to work on it. Koush got involved when
Inside the Nexus
the first Motorola Droid hit the shelves,

porting CM to it.
I recall the first year there was maybe
only a dozen guys, and then I disappeared
for a year, and I came back and there were
a hundred guys, says Koush. And then a
year later there were 500, and now theres
2,000. Its just crazy. Its exponential growth
for contributors and for users.
But despite all the changes that come
from changing from a purely contributor
and community-driven project to a well
funded business, the team promises that
the feel of CyanogenMod wont change. A
lot of the guys who were on the open
source project were going to their day jobs
and then hacking on CM for a long time,
including myself, says Kondik. And now we
just work on CM the whole time. But one
thing that has not changed is working very,
very late. Until 5 oclock in the morning, he
laughs. But is it the classic Silicon Valley
startup with fun toys around the office?
We have a kegerator! shouts Kondik,
proudly. And a really nice coffee machine,
adds Koush. I think were all on the same
page; the office is somewhere you want to
come into and work, so we dont do cubes.
We have a really nice setup and design.
There is one thing that will change for
CyanogenMod when it launches for a
mainstream audience, though: the name.
The team says that the company will still be
called Cyanogen, and the open source
project will keep its name, but for reaching
a wider audience, the operating system will
be called something new.
Yeah, its changing Koush chuckles.
At some point. For a mass consumer
release, CyanogenMod doesnt exactly roll
off the tongue. Q
37
Inside the Nexus
Automate
your Android
Make your Nexus smartphone even smarter
with these amazing automation apps
38
e are creatures of
habit. If youre like
us, you probably
perform a ritual
with your phone
before going to
bed each night turn off any data
connections, switch off the ringer,
and put on the alarm. In the morning,
you run through the same tasks again
but in reverse.
Wouldnt it be cool if your smartphone
could do these tasks on its own? In
Googles Play Store, youll find lots of
apps that can automate all kinds of tasks
on your Android phone depending on
the phones state, its sensors, the
configured calendar events, and even its
current location.
You can use these apps to do a lot
more cool things than just putting your
phone to sleep at night. For example,
you can use them to automatically lower
the volume of notifications when you are
listening to music with the headphones
on. Or even turn on the speakers during
a call when you pull the phone away
from your ear, and then turn them off
when you bring the phone back up to
your ear.
The best thing about these
automation apps is their ability to
determine the phones location and act
accordingly. So when you are at home,
the app can disable the pattern lock on
the phone and re-enable it automatically
when you step outdoors.
Similarly, you can silence the ringer in
the office but set up the automation app
to handle emergencies, such as a second
call from the house within five minutes,
Inside the Nexus
to sound an alarm ringtone regardless of

the mute setting.
You can also use them to create
something cool, such as your own
phone locator mechanism. If you
misplace your phone in a crowded place,
you can text a code that cranks up the
volume (in case the ringer is silent, as in a
theatre), and start blaring an alarm and
flashing the LED to help you locate it.
In this feature, we explore some of the
best automation apps available, so you
can pick the perfect one for you,
depending on your requirements, your
level of expertise and budget.
Smart Places
If you havent created location-based
profiles, this is a good app to get started
with. Its pretty straightforward and you
can use the free Lite version to create
actions for one location. And unlike
other apps, Smart Places makes all its
functions available in one screen.
By default, the app determines the
current location by scanning the cell
towers in the vicinity. Optionally, you can
also enable the GPS for determining the
location. While this is more accurate, and
enables you to define a radius for a
Smart Places
Price 1.20
(or free Lite version)
Requires Android 2.2
and above
+ Easy to use and intuitive
- Limited actions
Verdict Good app to get
started with if you can live
with its limited set of actions.
Weave profiles quickly

If all you need is an app to toggle a couple of
settings, such as the Wi-Fi and ringer as you move
between locations, a fully fledged automation app
such as Llama or Automagic would be overkill. For
such a situation, PhoneWeaver should work well.
To create a profile, you can select from one of the
five types of triggers it supports, including location,
calendar agenda, date and time, and plugged-in
connectors. Once youve defined a trigger, you can
select the sound settings that you want to apply, as
well as the state of various communication devices.
So, for example, using the app you can quickly set
up a profile that toggles Wi-Fi and syncs data when
you are at home, and auto-answers calls and puts
the phone on silence during the meeting hours
marked in your calendar.
PhoneWeaver runs on Android 2.1 and above,
and is available for 2.49, but theres also a free
12-day trial version.
location, using GPS consumes more

battery than scanning cell towers.
When youve defined a place, you can
specify actions to be performed when
you enter that place. So you can turn on
the Wi-Fi, toggle Bluetooth, disable the
screen lock, and switch sound profiles.
You can also enable the night mode for
every location and disable Wi-Fi and
mute the phone for a set time period.
Mini Tasker
Once you get used to the idea of
creating location-based tasks, its time to
move on to the next level and create
some interesting ones. Mini Tasker offers
dozens of easy-to-use automation
options, and is an ideal app to help you
get the hang of automating tasks.
The app is quite versatile. It keeps an
eye on your phone, looking for certain
preset contexts, and performs specific
tasks based on them. In the apps lingo,
you use Mini Tasker to create profiles,
which are a combination of one or more
conditions that, when met, perform one
or several actions.
The app arranges all the actions it
supports in different categories. The
Apps and Music category houses
39
Inside the Nexus
Launch Skype
when you plug in
headphones
In this example, were using Mini Tasker to
automatically launch the Skype app when we plug
in a headphone set that has a mic attached to it.
Were also silencing
the ringer for all
incoming calls after
launching Skype.
Mini Tasker
You can also create
Price Free
a task that launches
another app which
and above
plays music when
+ Can set multiple
you plug in standard
conditions; marketplace for
headphones.
sharing profiles
Also remember
- Some actions require root;
that when you set up
limited flexibility; early phase
a task with Mini
of development
Tasker that changes a
Verdict The second most
setting on your
useful free automation app
phone, you should
for Android. Should be
also set up a task to
sufficient for most users.
reverse the action. So
in our case, you also
have to set up a task that is triggered when the
Skype app is closed, which restores the ringer to
normal operation.
options to play a track or queue a playlist,

launch an installed app, or start up a
navigation app to navigate to an address
youve specified.
Then theres Calls, SMS and
Notifications, from where you can silence
incoming calls, forward or send an SMS,
and even pop up a custom text
notification. Finally, theres the Battery
and Screen related actions, from where
action
1 Create
Launch the app and tap on the +
icon to create a new task. Youre shown a
list of actions that the app can perform.
From the section titled Apps and Music,
select the Launch an App option. Youre
now shown a list of apps installed on the
phone. Select Skype from this list.
you can control the different sensors and

antennas on the phone, and terminate
apps to conserve battery.
Depending on the action youve
selected, youre presented with options
to further fine-tune the action. For
example, if you select the option to
silence incoming calls, Mini Tasker asks
you to select the numbers you wish to
apply this profile to, if not to all calls. An
condition
2 Select
Youre now asked to select a
condition that triggers the action. In the
list of actions, scroll down to the Hardware
and Sensors section and select Headset
Connected. In the next screen, select A
headset with a mic from the pull-down list
and then tap on OK.
action is triggered when a certain

condition is met. As with actions, Mini
Tasker also arranges all the conditions
into groups. These groups include the
self-explanatory location-based,
time-based and event-based conditions.
The interesting conditions are housed
under the Hardware and Sensors
category. These conditions enable you to
trigger events based on whether you are
Transfer
files from
camera
Wouldnt it be cool if you could come
home from a party and your phone then
automatically transfers all the images
youve shot to your computer?
With Automagic, you can create such an
action without much effort. Thanks to its
location-awareness, the app knows when
you reach home. It can then connect you
to the home Wi-Fi and begin the transfer
on its own. The app has built-in support
for exchanging files with an FTP server,
provided you have one set up, and even
to Dropbox.
40
location
1 Set
Fire up Automagic, tap on the Menu icon
and select the New Flow option. This adds an
empty trigger box to the canvas. Tap the box and
then tap the document icon that appears above it.
Tap on New... and scroll through the list to select
the Location trigger.
battery level
2 Check
After youve picked a location, youre back at
the updated flowchart. Tap the + icon. You get the
option to either add an Action or a Condition.
Select the Condition option and scroll through the
list to select the Battery Level condition and set it
up as you see fit.
app as soon as headphones are

connected, dim the display when the
phones battery is low, send an SMS
message to friends whenever you are in
their vicinity, and silence calls from
private numbers or from people not in
your contacts list.
One of the best things about Mini
Tasker is that it enables you to combine
multiple actions and conditions into one
profile. So, for example, you can launch
the music app when a headset is
connected only during your commute
between 9 and 10am.
Mini Tasker also includes an online
marketplace, where users share profiles
for free. You can browse through the list
of profiles and download the ones you
like from within the app itself. Once
downloaded, you can customise them as
per your requirements, just as you would
customise your own profiles.
Actions Pro
tasks
3 Edit
Thats it. Your task is created and
youre dropped back to the dashboard,
which lists all your tasks. Click on a task to
toggle it on or off. To edit a task, long-press
on it and select the pencil icon. Tap the +
icon to add more actions, such as silencing
the ringer and blocking all calls.
walking, cycling, driving or standing still.

You can also trigger an action when you
plug in a headset or connect the charger,
or when the phones battery is low.
Remember, though, that some actions,
such as controlling a GPS, work only on a
rooted phone.
Using these actions and conditions,
you can create some interesting profiles.
You can start any installed media player
notication
3 Display
When you now click the + icon, the app
asks whether you wish to define the action when
the condition is True or False. Select the latter and
choose to define an Action. Now select the
Notification on Screen option to display a
reminder to charge your phone.
Although Mini Tasker can do a lot of

things, it still has its limitations. For
example, you cant take any action on
incoming calls besides silencing them,
nor can you define a level for low battery.
If these are some of the things you
would like to be able to do, you should
take a look at Actions Pro. Although it
isnt available for free, it does have a Lite
version that allows you to create a
maximum of two profiles.
Using the app involves a little learning
curve, but compared to Mini Tasker, the
Actions Pro interface makes certain
things clearer, such as the ability to add
multiple conditions and actions. Also,
compared to the apps weve seen until
now, Actions Pro has a lot more actions,
which can be triggered by a wide range
of triggers.
One interesting feature that sets
Actions Pro apart is that the app can also
set an end action. A normal start action
Inside the Nexus
The ultimate
automation app
Tasker is the undisputed champion of automation
apps. It can automate virtually every task that you
can think of doing on your phone.
No other automation app has the depth of
Tasker. But this power comes at a price: Tasker has
a steep learning curve. Also, because you can drill
down deep into every trigger and action, it can
take some time to set up a profile in Tasker.
Profiles in Tasker can use variables, conditions
and loops. You can also use the free Tasker App
Factory add-on to turn Tasker actions into
standalone distributable Android apps.
Tasker costs 2.99 but you can download a free
seven-day trial version from its website.
conditions
4 True
Its now time to add the actions that you
want to be performed if the battery check returns
True. Tap on the diamond shape conditional
container and then on the + icon. Now select
Action and then the Set Wi-Fi State option, and set
the state to On.
is triggered when all the conditions

in a profile are met. The end action is
triggered when one of these conditions
becomes false, after theyve all been true.
For example, if you are in the
conference room (condition 1) and get a
call from home (condition 2), the app
sends an SMS (start action) saying that
les
5 Transfer
To transfer your photos from your phone,
tap the + icon and select the Dropbox Upload
Files option. Then grant the app permission to
access your Dropbox account and point it to the
source folder on your phone and the destination
folder on Dropbox. Job done.
41
Inside the Nexus
Mute calls if phone face-down

Sometimes, even pressing a button is too
much to ask. Luckily, with Actions Pro, you
can create a task that silences the ringer
just by placing your smartphone upsidedown. So if you are busy and simply cant
take your eyes off whatever it is that you are
doing, in order to slide and disconnect an

incoming call, simply place the phone
upside-down to mute it instead. You also
need to specify an end condition that puts
the ringer back to normal when the phone
isnt upside-down.
Llama
Price Free
Requires: Android 2.1
and above
+ Can create complex
profiles
- Slight learning curve;
limited actions.
Verdict Simply the best
automation app for
advanced users that money
cant buy
you are in a meeting and will return the
call soon. The end action in this profile
can be set to display a notification
reminding you to call home. It triggers
when you exit the conference room and
condition 1 no longer holds true.
However, if you didnt receive a call from
home while you were in the conference
room, the profile isnt activated and
neither action is performed.
Another interesting feature of this app
is tags. You can think of tags as variables
that hold bits of information, such as the
date and time. Tags pick up their values
when a condition is set, and you can use
them in any associated action.
Thanks to this feature, you can create a
profile that ends any incoming calls
when you are in a meeting and instead
sends the caller an SMS. A tag picks up
the phone number of the incoming call,
which enables the phone to send the
caller a message.
The app can record a number of tags,
including the name and number of an
incoming or outgoing caller, the name
and number of an incoming SMS, the
co-ordinates of the current geographic
location, and more.
Actions Pro supports many interesting
conditions. It can trigger events based
on an event, such as the battery being
charged, the camera recording video, an
app being installed, plugging in or
removing a SD card, and even gestures,
such as shaking the phone. You can also
trigger actions based on the state of the
phone, such as its orientation, changes
to the light level, and whether the phone
is on roaming.
When one or more of its conditions
are met, the app can trigger a wide
range of actions. Besides launching apps
and displaying alerts, it can also clear
42
prole
1 Create
Launch Actions Pro and tap on the New
button. When asked whether you want to create a
profile from scratch or adapt one from its samples,
select the first option to create the profile from
scratch. However, later on youll save a lot of time
by adapting a sample profile.
sensor trigger
2 Add
Start creating your profile by giving it a
name and adding it to a group. To add a condition,
tap the + icon next to Add Condition. To get to the
orientation-related actions, tap State > Sensor >
Orientation. From this list, select the Face Down
condition and tap on OK.
to all calls
3 Apply
Because we want this action to apply to all
phone prole
4 Switch
Now tap the + icon next to Add Action and
incoming calls, we have to add another condition.

So tap the + icon next to Add Condition again,
and this time navigate to Phone > Incoming Call >
Match Caller. When asked to, select Contacts and
click on OK to include all contacts.
navigate to Settings > Sound > Sound Profile. Here

tap the magnifying glass and select the Silent
profile to mute the phone. In the same way, tap
the + icon next to Add End Action and set the
sound profile to Normal.
data such as contacts, SMS messages

and call logs, and even format the SD
card. It can also record voice and take
photos, make calls, change several
Android settings, and post status
updates, photos and videos to Facebook.
The app also has support for voice. So
you can trigger actions using your voice
or have the app read aloud SMS and
websites to you.
Llama
Although Llama doesnt boast any more
triggers and actions than other apps, it
does have a couple of unique features.
For starters, it gives you more control
over defining locations. As with Smart
Places that we looked at earlier, Llama
also uses nearby cell towers to identify

different locations. But with Llama, you
can selectively ignore certain cell towers
from a particular location.
This might not sound like a useful
feature at first, but when youre creating
location-based profiles, it might
sometimes be beneficial to ignore
certain cell towers. For example, your
house and your friends house a stones
throw away might have some common
cell towers. If you dont ignore the
common ones, your phone can mistake
one place for another.
The other advantage comes into play
when you add triggers. Like many other
apps, Llama also lets you club multiple
triggers together. So when you are home
Inside the Nexus
AutomateIt Pro combines

complex power with a
lovely-looking interface
Power and beauty

If youre looking for an app
thats easy on the eye but
can still create complex rules,
take a look at AutomateIt
Pro. The full app is available
for 1.43, and theres also an
ad-supported featurerestricted version available
for free. The app runs on
phones sporting Android 2.2
and above.
Using the app, you create
rules that involve one or
multiple triggers and carry
out one or more actions. The
app guides you through the
process of creating and

reviewing a rule. To assist
you in selecting a trigger or
action, in addition to
breaking them down into
categories as other apps do,
AutomateIt also lists the five
most common ones up-front.
With the app, you can
trigger actions based on the
status of an application, the
battery level, the Wi-Fi
connection state, a location,
an incoming SMS message
and a whole lot more
besides. It can also trigger
and the phone isnt silent, the app

enables Wi-Fi and disables mobile data.
Whats unique to Llama is the or
condition. If you specify a condition with
this trigger, the app runs the action if any
of the triggers are true. Building on the
above example, you can ask it to enable
Wi-Fi and disable mobile data, either
when you are at home or when you are
in the office. It might not sound like
much of an advantage but it can be a
real time-saver when creating complex
conditional events.
Also, Llama ships with several events
and profiles that are good starting points.
With profiles, you can influence all the
sound settings on your phone, including
the ringtone, notification, system sounds
and more. To change other settings, such
as toggling Wi-Fi, you must create events
that enable or disable them when you
move to a location. By default, Llama
comes with two pre-configured locations
actions depending on
whether you are in a car or
walking, and other activities.
One interesting trigger is
the weather-based trigger,
which warns you about
adverse weather conditions.
So, for example, you can
configure it to warn you if its
going to rain within the next
hour. This trigger relies on
the Nooly weather
forecasting system.
The app also has a
composite or Trigger. This is
very similar to Llamas or
condition, and triggers the

action when any contained
trigger is set. This feature is
locked in the free version,
along with the sensor
trigger, calendar trigger, and
a few others.
AutomateIt has a rules
market, too, from where you
can download rules made by
other people. Theres also
lots of documentation, such
as FAQs, user guides and
forum boards, on the apps
website, which also hosts
some useful rules.
Home and Work but you need to

train Llama to recognise them.
Automagic Automation
The best thing about Automagic is in the
way it lets you build, or rather design, the
automated tasks. You create flowchart
diagrams with the app, which help you
visualise the automation tasks.
Using flowcharts has another
advantage conditions. Conditions help
you fine-tune your task. For example, you
can create a task to shut down your
phone if the battery level drops below a
certain level. Of course, you can do this
with many automation apps, but with
Automagic, you can add a condition
that, before executing the shutdown
task, checks whether you are at home or
in the office places where you have
access to a power point. If the condition
is true, instead of shutting down your
phone, the app takes another course of
Trigger weather warnings with AutomateIt

43
Inside the Nexus
Enable Wi-Fi when

you get home
You can use Smart Places to quickly toggle
some common Android settings when you
move into a known location.
Actions Pro
a place
1 Describe
Bring up Smart Places and tap on the + icon
to add a new place. Enter the name of the place in
the space provided and select an icon from the
pull-down list. The app also shows the number of
cell towers it has picked up at this current location.
GPS
2 Enable
If you are in an area that has a limited
number of cell towers that cover a wide area, you
can ask the app to track locations via GPS. It pulls
more juice from your battery but you have better
control over the locations you want to define.
action
3 Describe
After youve defined a place, you should
select the actions that the app should perform
whenever you enter that place, such as enabling
the Wi-Fi and disabling the lock screen. Also
remember that the app rolls back all the actions
when you exit the place.
44
Automagic
Automation
Price 2.40 (plus free 10-day
evaluation version)
and above
+ Comprehensive;
condition checks
- Takes some getting used
to; unorganised list of
triggers and actions
Verdict A somewhat
complex app for creating
complex conditional tasks.
action, such as
displaying a
notification on
the screen to
tell you to connect the charger.
A flowchart in Automagic is referred to
as a flow, and includes three elements:
triggers, conditions, and actions, though
you can also create a flow without a
condition. These three elements are
represented by different shapes in the
flows. A trigger is represented by a
rounded square, a condition takes the
shape of a diamond, and the actions are
listed in a rectangle.
When you create a new flow, the app
adds a blank rounded square to the
canvas. Thats because all flows must
begin with a trigger. Tap on this box to
get started. When you add any element,
the app guides you through the process
of adding it to the flow.
The app has a long list of triggers.
Unlike other apps, these triggers arent
arranged in logical categories, but are
listed alphabetically, from Active
Network Type to Wired Headset Plugged.
Also, all triggers have variables. A
variable is like a tag in Actions Pro. You
can use variables to dynamically define
actions and conditions. Take the File
Observer trigger, for example. Its
executed when a certain file on the
system is accessed or modified. This
Price 3.00
(plus free Lite version)
and above
+ Can create complex
profiles; bundles tons of
sample profiles
- Involves a slight
learning curve
Verdict A very powerful app
that has several unique
conditions and actions.
trigger has variables that record the time

the trigger was executed, the path of the
file its keeping an eye on, the event that
occurred on the file, and so on.
After youve selected a trigger, its
added to the flow. From now on,
whenever you wish to add another
element, the app asks whether you wish
to add an action or a condition.
Conditions are added in exactly the
same way as adding a trigger. The only
difference is that you are given the
option to add two different action
responses, depending on whether the
conditions state is true or false.
Like triggers and conditions, the app
also supports a long list of actions but
again lists them alphabetically. The only
saving grace is that the app shows you a
list of triggers or actions that youve used
previously, before it displays the whole
list. This makes it easier to reuse elements.
With the app, you can transfer files to
and from an FTP server, post a tweet,
send a DM or remove notifications from
the status bar, in addition to several other
popular automation tasks. You can test
flows by executing them right away.
The app has a catalogue of popular
flows, as well as a detailed tutorial and
help for individual triggers and actions.
You can also visit the apps forum board
from within the app, to seek help and
download flows shared by other users. Q
Inside the Nexus
Switch on the PC as soon as you get home

One of the advantages of Llama is that you
can use it to trigger other apps that are
installed on your phone. For example, you
can use Llamas location-awareness to
launch the Remote Launcher app to fire up
apps on your desktop as soon as you enter

your home.
To do this, you have to download and set
up the Remote Launcher app on your PC
and phone. Follow the instructions at
http://bit.ly/1ewt8oX to download and set

up the app on your PC, and then create a
launcher for the apps you want to start.
Then follow the steps below to trigger
Remote Launcher automatically.
location
1 Learn
Launch Llama and switch to the Areas tab.
event
2 Add
Next, switch to the Events tab to add an
home
3 Enter
After adding an event, tap on the Add
Long-press on the Home area and select the Start

Learning Area option. Youre then asked to select
the duration youll be in the area. If you are just
adding areas that youll be at later, select the Dont
start learning option.
event. Click on the + icon at the bottom of the

screen to create a new event. When you create a
new event, you have to give it a name and,
optionally, select some advanced options for
example, to delay its execution.
Condition button to set a condition that you want

to trigger this event. Scroll through the list and
select the Enter/In Area option. This brings up a list
of areas that youve added. Select Home and then
tap on OK.
Wi-Fi
4 Toggle
To add actions when you enter home, tap
PC
5 Start
After connecting to the Wi-Fi, its time to
action
6 Test
When youve added an event, you can use
the Add Action button. Scroll through the list and

select the Wi-Fi option to turn on the device.
Repeat the process to add another action to turn
off the data connection by selecting the Mobile
Data action.
hand over control to the Remote Launcher app,

assuming you have it configured. Tap on the Add
Action button and select Run App Shortcut. From
the list of apps, select Remote Launcher and then
select the Wake On Lan shortcut.
the Test Actions button to test the profile and

trigger the actions. Llama checks and runs through
all the actions, enabling the Wi-Fi if not enabled,
and then sends the Wake On Lan package to your
PC and switches it on if it isnt powered on.
45
Do more with your Nexus
46
Welcome
Welcome
Do more with
your Android
Install CyanogenMod
28
Give an old phone a boost with this mod
Top tips and secret settings
34
Install Amazons Appstore

Get free stu every day
36

38
Access the wonderful world of ebooks
Tell a story in six seconds
Share video stories online with Vine
40
Keep an eye out

42
Transform a phone into a baby monitor
Use an old phone as a touchpad 44
Turn a phone into a mouse and keyboard
Stream music with BubbleUPnP 46
Remote control music with an old phone
47
Complete guide to CyanogenMod
THE COMPLETE
GUIDE TO
CYANOGENMOD
Install the best-known custom
Android OS in the world
48
hy would you want

to replace the
version of Android
that your phone or
tablet already
runs? Its a good
question, to which over seven million
people know the answer, because
thats the number of installations the
CyanogenMod OS has so far gained.
So what do seven million people
know that you dont? Its not so much a
matter of better, faster or more features.
The very act of installing CyanogenMod
is a liberating experience; you gain full
control over your device, and you

implement a version of Android thats
free from any ties to Google, your
network or phone manufacturer. You
have to learn how to unlock devices, add
a custom bootloader and flash firmware.
Did we say its not so much a matter of
better, faster or more features? Because
its also all of those. If youre not
interested in stupid learning or pointless
self improvement, then be interested in
shiny, whizzy new features and a faster,
smoother Android experience.
What CyanogenMod delivers is a
vanilla-style build of Android but with a
Port this
A good question is why isnt CyanogenMod just
available for everything? Its all Android hardware,
so why cant you simply install a version on top of
the old one? Theres a couple of reasons why this is
the case. We avoid saying problems, as this is just
the way things are. The first is that Android isnt like
Windows, which comes with a host of generic and
manufacturer specific drivers, so it works on a range
of hardware. The Android OS has to be built for the
specific device with the right drivers in place. So
unless a kindly developer is going to build a version,
or you learn how to code, thats a sticking point.
The other major issue is that, despite Android
being open source and manufacturers being
required to release source code for drivers and
entire builds of Android, this can be delayed or even
never happen. If you have an affected device, that
means you can be left with non-working elements
such as audio, GPS, wireless and so on.
host of custom features attached. For

example, it supports skinning by default.
No matter what network youre using, it
offers tethering over USB, Wi-Fi and
Bluetooth connections. It has support for
OpenVPN built in, plus support for the
lossless FLAC audio codec. On top is a
huge range of settings, which enable
you to customise your device in
advanced ways.
That all sounds great, but what are the
downsides and risks? As with any
process that updates or replaces a
devices firmware, there is a risk involved,
even when using official tools and files.
Depending on your particular device,
its also probable that the unlocking
process will wipe its contents. The good
news is that problems such as bricking
(an utterly dead device) are incredibly
rare, especially if you follow our advice.
As for more general downsides, they
certainly exist.
For various complicated reasons that
well look into later, builds for some
devices may not support all a devices
hardware. Its common for GPS,
Bluetooth, the wireless or mobile
network not to work. Its also possible
that some buttons wont be recognised,
therell be no audio and for a device to
have poor battery life. The good news is
youll be told about these ahead of time,
so its not like youre walking into the
dark. The more mature a device is, the
better chance bugs like these will have
been ironed out.
As an example, take the ageing, classic
HTC Desire phone. Its heading towards
49
Unlocking
your Nexus 7
Please note that this will wipe your Nexus 7,
so proceed with caution. Unlocking a device
can be the most troublesome step, even for
official Google devices, which technically
support it. Youll need to grab the official
SDK and jump through command-line
hoops. Well hold your hand as much as
possible, because this can be scary and is
certainly a step into the unknown for most
people. The first thing, before we get
properly started, is to head to http://
developers.android.com/sdk/ in your PCs
browser and download the SDK, which is
short for Software Developer Kit. Its a
500MB download, so is rather large,
considering were just after a tiny command
held within it. Once downloaded, right-click
the file, select Extract All... and choose C:\
we suggest renaming the final adt-bundle...
folder to simply Android but you can choose
whatever you like.
being four-years old but is still a perfectly

serviceable smartphone. HTC long
abandoned support for this stalwart of
the Android world. Its final official
Gingerbread 2.3 update came out in
August 2011, while the last stable
CyanogenMod release was in June 2012,
with a final nightly build in January 2013.
Now, CyanogenMod cant cast any
magic the HTC Desire is only capable of
the path
1 Set
Go to Start, type CMD and select
and go
2 Plug
On the Nexus 7, select Settings >
CMD.EXE. At the command prompt, we

need to set a path to the new commands
weve extracted. Type PATH c:\Android\
sdk\platform-tools;%PATH% and hit
[Return]. Type FASTBOOT and hit [Return]
to get a list of switches for the command.
About and tap Build number until it says

youre a developer. Under Developer
options, ensure this is set to On, then
select USB debugging. Connect your
Nexus 7 to your PC via the USB cable. A
warning message appears, so accept that.
running Android 2.3 Gingerbread,

after all but the stripped-down
CyanogenMod build provides this
smartphone with more available
memory. So it is possible to keep using
the phone with a few modern apps,
which have ballooned in size of late.
Offering faster running speeds,
overclocking and custom features, its an
excellent example of a super-stable
CyanogenMod build that can bring a

new lease of life to an old device.
Boot it like Beckham

How do you get this wonderment on
to your device? We take you through
installing CyanogenMod on to the highly
popular Google Nexus 7 (2013) tablet in
the boxouts and walkthroughs in this
feature, but be assured that the process
Install
CyanogenMod
on the
Nexus 7
On to the tasty bit. With the
Nexus 7 unlocked, we can do
unspeakable things with it. Cue
background lightning and
thunder, with cackling laughter.
Because unlocking wipes your
system, you need to reactivate
the Developer mode, then
activate its USB debugging
mode and plug it in, accepting
the warning.
50
your les
1 Get
You need to download both the recovery
image file from http://cmw.cmfs.me/flo/ and the
firmware ZIP file from http://get.cm/?device=flo
these are both for the Google Nexus 7 (2013) Wi-Fi
model named Flo. Dont extract the zip, but copy it
to your Nexus 7 via the USB cable. Leave the image
file on your desktop.
new bootloader
2 A
At the command prompt as weve detailed
before, type adb reboot bootloader and wait for
the reboot into fastboot mode. At that point, if
youve saved the bootloader image to your
desktop, at the command prompt type CD
desktop then fastboot flash recovery <name of
your bootloader image>.img and itll be flashed.
special tool from the devices

manufacturer and then place the device
into Developer Mode. At this point, the
tool is used to unlock the device, or a
command is sent that unlocks the
device. Be aware that for Nexus devices,
this unlock process wipes all data from
the device.
How does this work for other
non-Nexus devices? Youll find a number
of devices from individual manufacturers
end up using the same basic unlock and
flashing tool. Many older Samsung
devices use the Odin tool, while the
more recent Samsung Galaxy range uses
a tool called Heimdall. All are supplied
via the CyanogenMod site. Wed guess in
the future there will be more Norse
god-based tools from Samsung.
HTC devices take a slight different
approach these require the right HTC
developer driver to be installed and offer
an official route via its www.htcdev.com/
bootloader website. For the latest HTC
One models, this site provides an unlock
file that you send to the device via the
Google fastboot command. Support is
and unlocking
offered to older models via an updated
3 Reboot
Type in the command prompt adb
HBOOT bootloader system, but
reboot bootloader and your Nexus 7
CyanogenMod still suggests using the
reboots into fastboot mode. Type fastboot
original Revolutionary bootloader
oem unlock a warning appears, select
flashing tool. Either way, the end result is
Yes using volume controls and confirm
the same.
with the power button. When Start
As a final example, on its more recent
appears, press the power button to reboot.
range of devices, Sony also offers official
guidance at http://unlockbootloader.
sonymobile.com. This will send you an
is very similar for almost every device. The unlock code, which you then fire over to
high-level overview starts with unlocking your Android device via the Google
fastboot command.
your device, so that its possible to flash
the bootloader.
This unlocking process is the most
Turning cyan
complex part and its the one that varies
It now possible to flash the bootloader
most radically from device to device,
using the same tool or command. After
because individual manufacturers require which its an easy job to copy the
their own techniques for unlocking. The
CyanogenMod firmware and any
usual path is to download a driver or a
additional files to the devices storage
Alien Android
When talking about the types of devices you can
throw CyanogenMod on to, youd assume it
would be an Android on Android love affair. Thats
not the case. There arent many, but a few devices,
such as the HP Touchpad, which ran WebOS,
received excellent Android ports. Weve also seen
versions of Android successfully dropped on to
old Windows phones. The caveat for these is that
usually its a dual-boot installation, so the old OS
remains, taking up vital space. The major issue is,
again, drivers; if theyre not available for Android,
its highly unlikely a developer will be able to
build a compatible one from scratch.
this can be via an SD card or transferred
via USB cable, and flashed to the device
using the new bootloader.
The good news is that CyanogenMod
makes it easy. You can fire up your web
browser and type the following address
into it http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/
Devices and get a full, searchable listing
for every officially supported device. Click
through and there should even be a link
restart
3 Secure
Use the volume button to show Recovery
CyanogenMod
4 Install
Back within ClockworkMod Recovery, use
to CyanogenMod
5 Welcome
You now boot into Android and run
and use the power button to boot. Select the

Reboot option from within Clockwork Recovery. It
offers to disable the secure reboot, stopping the
Nexus 7 from overwriting it. To access the recovery
mode again, power down the Nexus 7 and press
the power and volume up buttons.
the volume buttons to highlight options and the

power button to select. Choose Install Update,
choose zip from sdcard, then locate the zip file,
usually under 0/ folder. Choose to install the zip. Its
recommended to also wipe the cache and data
partitions, if CyanogenMod fails to boot.
through a short set-up process. There is one last

thing to do, as you now have no Google apps.
Browse to http://wiki.cyanogenmod.org/w/Gapps
and download the latest 10.2 version to your
tablet. Reboot into ClockworkMod, locate and
install this zip, and Google Play is now available.
51

to the installation instructions, directly
beneath the Release Candidate and
Stable listings.
The total list of devices is impressive.
Theres official support thats devices
the core CyanogenMod developers
recognise for over 70 devices. And
because its an open source project,
this means anyone can pick up the
CyanogenMod source code and run
their own development. Third-party
support from people on the
CyanogenMod site bumps the list of
devices to over 160, with around 90
unofficial devices gaining CyanogenMod
support in varying degrees. You can find
a full list here: http://wiki.cyanogenmod.
org/w/Unofficial_Ports.
How does a device gain
CyanogenMod support? Its no magic
trick. Head over to http://forum.
cyanogenmod.com and under the
General > FAQ section is an answer to
this very question. Basically: do it
yourself. Requesting a port will get you
nowhere, unless a developer starts
porting work off their own bat.
Developers are not sitting around
reading posts asking for support oddly
enough, they have better things to do. It
is worth searching http://forum.
xda-developers.com because the lucky
thing with developers is that they do
tend to start unofficial ports there off
their own bat. If enough support is
gained, it could eventually become an
official CyanogenMod version.
someone is likely to create a forum post

linking to the various relevant drivers.
Moving beyond this, CyanogenMod
and people offering third-party support
for devices offer entire updates to their
device builds. These are done on an
increasingly stable basis, moving from
the badly named Nightly builds and
Milestone, to Release Candidate and
Stable releases.
Nightly builds are usually the latest
build of the main source code repository.
All the latest patches and fixes are in
there, but they can also hold new bugs
and issues. Plus, if someone makes a
mistake, it could break the entire build as
theyre not necessarily tested at all. The
important part is a list of the latest fixes
newer drivers. Youll probably find with

less-well-supported devices, if you read
forum posts, people upload zip files for
updated drivers. These are installed via
the ClockworkMod Recovery, the same
way you installed the CyanogenMod OS.
Use the Install Zip option and it installs
the driver file as a patch.
Its good to bear in mind that mobile
and GPS radios can cause issues here.
Phones in different areas of the world
can use different radio hardware; these
then require you to install the correct
radio version after CyanogenMod. So if
you find the GPS or mobile reception
isnt working, you probably need to
change the radio driver. Its often built
for the US, and an EU driver is needed;
Making it better
You can make your life simpler before and
after installing CyanogenMod by following
these simple tips. Most important of these
is the first one backing up your device. As
weve mentioned, moving to CyanogenMod
will entirely wipe your device. If you have
an SD card, much will be saved, because

this will be untouched, but apps, settings
and everything else will go. We cant stress
the importance and handiness of backing
this up, so you dont have to restore
everything from scratch.
Careless driver
In our porting boxout, we discuss exactly
why every device requires its own build
of Android, but the short answer is
kernel and driver support. The kernel
aspect is a moot point, because without
a working kernel, the phone wont even
boot. Driver support can be more patchy
and the device can still work, even to the
point of being fully usable.
Of course, long-term youll want
sound, GPS, mobile radio and Wi-Fi to
be working correctly. The good news is
that like Windows, it is possible to install
up your stuff
1 Back
We strongly recommend grabbing a copy
of Titanium Backup or MyBackup. Both of these are
easy to use and offer online storage for your data.
On the Nexus 7, you should back up your data,
because this will be wiped with the unlock
procedure. So back up or at least copy via USB any
files you have stored.
Manager
3 ROM
This is the official supporting app for the
Enjoy advanced features such

as custom dimming levels
52
ClockworkMod Recovery. Its really a way to fund

development as it costs 3.99. It does add a lot of
handy features, such as auto-updates for the CWM
Recovery alongside updates for the CyanogenMod
ROM itself, plus access to a touch bootloader.
updates
2 Auto
Head to Settings > About tablet. Youll spot
a CyanogenMod updates entry tap this. Here
youre able to specify how often the OS should
check for updates and what it should look for. By
default, its Stable only, every week. Be warned
choosing Nightlies could incur a 160MB-plus
download each day.
some Goo
4 Get
If youre really interested in custom ROMs,
get the GooManager app. It enables you to search
for and install all manner of compatible ROMs,
among many other things. Its not essential but for
those wanting to try out different ROMs for their
devices, its a cool way to discover them.
that can be found in an accompanying

Change Log; if you have a specific
problem and the build says this has been
fixed, it would be worth your time
installing. See our Making it better
walkthrough on a couple of useful ways
this can be made a little easier for you.
Turning back
What if, after trying CyanogenMod, you
decide its not for you? Well, unlike our
corporate masters, the free open-source
system isnt going to try to stop you
having your own way. Just tootle off to
the original manufacturers support site,
grab the latest firmware build and flash it
back. If youre planning on selling the
device, we strongly recommend doing

this, plus youll want to replace the
original stock bootloader and re-lock the
device, so its all as-new.
So far weve only really mentioned
using official tools from Google and
linked to from CyanogenMod. This isnt
to say theyre the only options when it
comes to flashing, unlocking and
generally tinkering with your Android
device and Google Nexus 7.
For Nexus 7 (old and new) owners, a
chap called mskip on XDA Developers
has created an all-in-one unlock and
flash tool. It can help automate most of
the processes we talk about here. You
can find the Nexus 7 (2013) Toolkit at
http://bit.ly/17SUMwb and the Nexus 7

(2012) Toolkit from http://bit.ly/Nb1T5S
both on XDA. Its a genuinely handy tool
if youre going to be playing around with
custom ROMs. We personally find it a
little fussy, though, and youll need to get
used to the various delays and states it
expects the Nexus to be in.
At this point, you should be confident
that you can get CyanogenMod flashed
and updated on most modern Android
devices; as well as making it easy to get it
off again. Its an impressive achievement
considering it all started with one
developer, Steve Kondik, and continues
in a larger form driven by enthusiasts in
the CyanogenMod community. Q
The same but also

completely different
Carry on CyanogenMod
Theres no argument that
unlocking and forcing a new
bootloader on most devices,
even the Google Nexus, isnt
the easiest of tasks. While
Google has done nothing to
block or hide the process, it
still requires the command
line and scary flashing
processes. It can be even
more complex with
manufacturers that try to
block such things.
Either way, with that
nastiness done which is a
one-time process the
installation of CyanogenMod
itself is a breeze. You also
cant underestimate the
usefulness of a fully featured
bootloader such as
ClockworkMod. The ability
to do full in-place backups
can really save your bacon.
The advantage of
CyanogenMod on an official
Google Nexus device is
questionable. The Google
vanilla build of Android is
pretty swift and youll be the
first to get updates, which
explains why its so sought-
after. Having said that,

CyanogenMod does offer a
heap of custom settings, that
really power up many areas
of Android. With updates for
the latest devices keeping
close step with Googles
own, many are happy to
accept any update delay.
For many other devices,
the jump to CyanogenMod is
definitely worth it. Outdated,
unsupported and spam-app
swamped devices are all
going to gain by an install.
Everything from a more up-
to-date version of Android to

access to better features,
alongside more storage
space and memory can help
revitalise a sluggish system.
The group behind
CyanogenMod has also
announced its desire to
make the installation
process even simpler, down
to a one-click install. Apple
users often enjoy this with a
one-click jailbreak install,
but thats on a very stable
platform. Itd be fantastic to
see this come to Android.
53
POWER UP
CYANOGENMOD
Top tips and secret settings to get more from this powerful
custom version of Android
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Advanced
TIME NEEDED
15 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
Any CyanogenMod device
he whole point of running

CyanogenMod is to install a
super-powerful version of Android
on your device, but unless you know where
all the advanced features are, youre missing
out. Weve slaved over CyanogenMod to pick
out the coolest, most useful set of features to
bring them to your attention. Some are more
obvious than others, but theyre all worth
having a play around with.
From complete control over the screen
dimming to user profiles that help you power
down unwanted features when youre at home,
CyanogenMod has a pile of tools that can go
unnoticed if theyre not specifically pointed
out. Alternatively, if youre not already running
CyanogenMod on your phone, perhaps theres
a feature here that might just get you to make
the leap. Its well worth it.
EXPLOIT THE POWER OF CYANOGENMOD
54
dimming
1 Screen
One of the best hidden secrets
2 Themes
This is a better known feature
of CyanogenMod is that it offers

complete control over the screen
dimming levels. This means you can
force it to be minimum brightness
when the lights go out, or spring to
maximum brightness when theres
even a hint of sun. From the Settings
shade, select Brightness, tap the
right-hand Menu button, then Adjust,
and you can now fine-tune all the
brightness levels.
of CyanogenMod it comes with

built-in support for themes. Open the
Settings, and Theme is just waiting to
be used. Theres one problem there
arent any themes there, and theres
no option to add any more. So whats
going on? Switch to Google Play Store
and search for CyanogenMod
Themes to find a host of cool themes.
security
3 Extra
Its a fact that the FBI had to
call Google for advice on how to crack
its pattern lock system, but even so, a
three-by-three grid does seem a little
childish. If you want to boost your
security, select Settings > Lock screen
> Screen lock (enter any security you
may have) > Pattern. CyanogenMod
offers grids up to six-by-six in size.
Take that, FBI!
hidden
5 Notication
shortcuts
4 Settings
shade tweaks
The new Android slide-down Settings
and Notification shades are pretty
damn handy in themselves so
handy that Apple copied them. But
its always nice to have a bit of choice,
which is why CyanogenMod actually
enables you to choose whats in
them. Select Settings > Interface >
Quick Settings panel > Tiles and
layouts to do just that.
6 Proles
Found under Settings >
Talking of shades, the CyanogenMod

Notification shade has a little more to
it than you might think. First, you can
add a bunch of quick selection
options under Select settings >
Interface > Notification drawer >
Show in drawer. But theres more
tap the time or date to take you to the
Clock or Calendar app, plus tap and
hold to go to the Alarm and Date &
Time settings.
Profiles, these are hardly hidden but

arent explained at all. These clever
presets enable you to alter settings
on your device, along with available
groups of apps. The clever bit is that
these can be triggered by wireless
networks, so when you get home,
you can switch to a home mode, with
GPS and other radios turned off.
reboot
7 Quick
Now theres a quick way to not
Now is gone
8 Google
Google Now is lauded by
only reboot your Android device but

also quickly reboot into the handy
ClockworkMod Recovery mode. Press
and hold the power button. A
selection of options appears
alongside the usual Power off. The
Reboot option opens an extra menu
that helps you jump straight into
Recovery or the Bootloader.
many, but if you think its a steaming

pile of dung, CyanogenMod enables
you to get rid of it. If you like it, you
can power up its selection with two
extra options as well. Select Settings
> Interface > Quick launch shortcuts.
Press and hold the circle at the
bottom and select the shortcut to
change. A list that includes any
app, plus a few handy system
shortcuts, appears. Q
55
INSTALL AMAZONS
APPSTORE
You can get free stu every day by using Amazons amazing
alternative to Googles Play Store
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Anyone can do it
TIME NEEDED
10 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
Any Android phone/tablet
with Wi-Fi
oogles Play Store contains a huge

galaxy of free and paid-for apps, and
comes preloaded with every
Android device, but its by no means the only
player in town. Many other stores are
springing up, and one of the best and most
trusted is Amazons own Appstore.
Where Amazons Appstore really scores over
other offerings (including Googles) is that it
offers a free app every day. This is something
you would usually have to pay for, and could be
any type of app, but it tends to be a game. If
you play a lot of mobile games on your
smartphone or tablet, this could see you make
significant savings over the course of a year,
and is well worth investigating as an alternative
to Googles Play Store.
GET APPS FROM THE APPSTORE
unknown
1 Enable
sources
Before you install Amazons Appstore,
you need to allow your device to
install things from places other than
Googles Play Store. Do this by
heading to your devices settings.
Under Security settings is an option
to enable unknown sources. Confirm
that you want this set if asked to do so.
74
to Amazon
2 Surf
Open a web browser. Were
using Firefox for Mobile, but any other
browser will do, including the default
one. Click the URL bar. Enter the
address www.amazon.com/
getappstore. Once the page appears,
click the big orange button to
download the Amazon Appstore to
continue. The download takes a
minute or so.
Install Amazons appstore
the
3 Install
Appstore
in
4 Sign
Once installed, open the
Youre asked to complete the

download by selecting one of two
installation options. It doesnt matter
which you choose. Were using Verify
and install. Click Accept and a list of
the permissions the Appstore needs
appears. Its always a good idea to
skim through these. Once read, click
Install to continue.
Amazon Appstore app and sign in

with your email address and Amazon
password. Note that when you enter
the password, although the digits are
obscured, the letters you select from
the keyboard are not, so make sure
no one is looking over your shoulder
as you type.
for apps
5 Search
Amazons Appstore can be a
free apps
6 Install
When you find a free app you
bewildering place, so lets organise

things. When you start the app, youre
taken to the main screen. Click All
Categories and then select one youre
interested in. At the top of the
resultant screen, you can sort by
sub-category, and refine the search
by the usual Amazon listing types
(price, average customer review and
so on).
like the look of, click to view its details.

Click the yellow price button and it
changes to green. Click the button
again and the app is purchased (dont
worry its free) and begins to
download. Install the app as we
installed the Appstore itself in Step 3.
every day
7 Free
To keep you coming back, the
for later
8 Save
As mentioned, the Appstore is
Amazon Appstore offers a free app

every day. This could be anything, but
its always a piece of software for
which youd usually have to pay. The
current days offering is displayed at
the top of the homescreen when you
run the Appstore app.
a big place, so it makes sense to save

things for later viewing. At the
bottom of each apps page is a Save
for later option. Add any apps you are
interested in, and later, the list you
compile can be made available by
clicking your devices Menu button
and selecting More. Q
75
GET STARTED
WITH KINDLE
Access the wonderful world of the Kindle ereader
using any Android smartphone or tablet
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Anyone can do it
TIME NEEDED
10 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
Any Android phone/tablet
with Wi-Fi
mazons Kindle ereader opened up a

vast library of literature to people
on the go, by making over two
million books and hundreds of magazines
available in convenient electronic form, from
brand new releases to the classics.
Thanks to the release of Amazons Kindle app
for Android devices, you dont actually need a
Kindle device to access this library. Even the
most basic Android smartphone or tablet can
be used. You can even download a free sample
of any books youre interested in before you
buy, so you never have to judge a book by its
cover alone.
So, whether you want the Origin of Species
or the latest Lee Child, read on and youll be
stocking up on your favourite reading matter
within minutes. All it takes is an Amazon
account to get started.
READ BOOKS ON YOUR ANDROID DEVICE
76
Kindle
1 Install
To download the Kindle app,
into Amazon
2 Sign
You need an Amazon account
first click the Play Store app (called

Shop on Jelly Bean devices) and
search for Kindle. Click on the
resulting search result and then click
Install. Accept the permissions the
Kindle app requires to run properly,
and when installation is complete,
click Open to launch the Kindle app
for the first time.
to use the Kindle app, so ensure you

have one set up, and you can
remember the username (usually an
email address) and the password. You
can set an account up within the app,
but its easier if you already have one.
Click Sign in and then enter your
credentials to continue.
your
3 Browse
library
Initially, your personal library is
empty. To browse your library, click
the library icon (three horizontal bars)
to the left of the Kindle logo at the
top of the screen. This icon is also
where you can add titles to your
library by buying and downloading
them. To do so, click Kindle Store to
enter the store.
before buying
5 Try
In the vast majority of cases,
you can see a sample of interesting
books (and, in some cases,
magazines) before you make a
purchase. Simply select a title, then
click Try a sample followed by Read it
now. Dismiss the reading tips, then
the sample downloads for you.
your book
7 Read
Once downloaded, your book
should appear in your library, and be
available on the opening page of the
Kindle app. If it isnt, you may need to
synchronise by clicking the curly
arrow icon at the top of the screen.
Downloaded titles feature a tick on
the cover.
shopping
4 Go
The store is sorted logically,
but the number of titles available can
be overwhelming. You can click a
category, or enter a search phrase,
author, title, ISBN, and so on. A really
cool feature that you get in Android
Jelly Bean is that you can click the
microphone icon and simply say your
search phrase out loud.
a purchase
6 Make
Once you find a book youd
like to download, purchasing it is
simple. Even if the book is free, it must
still technically be purchased, but for
no money. Simply click the books
title to access it, then click Buy Now
with 1-Click. Thats all there is to it.
8 Congure
page turning
A really cool feature of the Kindle app
is its ability to use the volume up and
down buttons to turn the pages
forward and back. To enable this, click
the library icon at the top of the apps
opening screen, and click Settings.
Tick Volume Buttons Control and
then open a book of your choice and
start reading. Q
77
TELL A STORY IN SIX

SECONDS WITH VINE
Forget YouTube, Vine is the coolest kid in town when it comes
to sharing your video stories online.
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Anyone can do it
TIME NEEDED
5 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
Android 4.0 onwards
ine is perhaps the simplest app on

Android, and its also one of the
most dramatic communication
media to hit the internet in recent years. In
essence, Vine is an app that enables you to
capture six seconds of video and post it up to
either the Vine site or share it via Twitter and
Facebook (Vine is owned by the microblogging site, Twitter).
Now, that might sound rather daft six
seconds and no more. But by making film
makers focus on telling their stories in such a
ridiculously short period of time, Vine has
become a catalyst for amazing creativity, and
given birth to an internet craze along the way.
Movies are short, loop constantly like animated
GIFs, and are often made using the stopmotion technique. Good ones are compelling
to watch and fun to make.
Even big companies are getting in on the act,
making Vine videos to sell their products. So,
lets get stuck in and make our first Vine video.
MAKE A VINE VIDEO
80
and download
1 Find
the Vine app
into the app

2 Sign
With the app running, you can
With Google Plays apps store open,

search for Vine app. Tap Install, and
then Accept when youre presented
with the list of app permissions. Its
free to download and use, so your
wallet and your phone will thank you
in equal measure. When the app has
finished downloading, tap the Open
button and in a few seconds the Vine
app launches for the very first time.
either sign with Twitter or by email. If

you dont have a Twitter account,
choose the email option and this
creates a Vine account for you. Firstly,
youre asked to enter your full name,
then supply or take a picture of
yourself. Finally, it asks for your email
address and a password.
Tell a story with Vine
a feel
3 Getting
for Vine
Lets have a look at some of the most
popular Vine videos (so we can steal
their makers best ideas). In the Feed
menu, sweep down and youre given
a gallery of the most popular micro
movies around. Youll notice they
generally have a very simple idea and
fall into two camps: stop motion and
flowing clips.
your
5 Make
rst video
When everything is framed nicely,
simply press and hold on the screen.
Youll notice a green bar appears and
grows. This is the progress bar, and it
indicates how much of your precious
six seconds youve used up. To stop
recording, just take your finger off the
screen. When youre done, a green
tick appears.
tools
7 Camera
The Vine interface has other
tools, too. The circular target forces
your phones camera to refocus. The
ghost icon is, frankly, weird; it uses a
previously grabbed frame as a
semi-transparent overlay that is
placed over the rest of your movie.
Perfect for remaking the Cottingley
Fairies for the internet age.
Vine interface
4 The
Next up, tap the camera icon
in the top-right of the screen. This
takes you to the main Vine interface.
In the centre, youll see your rearfacing cameras view, and along the
bottom of the screen theres a series
of icons. Tap the grid icon and it gives
you a three-by-three overlay, which is
useful when it comes to framing.
motion
6 Stop
animation
Some of the most creative and
popular Vine videos use stop motion
animation (the technique behind
Wallace and Gromit). Just frame
everything up nicely and tap the
screen. As you tap, the app captures a
single burst and the green progress
bar advances accordingly. You can
make an animation with around 50
separate snapshots.
and
8 Publish
be damned
To upload your movie, tap the green
tick icon that appears when your six
seconds are up. In the next screen,
youll see a set of sliders: Post to Vine,
Twitter and Facebook. Move a slider
from Off to On to share your movie
via that particular channel. With your
choices made, simply tap the tick in
the top-right corner. Q
81
KEEP AN EYE OUT

WITH IP WEBCAM
If you have an old phone knocking about the place, its easy to
turn it into a wireless baby monitor
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Anyone can do it
TIME NEEDED
10 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
Android 1.6 and above
lthough wireless webcams arent

particularly expensive, using an old
Android phone as one offers several
benefits. In addition to doing everything you
can with a regular webcam, it can double up
as a cheap security camera and stream video
to PCs and other Android devices.
There are several webcam apps available in
the Play Store but the IP Webcam app is easy to
set up and has several options to optimise the
video stream according to the available
bandwidth. The app also offers a choice of
viewers with which to watch the stream.
Because it can also capture audio, you can
use the app to turn your phone into a nifty little
surveillance monitor to keep an eye on your
baby in the next room. If you tweak your
firewall, you can also view the stream from
outside your network. This is useful for keeping
an eye on your front door while you are away.
And you can even call your webcam if you want
to talk to the person at the door.
TURN YOUR PHONE INTO A WEBCAM
settings
2 Video
When you launch the app, you
are shown a list of settings. However,
you dont need to fiddle with each
and every one of them. Some
important ones that influence the
quality of the captured video are
Photo resolution, Video quality and
FPS Limit, so you may want to adjust
these a little.
1 Download
IP Webcam is available as a free ad-supported download for your Nexus
from Google Play. If you wish to use your old smartphone as a regular webcam,
though, with a desktop app such as Skype, you also need to install the IP
Camera Adapter app on your Windows computer; you can download this from
http://ip-webcam.appspot.com.
82
Keep an eye out with IP webcam
3 Connection
settings
security
4 Dedicated
camera
Scroll down the settings window to

Connection settings. Here you can
define a username and password for
viewing the stream; this is blank by
default, so anyone can view the
stream. Also make note of the
numbers in the Port field.
If you want to use the phone as a

dedicated security camera, you need
to disable the screen lock on the
phone (Settings > Security > Screen
Lock) and select the Stream on
device boot option in the Misc
section of the settings window.
streaming
5 Start
Now click on Start server to begin streaming the video. Along with the
as a webcam
6 Use
Next you need to open the IP Camera Adapter app that you installed on
video from its camera, your smartphone also displays the IP address and the
port number of the streaming server, together with the number of users who
are currently watching the stream. As you can see from the above shot,
nobody is viewing this stream at the moment.
your Windows computer earlier, and fill in the required information, such as the
complete IP address of the webcam, as shown in the previous step. Now click
on Apply and then select MJPG from the list of available webcams in apps
such as Skype.
stream on
8 View
your mobile
This requires the tinyCam Monitor
app, which is free from Google Play.
Launch the app and then head to
Manage cameras > Add camera.
Select IP Webcam for Android as the
camera vendor, and enter the IP
address of the streaming server in the
space provided. Hey presto you can
view your old phones video stream
on your new phone. Q
stream on computer
7 View
To view the stream on any computer thats set up in your network, you
need to launch a web browser on your computer and enter the IP address
thats displayed on your smartphone. This lists several ways that you can view
the stream. Click on the first option to view the stream in desktop software
such as VLC Player.
83
USE AN OLD PHONE

AS A TOUCHPAD
With RemoteDroid, you can use an old phone as
a wireless mouse and keyboard
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Anyone can do it
TIME NEEDED
10 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
hinking of getting a new mouse

because your old one is giving you
grief? Dont! You can effortlessly
turn an old Android device into a wireless
mouse and keyboard, complete with
dedicated on-screen keys for the left-click
and right-click, and an optional scroll wheel if
your smartphone has a trackpad.
Using the RemoteDroid app, you can use the
screen real-estate on your smartphone to
control the cursor on your computer. This is
especially useful when you are using the
computer to give a presentation, because you
can direct your audiences attention without
being tied to the podium.
To use the app, you also need to install some
software on the computer that you wish to
control wirelessly. We explain everything in the
walkthrough below.
REMOTE CONTROL YOUR COMPUTER
app
2 Install
There are two versions of the
RemoteDroid app. The free version
has all the important features that are
available in the $1.99 Pro version. The
only difference is that the Pro app
automatically connects to the server
on the desktop.
server
1 Install
Before you get started, you need to download and install the server
component of RemoteDroid on the computer that you wish to control from
your phone. The server app is available from www.remotedroid.net and it
requires Java SE Runtime Environment 1.5 or higher, which you can also install
via a link on the RemoteDroid website.
84
Use a phone as a touchpad
preferences
3 Set
When you launch the app,
press the menu button on the phone
and select Preferences. Here you can
configure the behaviour of the app.
For example, you can control whether
a tap should translate into a
left-button click.
4 Connect
To control the app, you need to first start the server on your computer
by double-clicking the RemoteDroidServer.jar file. This brings up a window on
your PC screen which displays the IP address of the server. Now enter this IP
address in the RemoteDroid app on your phone.
as a mouse
5 Use
Once the app has connected
with the server software, the screen
on the phone shows three boxes. The
box highlighted in red is the mouse
touchpad and the boxes in green are
the left and right mouse buttons.
gestures
6 Multi-touch
You can use the app in either orientation, although it makes more sense
to use it in landscape mode, and its slightly easier this way. The app also
supports all multi-touch gestures, including pan, flick, pinch close, pinch open,
rotate, and more.
as a keyboard
7 Use
The icon between the two mouse buttons brings up the default
keyboard that you are using on your Android phone. You can then use it as a
normal keyboard to type wirelessly. The developer of RemoteDroid is working
on adding support for the Swype keyboard, which will make it even easier to
type on your computer using your phone.
soft keys
8 Use
You can also use the soft and hard keys on your Nexus phone itself. For
example, on our test device, the search button acts as the [Alt] key, but the
behaviour of these keys varies from device to device, and its possible that not
all the keys are mapped. Next time your mouse or keyboard dies, dont
immediately rush off to replace it try using your phone instead. Q
85
STREAM MUSIC WITH

BUBBLEUPNP
Discover how its easy to remote control your music by
using an old Android phone
{ AT A GLANCE }
SKILL
Anyone can do it
TIME NEEDED
20 minutes
SUITABLE FOR
LNA (Digital Living Network

Alliance) is a powerful protocol for
streaming media between
compatible players. And guess what you
probably already own a bunch of devices that
support this protocol. Yup, put down this
magazine and check your TV, Blu-ray player,
games consoles and other gadgets.
Even if you dont have a DLNA-certified
device, you can use BubbleUPnP to turn an old
Android phone into one. You can then load it
up with music and hook it to a pair of speakers.
Then grab another Android phone and load the
BubbleUPnP app on that, too. Now you can use
the second phone to remotely browse your
music collection and control playback on the
first phone attached to the speakers.
You can extend this concept by using the
app to play music thats stored on one DLNA
device on another. So if you have a DLNA NAS,
you can make it stream the music it houses to
the phone thats connected to the speakers.
STREAM MUSIC AROUND YOUR HOUSE
BubbleUPnP
1 Install
The BubbleUPnP app is
available from Google Play as an
ad-supported free download that
restricts remote playback to 30
minutes. When you first launch the
app, it asks you to configure internet
streaming. You can safely skip this
step, because this isnt what we are
currently after.
86
up the app
2 Set
In the app, click on the Menu
button and go to Settings > Local
Renderer. Make sure the Allow remote
control option is selected and use the
Network name field to customise the
name of the device. This is how this
phone will appear to other devices.
Stream music with BubbleUPnP
cloud
3 Setup
libraries
Along with music stored locally on
the device, the app can also play
music on cloud services such as
Google Music and Dropbox. Tap the
Menu button and head to Settings >
Local Media Server and enter your
login details for the relevant
supported services.
em up
4 Hook
Now you can connect your old Android phone to any pair of speakers
you have, using the standard auxiliary ports on both the phone and the
speakers. Youve now converted your speakers into smart Wi-Fi-enabled ones
that can be controlled remotely.
BubbleUPnP
5 Install
on controller
renderer
6 Select
Now launch the app on the
In order to remotely control playback

on the Android phone thats
connected to the speakers, you need
to install the free BubbleUPnP app on
another device as well. After youve
set up and tested your streaming rig,
you can download the licensed
version of the app for $4.69.
new device and switch to the Devices

tab. In the list of Renderers, select the
name of the old Android phone that
youve hooked up to your speakers.
From now on, any music you select to
play on this phone streams to the
remote speakers.
library
7 Remote
To play music thats stored on
video
8 Play
If you need to play a video on
the old phone, switch to the Devices

tab and select the name of the old
Android phone in the list of Libraries.
The Library tab now shows music on
this remote phone, and a selected
track plays on the remote speakers.
the remote device, you need to install

a dedicated video player, because
BubbleUPnP cant play back videos
on its own. Just head to the old
phone or tablet that you want to use
to play back the video, and install a
video player such as MXPlayer. Q
87
Apped
88
Welcome
Welcome
Apped
Apped
Google Ingress
The exciting augmented reality RPG
50

53
The birds take another tilt at Star Wars
Can it breathe life into an old genre?
54
Shadowrun Returns
55
The classic RPG makes its mobile debut
Eight of the best paid-for games
56
Health round-up
Four apps to help you keep kit
60
Console emulators
62
Play retro console classics on your Nexus
Kids apps
A quartet of child-friendly apps
64
89
Apped
Google Ingress
Google Ingress
This augmented reality RPG tasks you with taking over the world. Up to the challenge?
Price Free
Manufacturer
Niantic Labs www.ingress.com
Operating system
Android 2.3
Size
2MB
THE GOOD
The augmented reality
gameplay, well-balanced RPG
mechanics and eager,
passionate community make
this a moreish, addictive game
and one that encourages you
to get outdoors and get
walking, too
THE BAD
Its still in beta, so Ingress has
occasional bugs, and we wish
the mobile app was a bit more
versatile. It hammers the screen,
GPS and GPU, too, so it quickly
drains batteries.
Ingress is a global game, with

thousands of high level portals,
plus influence fields and links
96
ew MMOs have made big impacts on

mobile, but Google Ingress is bestplaced to succeed, thanks to its
stunning blend of augmented reality and
familiar RPG mechanics on a global scale.
Ingress has a simple premise: its world is full of
portals that emit Exotic Matter (XM) through
portals. Two sides fight for control of this
precious, influential substance the Enlightened
wants to use XM to improve humanity, and the
Resistance fights against its influence on society.
So far, so normal, but heres the twist: this isnt
a fantasy setting Ingress uses our world, and its
augmented reality portals are made of public
buildings, works of art and beauty spots.
The two sides gain XM by possessing these
real-world portals, which is accomplished by
deploying up to eight so-called robotic
resonators on unoccupied points, or by attacking
portals until their allegiances change. Once
theyve been captured, they generate XM for
your side of the fight and also churn out Action
Points, which are used to level up your profile.
Portals dont just generate points on their own;
linking portals together grants a big bonus to XM
yield, and several portals with links can be
combined into fields, which brings huge areas
under your control and, again, grants a bonus.
Protect your portals

Its not as simple as deploying some resonators
and watching the points roll in, though every
resonator can be upgraded through eight power
levels, and portals can be modded with shields,
range boosters and defensive turrets handy to
fight against the XM blasters that will inevitably
be used by the other team to try to take down
your portals. Collaboration and community is a
big deal in Ingress; you can improve and recharge
With its real-world connection, Ingress is

easy to pick up, but harder to stop playing
your peers portals, items can be exchanged,
and high-level agents are often eager to help
low-level players.
Portals are scattered throughout the world
weve even found some in North Korea and
they can only be hacked, recharged and
upgraded if youre within 40 metres, so you cant
play if you dont hit the pavements or get in the
car. This reliance on real-world gameplay, more
than the sci-fi story or familiar RPG mechanics, is
the real key to Ingress excellence.
Its hugely addictive. We looked up local
portals at www.ingress.com/intel, loaded the
app, and headed outside. Within the hour wed
seized half a dozen portals and bolstered them
with transistors, and an hour later wed snapped
several new portals, too, which are submitted to
Google for evaluation before joining the game.
After three hours and almost a full phone battery,
we headed home our in-game statistics
indicated wed covered 5km on foot.
We made contact with local players, who
maintain an active Google+ group and were
eager to help. One saw our weak portals and
waded in with more powerful resonators, and
another dropped a host of goodies as he drove
nearby. Theres plenty for low-level players to do,
even if the game is dominated by high-level
agents; anyone can hack enemy portals for AP
and XM, and there are plenty of vacant portals
waiting for domination.
Ingress is a community-driven game with
passionate players. Several local Enlightened
Google Ingress
Apped
Busy cities are crammed with

portals; gather huge amounts of
XM and AP just by walking about
Portals can be
linked together
to generate
more XM
Local portals are highlighted with

distances, directions and allegiance
Pictures are used throughout, and

each portal has plenty of options
agents found a rival who cheated by

spoofing portals, because they drove around
and discovered that he wasnt in the area,
and others regularly explore at night so they
dont run into enemies in busier and more
lucrative urban areas.
Master your reality

The real-world gameplay and community
help Ingress feel real. We deployed resonators
on a host of portals at Londons Kings Cross
station and immediately found them under
attack, which led to a few worried glances
around the platform for other folks using
Android handsets.
Theres huge potential for Ingress to grow,
too. Its a well-rounded product despite still
being technically in beta, and large cities are
rammed with portals and plenty of people
to battle. Googles more active in the US, and
regularly runs events where agents battle in

public. We just hope this extends to the UK.
It is still in beta, though, so there are
inevitable issues. The app randomly
rebooted our Nexus 4 handset a couple of
times, and it devours batteries with GPU,
GPS and screen used extensively, we found
our three-hour excursion eroded threequarters of the Nexus 4s power pack.
The GPS signal sometimes couldnt keep
up in busy cities, which irritates when the
game is reliant on location, and the futuristic,
minimal-looking app has its niggles. Theres
no way to browse the map beyond pinching,
zooming and rotating, for instance, and the
portal detection can be inconsistent it
would sometimes show portals miles away
but ignore those nearby.
Despite these issues, Ingress doesnt feel
like beta software. Its positively packed with
passionate players, its gameplay is well

balanced, and its real-world setting and slick
RPG mechanics encourage exploration,
friendly competition and more exercise than
practically every other video game in
existence. You owe it to yourself to join the
fight and, whether you pick Enlightened or
Resistance, we reckon youll quickly become
engrossed in Ingress. Q
Ingress innovative gameplay

marries augmented reality and
classic RPG mechanics into a global
game that encourages exploration
and collaboration. Just beware of
battery draining and the odd bug.
+++++
97
SERIOUS ABOUT
HARDWARE?
NOW
ON APPLE
NEWSSTAND
Download the
day they go
onsale in the
UK!
PERFORMANCE ADVICE
FOR SERIOUS GAMERS
ON SALE EVERY MONTH
Apped
The shop is well stocked but

in-app payments pervade too
much for our liking
Special abilities include tumbling

around and striking multiple hits
Its possible to succumb to the Pork

Side and play a host of extra levels

The Angry Birds return for another tilt at the Star Wars universe
Price Free/69p
Manufacturer
www.rovio.com
Operating system
Android 2.3 and up
Size
42MB
THE GOOD
Looks fantastic
Varied characters and levels
Huge amount of fan service
THE BAD
In-app payments and
real-world toys
Little innovation
o game has dominated mobile

devices like Angry Birds, which now
has its own board games, cake
toppers and sweets. So its no surprise that
its first successful foray into the Star Wars
universe has spawned a sequel, which
concentrates on Naboo, Tatooine and the
events of the prequel trilogy.
That might sound like a step backwards from
the classic originals, but Rovio has crammed this
game with brand new content. There are 30
new characters, many of which have new
unique abilities, and over 100 levels divided into
both the light and dark sides of the force in
this game, you can play as the pigs as well as
the birds.
Many new characters have abilities that go
beyond whats been seen in the previous six
Angry Birds games. Jar-Jar Binks uses a grappling
hook to latch on to objects and swing, and he
also hurls bricks, crates and even enemies; while
young Anakin zooms to his targets in a
podracer. Yoda bounces around like a
boomerang, and Captain Panaka shoots
multiple lasers. Many other characters have
abilities from the first game, such as lightsabers,
blasters and force pushes.
Its not only the characters that are more
sophisticated. Levels are bigger and more
complex than ever, with very few that can be
solved by shooting and hoping most need
several attempts and clever planning, and only
the best players can hope for three stars.
Rovios familiar high-gloss sheen can be seen
throughout: top-notch graphics, a huge amount
of fan-service throughout the cartoon cutscenes, and a clear love of the source material.
A dark spectre hangs over this enjoyable,
imaginative and polished game, though, and its
the inherent greed that goes along with in-app
payment systems. While its perfectly easy to
play Angry Birds Star Wars II without forking out
any cash at all, numerous characters are locked
until you spend some of the in-game currency
and its pretty difficult to get anywhere if you
dont spend some real-world money, too, with
points trickier to earn simply by playing the
game. In-game currency is bought in bundles,
and the top one costs a mighty 80, which is a
huge amount for a title that is likely to be played
by children.
Its also possible to buy real-world toys that
unlock in-game characters and levels, as well
scan the QR code on the bottom of a figure
and youll unlock extra content in the game. Its
a sign that this franchise is taking another step
towards Skylanders-style monetisation, and
parents will sigh at the inevitable emptying of
their wallets. Q
The in-app payment systems take

some of the sheen off this title, and
theres not enough innovation, but
Angry Birds Star Wars II delivers better
levels and more characters in a
blanket of Star Wars familiarity.
+++++
99
Apped
Theres little new here but still

plenty to keep you playing
Cartoon-style graphics add to the

games overall sheen
Want to buy a deadly dragon to

defeat your foes? It wont be cheap

Can this sequel to a popular tower defence game breathe new life into an old genre?
Price 1.91
Manufacturer
www.ironhidegames.com
Operating system
Android 4.0 and up
Size
232MB
THE GOOD
Theres a huge amount of depth
in this frenetic tower defence
title, thanks to sensible
improvements across the board,
and the addictive gameplay is
matched with great graphics
and sound.
THE BAD
In-app payments restrict some
of the cooler characters for
those wishing to splash out,
and despite the enhanced
mechanics and professional
sheen, the tower defence genre
isnt exactly known for
its innovation.
100
ome argue that the tower defence

genre has been done to death, but
Uruguayan studio Ironhides Kingdom
Rush: Frontiers proves theres still plenty of
moreish gameplay to be had from this type
of title even if its from a finely-tuned
formula, rather than new features.
There are few surprises in Frontiers gameplay,
which remains largely unchanged from the first
title. You guard a tract of land attacked by waves
of enemies, and you build towers at certain
points in order to take down these adversaries.
There are four types of tower archery,
barracks, mage and artillery which can all be
upgraded, and you can also assist your static
defences with a roaming, upgradeable hero,
special powers and troop reinforcement.
Ironhide has concentrated on improving its
addictive game by refining existing mechanics.
Towers can be improved four times, and they
also have more interesting upgrades when they
hit their maximum levels the barracks can
unleash assassins, and mage towers can revive
dead enemies and rally them to your cause.
The settings have also been revamped.
Theyre more varied, with levels that take in
desert, jungle and mountain environments, and
theres more to do: neutral monsters to avoid;
buildings full of pirates and mercenaries to hire;
and multiple paths for enemies to spawn. They
all look and sound superb, too, thanks to highquality cartoon-style graphics and lively sound.
The waves build in intensity and excitement,
and coins earned for defeating minions need to
be spent on upgrading towers mid-stage. Gems
earned for besting larger foes can be spent

in Frontiers store on spectacular one-time
bonuses. Frenetic moments can also be handled
by deploying your hero across the battlefield a
welcome tactic, because the games enemies
have been enhanced with several post-death
mutations and abilities.
Its with those heroes where the only real
issue with this game lies, though. A trio is
available from the start, and theyre all powerful
enough, but eight more have to be bought with
real cash and most are much cooler and
expensive. You have to pay $3 for a pirate who
throws explosive kegs, $5 for a big mystical
bloke to summon drones, and a mighty $8 for a
fire-breathing dragon.
Those expensive heroes only really impact on
aesthetics, though the default characters are
fine, and the rest of Kingdom Rush: Frontiers has
more than enough depth, challenge and variety
to keep keen players busy. Tower defence isnt
new, and this game doesnt break much new
ground, but its refined and varied enough to
keep us playing. Q
Lots of variety and more depth

than most rivals make this highquality tower defence game worth
playing despite the lack of any new
mechanics and the creeping scourge
of in-app payments.
+++++
Shadowrun Returns
Apped
Great graphics help the world

seem even more absorbing, and
the writing is top-notch, too
The morally dubious world of Seattle

in 2054 is the setting for the story
Turn-based combat is easy, although

youll often run into trouble
Shadowrun Returns
This classic crowdfunded RPG makes its mobile debut. Is it worth six of your nest pounds?
Price 6.52
Manufacturer
http://harebrained-schemes.com
Operating system
Android 4.0 and up
Size
366MB
THE GOOD:
Shadowrun has a rich world,
deep characters and great
writing, and its enhanced with
high-quality graphics and an
absorbing story. Its got a level
editor, too, so fans can craft their
own campaigns.
THE BAD:
The games moral options arent
fully explored, loading times
can be long, and its expensive
the campaign might last
twelve hours, but 6.52 is
expensive for a mobile title.
hadowruns journey to Android has

taken 20 years. The franchise started
life as a tabletop game, its first
videogame versions arrived on SNES and
Mega Drive, and fans were disappointed by
a multiplayer FPS version in 2007. This
version, borne from a Kickstarter campaign,
should please devotees of the franchise.
Theres no sign of FPS versions or unnecessary
experimentation this is a proper Shadowrun
game, and that means an RPG with an isometric
camera, lush graphics and an engrossing world.
Shadowrun is set in Seattle in 2054, and its an
intriguing blend of dystopian and magical
tropes. The former is handled by the run-down
electronic aesthetic, the grimy streets and seedy
characters, and the latter comes from the elves,
dwarves and orcs who feature alongside
humans as well as the magic you can deploy.
You can play as any of these races, but the
story stays the same. Youre a Shadowrunner
or thief whos been left a video message by
your deceased friend, and its up to you to find
the killer. Despite the RPG mechanics, it plays
like a noir-tinged detective story, and thats no
bad thing in the games morally dubious world.
Your character is an elite thief used to
operating outside of societys rules, and you
rarely meet an NPC without a dark side. The
writing helps, with great descriptions, a rich
world and deftly-written characters who ooze
personality despite the lack of voice acting and
minimal music used throughout.
Those characters can be chosen from a
variety of classes. Theres the usual mle classes
and those who specialise in ranged weapons,

but Deckers and Riggers add a little variety. The
former can hack computer systems, and the
latter can recruit robot drones to fight battles.
Characters can be improved with upgrades,
which ensure Shadowrun is never too difficult.
Its story takes centre stage through linear
point-and-click levels and turn-based combat.
The lack of challenge isnt a problem, but
Shadowrun does have some niggles. Progression
comes from karma points but theyre earned by
doing good deeds for people you meet on the
streets while many of these side quests come
with negative options, theres little incentive to
complete them without any reward offered.
Loading times are long, and we dont like the
autosave system wed rather be able to choose
when we save. We also experienced occasionally
jittery performance, even on our new Nexus 7.
Shadowrun includes one campaign that takes
about 12 hours, but it has one trick that few
mobile games manage: a level editor. Its an indepth kit that takes some getting used to but it
enables fans to create their own content. Q
A lavish, well written and absorbing

RPG that harks back to its decadesold roots, and its an absorbing
adventure through a unique
dystopian setting. But its expensive,
occasionally sluggish and too easy.
+++++
101
Apped
New Star
Soccer
1.99 Developer www.newstarsoccer.com
Size 19MB
moments have you trying to work out,

against the clock, the best thing to do at that
moment; passing improves camaraderie with
your teammates, but going for goal nets you
money as well as adoration from the fans. Of
course, mess these up and everyone starts to
hate you, and youll find yourself on the
bench wondering where it all went wrong.
Theres a couple of resources that you have
to manage in New Star Soccer. Money is the
first not only does it enable you to buy
stat-improving football boots and make you
attractive to potential girlfriends, but it also
enables you to buy a house, which affects
how quickly you get energy back after
games. And energy is that other important
stat. If you dont have enough energy to play,
your manager will be furious with you, or you
wont have enough energy to train to
improve your skills, which means you wont
perform so well on the pitch. Its a fine
balancing act, but it is possible to get it right,
and the rewards are incredible. Q
here are many ways of tackling the

funny old game, but New Star Soccer
comes at it from a completely
different angle. Akin to a roleplaying
game, you take on the role of a young
footballer rising through the ranks
fending off bribes to throw games (or
taking them), trying to guarantee a spot
in the squad, finding a girlfriend and
avoiding getting addicted to gambling.
Its a cunning way of representing the
nations favourite sport, and it works in
ways that no arcade footie simulator or
management sim has ever managed. Its
also incredibly compelling.
You do get the odd moment to kick a ball
about, but it isnt an arcade football game, so
you never get to play the whole 90 minutes
charging up and down the field chasing the
pigskin. Instead, you get brief highlights that
involve your star player intercepting a pass
from the opposition, setting up a pass to
your teammates and going for goal. These
A deceptively simple-looking
game that makes for a great slice
of entertainment regardless of
whether youre a football fan or
not. Be warned, though it is
very addictive.
+++++
Broken Sword:
Directors Cut
2.99 Developer www.revolution.co.uk
Size 539MB
oud think that point and click

adventures would be a sure -fire
winner on tablets, because their
high-resolution screens and touch
interfaces tick all the boxes youd need
for any conversion. Even so, very few
developers have actually made the jump
and ported their games across to tablets.
This is possibly because point and click
adventures are seen as an old-school art
form despite successes on Kickstarter
from the likes of Double Fine and Jane
Jenson. Luckily, Revolution Software has
defied traditional thinking and made its
much-loved Broken Sword series
available on the Google Play store, and
were thankful it has.
The original game may have been
launched way back in 1996, but even at the
time, it was held up as a great example of
the genre, rivalling even the LucasArts
catalogue. The artwork looked amazing
when it was released, and this remastered
102
version looks fabulous,

especially on highresolution screens. The
voice acting and music
also add to the general sense that here is a
game that was designed to last, and the fact
that it can stand up against much newer
games is testament to its writing and art
direction. The underlying Templar-themed
story lends great atmosphere to events, too.
Great atmosphere is one thing, but an
adventure game is ultimately made or
broken by its puzzles. Thankfully, the puzzles
in Broken Sword arent too obscure to be
frustrating, nor are they so obvious as to be
irrelevant. An almost perfect balance. You
will invariably get stuck, but like a cryptic
crossword puzzle, give the brain a little time
to think through the possibilities and youll
generally work out what you need to do
without much of a problem.
This isnt just a lazy port over to Android,
however, because the interface is logical and
works well, with icons helpfully highlighting

what you can interact with, and theres a
great use of space throughout. Some of the
animations can look a little low resolution,
but on the whole, this is a polished game,
which looks and plays like the classic it is. If
youre looking for something that is a cut
above the usual Android arcade fare, then
Broken Sword is sure to provide you with a lot
of enjoyment. Q
An absolutely classic point-andclick adventure that has been

brought bang up to date on the
latest hardware just in time to
show that theres plenty of life in
the genre still.
+++++
Apped
Grand Theft Auto:

Vice City
2.99 Developer www.rockstargames.com
Size 1.4GB
onsidered by many to be the finest

iteration of Grand Theft Auto so far,
Vice City manages to pull all of the
gritty brilliance of the series into the
stylish atmosphere of the 1980s. Its rare
that you would consider buying a game
for the soundtrack alone, but thats as
reasonable a reason as any to drop 3 on
this brilliant game. Whether youre
looking to complete the long main
story arc, spend your time doing the
various side quests, or just drive around
Vice City taking in its many varied sights,
theres a lot to love about this conversion
to Android.
Rockstar hasnt simply ported across the
code from the original game either it has
specifically optimised the graphics for
Android devices, and it really shows. The
polygon count may be a little low when you
zoom in right up close, but most of the time
youll be skidding around the city streets,
taking in the super-smooth frame rates and
enjoying the vibrant

locations as you go.
Theres plenty of control
over the visuals if your
Android tablet isnt particularly powerful,
as well.
The controls work reasonably well, too,
with the bottom left-hand corner of the
screen controlling movement, leaving the
rest of the screen to control what youre
looking at. The bottom right-hand corner is
context-sensitive according to what is near
you for instance, get close enough to a car,
and the option of getting into the vehicle
pops up on screen. We would recommend
using a joypad if youre looking to seriously
get into the game, but theres nothing to
stop you completing it using only the
on-screen controls.
The actual story line and main thrust of
the game is brilliant with plenty of
variation to the missions, and a great range
of different areas to explore. Its worth noting
that this isnt a game for under-18s, but if

youre old enough to enjoy it for its tonguein-cheek humour, retro-styling and playful
pokes at societys underside, then theres a
lot to enjoy here. Speaking of which, youll
need to set aside a fair chunk of your tablets
storage to make room for Vice City at a
whopping 1.4GB, its one of the biggest
games around. Q
A beautiful example of what is

possible with tablet gaming,
provided that enough care and
attention goes into the port. Vice
City is every bit as beautiful as it is
sonically stunning.
+++++
Football Manager
Handheld 2013
4.99 Developer www.sigames.com
Size 23MB
here are few genres as likely to

polarise gamers as much as football
management games, and this
handheld version of the ever-popular
Sports Interactive title isnt about to
change that view. If youve never really
got into Football Manager before, then
theres going to be little here to woo you
into a game that has provided so many
hours of entertainment for so many
people. Its a game designed primarily
for existing fans, so that they can play
easily from the comfort of the sofa, out
on the road or in those really long boring
meetings where half the people are
asleep anyway.
Football Manager Handheld 2013 enables
you to take control of a club of your choice
and then guide them to greatness, or
financial ruin. The handheld version includes
playable team information from 14 different
countries, and includes lower league teams
as well as the big-name superstars. Once
youve picked your side,

the rest is completely up
to you. This includes
picking the best
formations for your squad (you can also
create your own from scratch if you prefer),
arranging player transfers, training and
tactics, as well as working with the board to
improve the ground or borrow more money
for new signings.
The main reason to buy FMH 2013 is for
the career mode, which is a long, long game
that will suck up many, many hours of your
free time. If youre looking for something a
little more instantly rewarding, then the
Challenge mode should be of interest. This
places you in charge of a struggling team,
with the goal of turning things around in a
relatively short time frame. The challenges
on offer range from helping a team avoid
relegation through to not being sacked by
the end of the season. Some of these
challenges are paid-for extras, which seems a
bit extortionate given the relatively high

price tag of FMH 2013 in the first place, but
they are welcome additions for more
experienced managers.
Football Manager Handheld 2013 is a game
of incredible depth, which really shows how
powerful tablets are. True, this isnt as
in-depth as its desktop counterpart, but the
game is actually a bit more accessible for
that as well. Q
Perhaps not the prettiest game

youll ever install on your tablet,
but the depth and richness on offer
here is beautiful to behold all the
same. Would-be managers need
look no further.
+++++
103
Apped
Minecraft - Pocket
Edition
4.99 Developer http://mojang.com
Size 29MB
inecraft is one of those rare

success stories that has seen it
transcend its humble origins to
become a global phenomenon. Its has
achieved superstar status, there is a
South Park episode dedicated to it, and
it even has its own merchandising
(including a Lego set and foam
weapons). This is the little game that
took on the big guys and redefined the
market. And all because its such a great
little idea in the first place.
Core to the game is its distinct graphical
styling. Minecrafts simplistic style may put
some people off, but once you realise how
pivotal its blocky world is to the game, and
how much control you have over your
environment, it all begins to make sense. This
is a game where you can entirely change the
landscape, create incredible structures, build
a castle to live in and a moat to protect you
from the denizens of the night, and a farm to
help keep hunger at bay. Its a game that
gives you full control over

the world around you and
has produced some
breathtaking designs in
the process.
One of the most compelling ways of
playing Minecraft is in Survival mode. Here
you must fight to survive, ensuring you have
enough food to prevent you from starving to
death, while also protecting your home from
monsters. You can dig out complex mines to
search for ores, and then craft weapons,
armour and upgrades from those resources.
You can spend your time trying to scratch
together a living while fighting off skeletons,
zombies and the terrifyingly-silent creepers,
which can undo all your hard work, or
choose to head out and hunt for glory and
experience. Minecraft offers players a truly
sandbox world in which you can set your
own goals and achievements.
The interface is a little different from the
PC and Xbox 360 versions, because it boasts
a dedicated crafting screen as opposed to

the original system, which encouraged
experimentation, but this system does seem
to work better on a touch device. Minecraft
Pocket Edition carries over much of what
made the original game such a success, e
well, with both Survival and Creative modes
on offer, as well as support for multiplayer
over Wi-Fi. Q
Its easy to see why Minecraft has

made it to the top of the sales
charts on Google Play, and with
more updates, we can only see this
game getting better and better
over time.
+++++
Rayman
Jungle Run
1.99 Developer www.ubisoft.com
Size 296MB
ayman Jungle Run is a platform

game but it isnt your usual
run-of-the-mill platformer. Its
actually more of an exercise in
perfection. Its about getting from A to B
faultlessly collecting all of the Lums on
a level without dropping down that hole,
or missing that jump, or bouncing off
that pad in the wrong direction. Its all
brilliantly balanced as well; the game is
challenging without being overly
frustrating. If you mess up a level, you
know that youve only got yourself to
blame its not because the game is
being unfair. At least not at the
beginning, because it certainly becomes
trickier the further you progress through
the levels.
The interesting gimmick with Rayman
Jungle Run is that you dont have the usual
complicated gamepad controller to wrestle
with. Instead you have a single button to jab
to make our hero jump, or hold down to
104
make him fly. Later on

you also gain the ability
to punch, but for the
most part this is a game
about jumping at just the right moment.
Rayman runs from left to right all by himself,
or from right to left, and your task is simply
to tell him when to jump or fly. You would
think that such a restriction would make for
a singularly unexciting experience, and so it
would if the level design wasnt as brilliant as
it is here.
Hitting jump at just the right point isnt
always as easy as it seems especially
because the landscape youre running
through has a tendency to move and warp
around you as you move. But more
importantly, collecting all of the Lums on
each level is really tough, and as the finish
line races in to view, youll know exactly
where youve gone wrong or where there
may be another little collection of Lums
waiting to be collected. The hints are there
to follow, but executing everything at

just the right moment is where the real
challenge comes in.
Rayman Jungle Run also boasts some truly
beautiful graphics. This game simply looks
delightful, and there many great little
touches that make it a real pleasure to play.
The sound is suitably zany, too, and the
overall polished production is a real credit to
its developers. Q
A great little platformer that will

have you coming back for more.
Completing levels is easy, but
doing it perfectly? Now that takes
real skill, and it feels great when
you nail it.
+++++
Apped
Osmos HD
1.87 Developer www.hemispheregames.com
Size 63MB
part from Angry Birds, Fruit Ninja

and a handful of exceptions,
there are very few games that
really make the most of the interface
possibilities offered by tablets. The vast
majority of games simply superimpose a
traditional joypad configuration on to
the screen and then leave you to your
own devices. There are a few games,
however, that take the numerous
challenges of working with tablets and
transform them into something truly
amazing. Osmos HD is a great example
of such a game, because it not only
provides a brilliant way of interacting
with whats going on, but it also
produces a truly beautiful game in
the process.
In Osmos HD you control a spherical
organism, a so-called mote, which has a
pulsating, swirling heart. Your goal is to
become bigger than everything else in your
immediate universe by absorbing the other
motes around you. You

move through your
environment by ejecting
small blobs of matter
away from you, which makes you slightly
smaller, but does give you momentum.
Enough momentum to catch up with those
other motes and absorb them. There is a
catch, though you can only absorb motes
that are smaller than yourself. If theyre
bigger than you, youll get absorbed by
them. And thats it.
In essence, Osmos is a simple physicsbased puzzle. Its the execution that brings it
to life. The graphics are delightful, the
chilled-out electronic music is brilliant and
accompanies the proceedings perfectly, and
the controls are spot on. In fact, its the way
you interact with your mote that makes this
work on a tablet on some levels you can
only advance by nuanced interactions with
the other motes, pushing them away with
your stream of ejected particles, while
absorbing and being partially absorbed by

motes to get through tight gaps.
Osmos HD is easy enough to pick up and
understand, but its far harder to master. This
is the sort of game that you can slide in front
of anyone without any introduction and
theyll soon be enjoying its delights, but it
will still have you going back to it long after
youve completed the main challenges. Q
A beautiful game. Great graphics,

perfect soundtrack and an intuitive
interface all wrapped up in a
physics puzzle that reveals hints at
the games subtlety the more you
play it.
+++++
Virtua
Tennis
4.02 Developer www.sega.co.uk
Size 384MB
ost tablet games are really easy.

They introduce new concepts
slowly, and only get tougher
after several hours of continued play. But
this isnt a criticism that could be levelled
at Virtua Tennis. This game is hard. Clay
court hard. Right from the beginning,
youre going to be battling not with the
subtleties of tennis strategy, but with
just trying to return the ball. Winning a
point, let alone a set or even a match,
feels like a genuine achievement.
Persevere, however, and youll see why
this has become one of the most popular
downloads on Google Play its a
genuinely great game.
Part of the reason for the difficulty in Virtua
Tennis is the inherent complexity of the
control mechanism. First you need to tap the
screen where you want your player to run to,
and then you have to swipe according to the
sort of stroke you want to play. It seems
simple enough, but in practice the subtle
timing differences
between those two
gestures can mean you
dont make the stroke you
want, but instead run to the other side of the
tennis court. The trick, of course, is getting
the timing right you need to get your
position correct before your opponent even
hits the ball, and then swipe as soon as their
racquet makes contact. There are four
different control methods in total including
more traditional gamepad types overlaid on
the screen but if you can master the
default method, it does pay off, resulting in
addictive gameplay.
You can dive straight in and enjoy a quick
match, which is great if youre pushed for
time and just want to enjoy a little tennis,
but the real meat of the game is the career
mode. Here you can set up your player
exactly as you want, attract sponsorship
deals and compete in the SPT World Tour.
Each championship costs money to take
part in, but once youve got your game face

on, you should be making a lot more money
from these tournaments than it costs to
enter them. The matches themselves can
take a long time, and theres no way of
saving your progress mid-game, which is a
shame, but it does work well overall. The
graphics are brilliant, too, which makes it
easy to keep playing. Q
A tough game to get into, but

one thats even tougher to put
down once you do work out the
subtleties of the control and
timing. It looks and sounds
brilliant, too.
+++++
105
Apped
Health round-up
Runtastic Pro
4.99 Manufacturer www.runtastic.com
Includes Fully featured GPS-based running app with Google Earth integration,
music, vocal coaching during runs, auto pausing, and much more
erious about getting in shape but

dont want to spend a small fortune
on an expensive gym membership?
You can still pound the local pavements
with everyone from serious runners to
new mums looking to lose a few postnatal pounds.
While thousands of people get fit like this
every year, only you can make it happen.
Runtastic is designed to be with you every
step (pun intended) of the way. Rather than
just logging your progress from asthmatic
stroller to budding Olympian, it uses your
smartphones GPS receiver to provide you
with all kinds of useful information and
feedback as you go.
Along with duration and distance travelled,
Runtastic gives your speed, pace and
elevation, and calculates how many calories
youre burning as you go. If you also have
Google Earth installed, you can track your
progress in real time.
As you complete your circuit, you can
distract yourself with music. However, if you
begin to tire on the way around, you can
instantly bring up your so-called power song

to give you a boost.
The history of your sessions is logged and
graphed, and you can easily compare your
progress over the weeks. More than anything,
this proof that youre getting fitter will keep
you on track. The route taken on each session
is also colour coded, with slower sections
being green. This is a useful insight, because
it means you can try harder on those sections
to extract more benefit from them.
In the paid Pro version, voice feedback
linked to your real-time progress motivates
you to keep going and to push harder. You
can also receive live cheering over social
networks to keep up your enthusiasm. Whats
more, if you stop to tie a shoelace, the
session pauses and automatically resumes. If
this doesnt keep you going, what will?
Of course, you dont have to run to get a
lot from this app. Cycling or even walking,
especially when carrying shopping, is also a
workout. Dump the car and walk to the
supermarket twice in a week, and you may
be surprised at the result. Q
The de facto running app, and

for good reason. Plenty of realtime features and motivational
feedback, with some clever
touches such as the power
song to keep you from flagging.
+++++
Accupedo Pedometer
Free Manufacturer www.accupedo.com
Includes Simple pedometer measuring steps, calories burned, and time taken;
shows progress through daily target, and graphs results over different time frames.
f youre not into full-on exercise, or

health concerns mean that you cant
undertake strenuous activity, theres
still a lot to be gained from getting into
the habit of walking.
You can listen to audio books, take your
mind off the hook, and chill out on a good
long walk. Done regularly, its surprising the
amount of energy you can walk off. We
personally know someone who lost four
stone in weight by religiously walking just
three miles a day. Thats 1,000 miles over the
course of a year.
Accupedo Pedometer is a fully featured
pedometer that uses the onboard
accelerometers of your smartphone, and
aims to help you understand how far you
walk each day and the energy you expend as
you do so. The premise is very simple, but
surprisingly effective.
Enter your weight, your stride while
walking and your stride while running;
keep your phone in your pocket and the
pedometer records each step for you. At the
start of each day, punch in the new date and
114
continue. Youll need to use a tape measure

to get an accurate measure of your stride
length, however.
Theres a generally accepted rule of thumb
that you should walk about 10,000 steps a
day, and this is the number that the app
helps you work towards. Bear in mind thats
10,000 steps in total, so everything counts.
Keep your smartphone on you at all times
and every single step will be counted. As you
go, a progress bar at the top of the screen
shows you the percentage of the daily target
youve achieved.
The app can differentiate between a
walking step and a running one, and then
adjust the distance and energy expenditure
accordingly, so if you feel like a quick jog, or
you run for the bus, theres no extra setting
up to do.
You can graph the number of steps you
take each week, month and even year. Keep
it up, and youre sure to gradually get in trim.
What better excuse do you need to
download a few good audio books and lose
yourself in a good daily walk? Q
A simple app for a simple task, but

one that could get you off the
couch when you have nothing to
do and out into the fresh air for
something thats a little healthier
and better for you.
+++++
Health round-up
Apped
MyFitnessPal Calorie Counter

Free Manufacturer www.myfitnesspal.com
Includes Calorie counter with barcode scanner for easy entry of foods; daily calorie
targets and graphs of overall energy consumption
at yself fitter! So sang The Fall, 30

years ago, when middle-aged men
like us were, well, a lot fitter. And
thinner. Now safely into the heart disease
and type two diabetes zone, its time to
start eating sensibly, but how?
One idea is to make a note of everything
you eat and count up the calories your food
contains. The problem with this is
remembering to do the actual counting,
which is very boring and prone to major
errors in both calories counted and quantities
consumed.
Most packaged foods have unique
barcodes, so why not just scan them and
look up their official figures in an online
database with, say, two million entries?
This is where MyFitnessPal comes in.
After you open a free account in the app,
you need to enter your current and target
weights, your height and date of birth. The
app then makes a quick calculation of how
many calories you need to eat per day to get
to your target weight in a healthy period of
time. The rest is up you and your honesty. As
you eat, you simply select whether the food

is for breakfast, lunch, dinner or a snack. Then
you scan its barcode, and thats about it. The
database is detailed enough to enable you to
enter the number of slices of bread, eggs,
pieces of chocolate, and so on. Each scan
also produces a detailed breakdown of
exactly whats in that particular item of food.
Its a real eye-opener simply to scan the
contents of your cupboards and fridge to
see where all those hidden sugars and fats
are lurking.
The app gives you a running total of how
many calories youve eaten so far that day.
This tends to make you pace yourself from
breakfast to bedtime. With a little care, rather
than eating less, you naturally begin making
healthier choices about what goes into your
pie hole.
Where the app really comes into its own is
when you complete about a weeks worth of
data. Seeing your progress charted shows
that knowledge really is power when it
comes to sticking to your diet and getting to
your target weight. Q
A really interesting and easy

insight into what you eat. Barcode
scanning makes this app a breeze
to use, and the automatic calorie
calculations keep you honest and
on track.
+++++
SleepBot
Free Manufacturer www.mysleepbot.com
Includes Comprehensive and highly configurable sleep monitoring, including the
ability to pre-empt your alarm if it will help you wake refreshed
any sources claim that getting

enough good quality sleep is as
important to our overall
wellbeing as regular exercise and a
balanced diet. The problem is that youre
in no position to monitor whats
happening while you snooze.
SleepBot aims to change all that by
producing real insights into your nocturnal
habits. It uses your smartphones
accelerometers and some clever thinking to
monitor your movements during each sleep
cycle. These last around 90 minutes each and
consist of you falling through light sleep, into
deep sleep, and back up into REM sleep.
At the end of a sleep cycle, you tend to
shift position in bed, and SleepBot uses the
movement transmitted through your
mattress to your smartphone to plot your
sleep cycles. If your alarm clock wakes you
up at the wrong point in a sleep cycle,
you will probably feel groggy, risk
oversleeping, or even have an accident due
to inattentiveness. Because of this, SleepBot
can be programmed to wake you near the
end of the cycle before your alarm goes off.

Paradoxically, youll feel more awake.
Whats more, the app can remind you of
the best time to go to sleep based on your
nocturnal habits and projected wake-up
time, guaranteeing you get the most benefit
out of the night.
If you suspect you talk or snore in your
sleep, you can even set SleepBot to begin
recording if nocturnal sound reaches a
certain level. This could provide you with a
fascinating insight into the bizarre world of
your dreams.
The app also has extensive help and advice
about getting a good nights sleep. It covers
what to eat, how to prepare your bedroom,
and loads of quick strategies for dropping off.
It also has a section on staying awake should
you need to do the reverse.
Finally, there are many options to tailor
the app to your particular needs. You can
set the time you believe it takes you to drop
off, for example, so that this is taken into
consideration when calculating the best time
to wake you. Q
A very clever app with a lot of

useful settings that really can
help you gain a better nights
sleep, and also ensure that you
wake up every morning feeling
genuinely refreshed.
+++++
113
Apped
Emulator round-up
GENPLUSDroid
Free Manufacturer www.sandstormgames.ca
Includes Sega Mega Drive, Genesis and Master System emulators,
with rewind and auto-save
o you miss the good old gaming

days of the Sega Mega Drive,
Genesis and Master System
consoles? If you do, youll find that the
GENPLUSDroid emulator by Halsafar is
well worth downloading from the
Google Play store. Wallowing in
nostalgia is just a few clicks away.
While this emulator is ad-supported,
enabling the developer to give it away for
nothing, the adverts only appear in the
emulators menu system and never in the
game itself, which is a nice concession to
gameplay, and means you dont get
distracted from your entertainment. As with
all the other emulators reviewed in this
round-up, though, you have to download
your own ROM images and store them on
your Nexus phone or tablet before use. The
easiest way of doing this is to connect the
Nexus to your PC, mount the hard disk or SD
card, and then drag and drop them to a
handy directory.
The overall gameplay provided by this
emulator is as smooth and as fast as youd
expect in a frenetic game such as Sonic,
where theres a lot

happening on-screen at
once. However, during
times of heavy CPU
usage, there is necessarily
a lot of audio crackling,
which can be reduced
somewhat by increasing the number of
animation frames skipped. You can also
stretch the audio samples by up to 10 per
cent of their original length. A note on the
settings screen suggests this as a possible
solution, but in practice, it can slow the
samples to the point where they sound
distinctly weird.
If you really know your computer graphics,
you can try downloading and installing
alternative shaders to improve performance,
but this is strictly recommended for the
expert user only.
Because this is an emulator rather than the
real hardware, like so many other emulators,
GENPLUSDroid supports real-time rewinding
and fast-forwarding of the running game.
This is a real boon if you are stuck and have
to keep trying alternative actions to get past
a point. The emulator also auto-saves your

game should the phone ring.
The developer promises haptic (vibration)
feedback and native Bluetooth gamepad
support in coming versions, as well as
stereoscopic 3D support where appropriate.
However, seeing as the current version was
last updated in 2012, dont hold your breath
for these innovations. Q
A pretty good implementation of

the Sega Mega Drive, with plenty
of ROMs to be found online.
However, lower powered hardware
might struggle to maintain
graphics and audio performance.
+++++
SuperN64
Free Manufacturer Marcos Santiago (no website)
Includes An advanced emulator with dynamic recompilation and lots of system
settings to help you get the best performance from your hardware
n its release back in the midnineties, the Nintendo 64 caused a

sensation because of its high
performance 64-bit architecture and
ultra-smooth graphics. The only problem
was a lack of games that you could play
on the machine. In all, fewer than 400
games were produced and ported from
other platforms during the consoles
short life.
Any emulator attempting to imitate such a
monster piece of kit is going to have its work
cut out. Emulators are interpreters of
hardware, so they need to boast far more
power to match the original. A real Colossus
computer would be able to crack the
Enigma code faster than a PC-based
Colossus emulator, for example.
Such is the problem faced by SuperN64
and other emulators. A title such as Legend of
Zelda: Ocarina of Time is graphically a very
busy game with lots going on. Because of
this, the graphics tend to suffer. If youre
using default settings, theres a tendency for
the shaders to give up on large parts of the
screen, especially on indoor locations. To
114
help rectify the situation,

you can switch off alpha
and depth testing in the
video settings, and this
may improve things with
some titles, but we
certainly still found some
flickering even with just about every
graphics option set for minimum CPU
overhead. Perhaps on faster hardware it
would be better, but definitely not on a
dual-core Sony Xperia.
The other problem we found is that the
sound tends to glitch on some games, as
well, regardless of the settings you use. This
is a minor problem in some games; after all
who wants to keep on hearing that
annoying flute music in Zelda when you
have your own music collection or a service
such as Spotify to provide the soundtrack to
your day? But in games such as F1 World
Grand Prix, engine sounds tell you how fast
youre going and are an essential tool in
helping you play.
Some games do play perfectly well,
however. Back in the late 1990s, for example,
some of us spent far too long playing and

being badly beaten at Forsaken 64 even in
two-player mode. The smooth first-person
shooter gameplay and artificial intelligence
were a breakthrough at the time and really
showed what the hardware could do.
Interestingly, SuperN64 plays this game
perfectly, even if the on-screen controls are a
bit fiddly. We may be some time Q
An efficient implementation of a
powerful 64-bit console that has
surprisingly high performance. The
usual problems of audio glitches
shouldnt detract from the retro
gaming fun to be had.
+++++
Emulator round-up
Apped
Snes9X EX+
Free Manufacturer www.explusalpha.com
Includes Very fast emulator with glitch-free audio, Bluetooth controller recognition,
graphics benchmarking, and process priority setting
eleased way back in 1990, the

Super Nintendo Entertainment
System or SNES was the
undisputed king of the 16-bit consoles,
and was only discontinued in Japan as
late as 2003, well into the era of consoles
with far greater power and capacity. Fun,
it seems, doesnt necessarily involve
hyper-realistic graphics and gameplay.
Because of the SNESs success, theres a
huge number of titles to explore using
this emulator.
However, as weve seen elsewhere in this
round-up, one problem shared by Android
console emulators is the quality of the audio
they produce. Even at reduced bit rates,
most emulators spend so many CPU cycles
keeping up with the gameplay that the
audio has to suffer. In some cases, its better
to simply do without sound altogether. Not
so with the Snes9X EX+ emulator. The audio
in this case, even at 44KHz, is both smooth
and crystal clear as are the graphics, for
that matter.
This emulator is also fast very fast. The
set-up screens are fast, and the gameplay is
fast. You can even set the

priority of the emulator
process in cases where it
requires greater CPU time.
This is also the only
emulator tested here that
can benchmark a game
to find its maximum frame rate. Simply select
Benchmark Game along with a ROM image,
and in a few seconds youll know exactly
how it will perform. Super Metroid, for
example, benchmarks at a blistering 117
frames per second. And thats without the
audio stuttering.
The emulator also comes with Bluetooth
support, and can scan for Wiimotes iCP and
JS1 controllers. This makes it especially
usable if you find the on-screen virtual
controls difficult to master. As with other
Android console emulators, vibration
feedback from the on-screen controls would
also be a plus.
There are some other very nice touches
that show how much thought has gone into
producing the best possible gaming
experience. The OS navigation bar, which
displays the time, battery level and so on,

can be either dimmed or hidden on
demand, for example. If you un-focus the
app, perhaps if your phone rings, for
instance, it automatically pauses. You can
also activate an on-screen pause icon. These
finishing touches point to the development
team being hardcore gamers as well as
top-flight coders. Q
Slick, fast, with a straightforward

interface. The gameplay and sound
are glitch-free and smooth, and
theres good Bluetooth controller
support. Clearly an emulator that
should thrive.
+++++
RetroArch
Free Manufacturer http://libretro.com
Includes An advanced multi-emulator system supporting
multiple platforms and individual games
etroArch is a very complete and

well-developed system for running
a wide range of specially written
emulator cores. Some are designed to
emulate complete games consoles, while
others exist simply to run individual
games. All the major bases are covered,
so if you have a soft spot for a favourite
console, an emulator for it is probably
included here.
Frustratingly, RetroArch is not currently
available from the Google Play store. Instead,
it must be obtained directly from the
website of its developer, Libretro (http://
libretro.com). After ensuring that you can
install things from unknown sources in your
devices system settings, just click on the
Android icon and then select your particular
devices architecture.
On first running RetroArch, the software
attempts to optimise itself for the best
gameplay experience. How seamless that
experience is ultimately depends on the
power of your hardware.
After downloading an ISO or ROM image
for the game that you want to play, clicking
Load Game invites you to

load it by first selecting a
core in which to run it.
This can be a little
confusing to begin
with, because they all
have their own names,
which dont necessarily bear much relation
to the name of the console they emulate.
Mednafen VB is a Nintendo GameBoy
emulator, for example.
As mentioned above, some of the
available cores are designed just to run an
individual game. PrBoom, for example, is
designed just to run Doom, while TyrQuake
runs Quake 1 and nothing else. The overall
range of emulator cores is, however,
incredibly wide. Theres even one core thats
for running Atari 2600 games from over 35
years ago.
In use, the graphics are usually very
smooth, but as with many emulator systems,
the audio can glitch quite a bit while playing
the later, more CPU-intensive games.
RetroArch also supports rewinding a
game, so you can have another go if you
make a mistake, which is great if you find

your fingers arent quite so nimble as they
used to be. Because the software is actively
developed, theres also an online user
community with its own active forum on the
Libretro website. This is the best place to
watch for announcements about new cores
and updates to RetroArch itself, as well as for
finding help to get troublesome games
running smoothly. Q
An active and growing system of

emulator cores (including specialist
cores designed to run individual
games) means that RetroArch
looks set to become the de facto
standard for Android retro gaming.
+++++
115
Apped
Kids apps round-up
Doodle Toy
Kids Draw Paint
Free Manufacturer www.doodletoy.com
Includes A surprisingly comprehensive
drawing package
nother ad-supported offering,

easily rectified by aeroplane mode,
Doodle Toy is an art app with some
really fun features and a rich set of tools.
Though the example pictures in Google
Play are mostly of people, what Doodle
Toy excels at is creating imaginative,
colourful patterns and doodles.
As well as enabling your child to have fun
drawing with their finger, the range of more
creative tools is impressive for a free app, and
theyre mostly geared towards producing
visually interesting results with little effort.
Several symmetry tools enable even a very
small child to produce some clever patterns.
To practise drawing and to give young
ones inspiration, you can load a background
on to the screen to colour in. This can even
be a picture taken by the onboard camera,
giving the app far more scope and making it
ideal for keeping small people quiet.
Beyond the basics, there are interesting
brush effects including blurring, embossing
(giving a kind of 3D look) and two different

types of neon glow modes.
All-important in the pursuit of a
masterpiece are the undo, redo and clear
buttons. Theres also an absorbing
kaleidoscope mode, which responds to
screen touch and drag, and the movement of
the device if you have an accelerometer. This
would be interesting on a car journey, as the
pattern will keep changing and evolving.
Line width and other parameters, such as
audio feedback whenever you complete a
mark, can all be controlled from the settings.
Finally, once a masterpiece is complete,
there are options for proud parents to post it
to their Facebook timeline, send it via MMS to
another phone, email it, or save it to the
gallery. You can also share it with other apps
that can receive such images.
All in all, a fun and simple app with some
surprisingly advanced features lurking
behind the buttons, which should keep
young fingers occupied for hours. Q
An absorbing educational art app

with a surprisingly rich set of tools
that are especially good at letting
very young children create
interesting pictures from basically
random marks.
+++++
CBeebies
Playtime
Free Manufacturer www.bbc.co.uk/cbeebies/
Includes Alphablocks, Octonauts, Tree Fu Tom Chuckleberry Chase, and Something
Special Paint Pop
he BBCs CBeebies app offers four

educational games Alphablocks,
Octonauts, Tree Fu Tom and
Something Special which cover a range
of ages. And as youd expect with an
official CBeebies app, the quality of the
games is very high.
To begin with, you enter the names of up
to four different children, so that their
progress can be stored (they win CBeebies
Bugs by completing each game). You then
select a shape and pattern for a balloon,
which takes you to the main menu. Cleverly,
you can also take a photograph of your child
to put on the balloon using your devices
onboard camera.
Interacting with a mobile computing
device has become a key skill for kids to
master nowadays, and the games
themselves teach the gamut of interaction
styles, from clicking and dragging objects
to tilting the device to control directions.
Because this sort of interaction is so intuitive,
116
your children are sure to

take to it quickly.
Something Special
Paint Pop is a clicking
game, where a white object appears and a
series of colourful soap bubbles begins to
rise. The idea is to pop them and splatter the
object. Great fun!
Alphablocks, meanwhile, is a spelling
game involving dragging letters to spell the
name of an object. It begins easily enough
with three-letter words, and then goes up to
five letters.
Next, Octonauts is a more involved,
environmentally themed game, which sees
the player help one of four marine creatures.
For example, Sandy the leatherback turtle
needs to get to a cleaning station so that
pilot fish can eat the algae on her shell.
Finally, in Tree Fu Tom Chuckleberry Chase,
its harvest time, but a gang of mushrooms
has stolen all the berries. You have to chase
their truck along a country road and collect
the berries as they fall off. This is surprisingly

challenging but also good, frenetic fun,
which helps develop quick reactions.
On our Xperia U and Android tablet, the
graphics in a couple of the games came out
as black blocks. We cured this by rotating the
screen or rebooting. It may seem like a minor
point, but one that detracts from an
otherwise very well thought-out package. Q
As youd expect from CBeebies, a

good selection of fun games,
covering a range of ages, which
teach or develop important skills
as well as how to interact with
mobile devices.
+++++
Kids apps round-up
Apped
Educational
Games for Kids
Free Manufacturer www.facebook.com/zodinplexsoft
Includes Basic tuition for children of reception class age in letters,
numbers, colours and shapes
ducational Games for Kids is a fairly

basic learning app that runs
through letters, numbers, colours
and shapes. The app itself is aimed
squarely at kids who are just starting
school, or are at pre-school, and provides
basic tuition in the four categories
above. It doesnt contain any games as
such, just sequences of the four
categories and the sounds of the words
or concepts for each.
Take, for example, the letters section. Each
has an on-screen picture to illustrate the
name of something beginning with a
specific letter, as well as the spelling of the
object. Unfortunately, the app is also
American and has no British mode, so colour
is spelt color and the last letter of the
alphabet is spoken as zee rather than zed,
which could be a little confusing.
It is also ad-supported, which isnt ideal if
you plan to let your little ones play with the
app on their own. However, switching to
airplane mode before you

run an ad-supported app
usually suppresses the
adverts, and this is the
case here. Just remember to switch it off
again afterwards.
Compared with some educational apps
weve seen for children, this really is very
bare bones. Each of the four categories to
learn is simply a list, which you can go
through. The big problem is that the
audience at which it is aimed usually begins
learning letters using a phonetical system, so
they tend to learn the lower case sounds
first. However, the letters section of this app
has audio clips that only spell out the
capitalised versions. This may make it more
difficult or confusing for children just starting
to learn their letters, because these sounds
will still be unfamiliar.
Perhaps the most advanced section of this
app is the shapes part. Along with the usual
simpler shapes, such as square and circle, are
more advanced ones, such as hexagon,

pentagon, octagon and arrow.
Other than that, if your child responds
better to learning letters and numbers in
sequence and some do, despite the bells
and whistles of modern educational
techniques this app will still find its uses, as
well as giving your little ones a head start
with learning their capital letters. Q
A somewhat basic educational

app, which would do well to be
released in a UK form including
British voices and with lower case
letter sounds instead of their upper
case versions.
+++++
Kids Math
by Mobiloids
Free Manufacturer www.mobiloids.com
Includes Introductory maths tuition in five categories
against the clock
n the face of it, Kids Math is a simple

app to help kids with their mental
arithmetic by presenting them with
lots of random problems. But theres an
ingenious twist its against the clock.
When kids can become flustered if
someone is watching them, having this app
available for some quiet, private practice
could give them significant mathematical
confidence. You can select from five areas of
arithmetic, which cover all the basics. These
give your child the chance to practise how
the different laws of operator precedence
work. You solve the multiplication parts of a
problem before completing the parts dealing
with addition and subtraction, and so on.
Each game is presented on a chalkboard,
along with four possible answers and a clock
that begins counting down from 45 seconds.
With each correct answer, the score increases
and so does the time. As you answer, a
female voice offers encouragement. After a
series of correct answers, she announces that
youve levelled up and things become

slightly more difficult.
You can disable the timer, but this also
disables your score. Frankly, its more fun to
have the timer on. Whats really good is that
you can see how much faster your mental
arithmetic is becoming from your score and
the time you gain from correct answers.
Some questions require a surprisingly
intuitive grasp of which operations should be
done first to arrive at the answer, and the fact
that youre up against the clock makes the
sense of achievement all the better.
Learning basic arithmetic can be dull, but
this app turns it into a surprising amount of
fun. Adults should be at ease with simple
arithmetic, but even we answered a couple
of the mixed operation questions incorrectly
due to basic assumptions. Well played.
The only real demerits are that the app is
ad-supported (put the tablet in airplane
mode to remove them) and youre
occasionally asked to rate it. Q
A simple app that makes learning

and practising mental arithmetic
entertaining by setting it against
the clock. The time mechanism
gives direct feedback on how
much your skill is improving.
+++++
117
Rated
120
Welcome
Welcome
Rated
Rated
HTC One
68
The phone with laptop-rivalling specs
Samsung Galaxy S4
70
Another winning phone from Samsung
The innovative S Pen returns
72

74
Does this mark a return to form for Sony?
Asus Memo Pad HD 7
The Nexus collaborators own tablet
76
Tesco Hudl
77
A budget tab from the supermarket chain
Nook HD+
The new tablet from Barnes & Noble
78

79
Can Samsung wow us with tablets, too?
121
Rated
HTC One
HTC One
With laptop-rivalling specications, the HTC One is bound to be a powerful beast
Price 480 / $649
Manufacturer
HTC
Operating system
Android 4.2.2
Screen
1,920 x 1,080
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon 600
1.7GHz quad-core
RAM
2GB
Storage
16/32GB
Cameras
4MP (Ultrapixel)/2MP
Battery
2,300mAh
Video
1080p
Connectivity
Micro USB, Bluetooth
Sound
3.5mm headphone
DIMENSIONS
Height
137.4mm
Width
68.2mm
Depth
9.3mm
Screen
4.7-inch
Weight
143g
THE GOOD
Great design
Sleek Sense
Innovative camera
THE BAD
No memory card slot
Zoe (automatic capturing of up
to 20 photos and a 3-second
video) fills up storage
Alarm too simple
134
aunching a smartphone against Apples

and Samsungs finest isnt easy, but
HTC has shown the opposition how its
done. The HTC One combines stunning
design, a supreme screen and explosive
power to offer one of the best phones ever.
From the moment you pick this all-aluminium
handset up, the quality is in no doubt. Take one
look at the full HD 4.7-inch screen and its 468ppi
resolution and youll be sold. The screen is
something to behold, even if the willy-waving
resolution is well above whats needed for the
eye to discern.
Under the gorgeous screen is a CPU and RAM
combo that is barely bettered, a more-thanenough 32GB of storage and top-end Bluetooth,
Wi-Fi and 3G/4G connections, all topped off by a
completely re-imagined version of HTC Sense.
Whats not to like?
Peachy pricing
Its at the sharp end of the smartphone price
scale, although it can be had for around 34 per
month on a two-year deal in the UK, which isnt
too bad compared to the competition. On a
SIM-free deal, its actually very impressive: 480
for the phone without having to monkey about
with a network. Given its over 100 more to get
it on a PAYG deal, thats not bad at all.
Pick up the HTC One, and youll be surprised at
how light it is. The reason is simple: the HTC One
is one of the best-designed phones on the
planet. Not content with inventing a new
machining process to allow the body to be all
aluminium, the Taiwanese firm has extended the
screen to the edges of the chassis further than
ever, meaning youre getting a 4.7-inch Full HD
display without the additional heft youd expect.
If you were hoping for the stock Android
experience of a Nexus, youll be disappointed,
however. HTC has been hard at work redesigning
Sense once more, and the HTC One is the first
phone to bear the fruits of that labour. Sense 5
(as its colloquially, if not officially, called) is
another step forward in the Android overlay
story, but we think this is the biggest yet from
HTC. Were talking a whole new button layout, a
new grid for the menu icons, geometric patterns
replacing the over-complicated widgets of old; in
short, its simple, stark and we really like it.
Under the hood, the HTC rocks a quad-core
1.7GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro processor
and 2GB of RAM a spec that rivals some
laptops, and it shows. From opening and closing
apps to browsing multiple tabs on the internet,
theres nothing that can slow down the HTC One,
and youll really appreciate that in day to day life.
You can also choose from a number of lock
screen types, be it productivity for emails,
calendar entries or messages and a swipe
upwards while holding said missive launches it
directly, too.
A big change on the HTC One is the camera
its only a 4MP sensor. It should be put into
context though the camera has a smaller

sensor but much larger pixels to allow in more
light, and therefore more data, to make your
pictures look that much better on the go.
The Ultrapixel method is one to be applauded,
because its pushing back on the 13MP image
sensors that are being crammed into everthinner phones. HTC has published a blog about
how this process was conceived, if youre after a
bit more Ultrapixel info from the horses mouth.
But what does that mean in reality? Well, youre
getting a faster sensor for one thing, and that
means you can take more snaps on the go. In
fact, its so fast that we didnt notice it had fired
on the odd occasion, although at other times it
had a bit of a think before saving the picture.
HTC clearly wants you to use the front-facing
camera, too its been given a spec bump to
2.1MP, making it close in power to the rear of the
phone (without all the Ultrapixel jiggery-pokery),
and as such takes great snaps. You slide your
finger up and down the screen to jump between
the cameras, as well as enabling the countdown
timer if you wish its not a strongly advertised
feature, but when you find it, its impressive.
Power to the people

The battery life on the HTC One X was one of the
big areas that let it down, so all eyes are on the
battery capacity of the HTC One. With a massive
upgrade to a 2,300mAh battery, a more efficient
processor on board and general increased
stability from Android 4.1.2, has HTC managed to
erase its demons?
The good news is that the HTC One
outperformed the Galaxy S4, managing to lose
only 19 per cent of life during the test, the same
as the Xperia Z, and 2 per cent better than the S4.
The Samsung Galaxy S3 managed the same test
and only dropped to 82 per cent, showing that
the Full HD pixel count does take more power,
despite the uprated battery. In real-life usage, we
found the HTC One to be more than acceptable.
We played video and took photos, then playing
music and browsing the internet intermittently.
Our only gripe is with storage. Many will argue
that expandable memory slots are unnecessary
when youve got Dropbox on board for extra
space, or just being organised and deleting
unwanted content will solve the problem. Thats
true to a degree, but its not common behaviour
for todays smartphone user. Q
In short, this is the best HTC

smartphone ever, without a doubt.
But well even go one better than
that and say that the HTC One is
the best smartphone on the
market if you can afford it.
HTC One
Rated
9 reasons
to buy the
HTC One
Top screen
The 468ppi full HD panel is
the best out there.
1
Power
With a 1.7GHz Snapdragon
processor, the HTC One is
one of the fastest phones in
the West.
2
Great looks
Well go out on a limb and
say the HTC One is the bestlooking phone out there.
3
4 Lightweight
Despite being made of all
aluminium, the HTC One still
only weighs 143g, so its
barely noticeable.
5 4G
The HTC One lets you surf
faster with 4G LTE.
6 Slick Sense
The HTC Sense overlay is the
best in the business, and
looks fantastic.
Beats
With Beats built in, this is the
best smartphone for music
out there.
7
8 Double speakers
If you do need to listen to
music through the phones
speakers, the front-facing
dual speakers are more than
up to the task.
Great price
Whether its on contract or
PAYG, the HTC One is great
value for money.
9
135
Rated
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsung Galaxy S4
Samsungs follow-up to its popular S3 smartphone has some very impressive boots to ll
Price 519 / $580
Manufacturer:
Samsung
Operating system
Android 4.3
Screen
1,920 x 1,080
Processor
APQ8064T 1.9GHz quad-core
RAM
2GB
Storage
16GB
Cameras
13MP/2MP
Battery
2,600mAh
Video
1080p
Connectivity
Micro USB, micro SD
Sound
3.5mm headphone
DIMENSIONS
Height
136.6mm
Width
69.8mm
Depth
7.9mm
Screen
5-inch
Weight
130g
THE GOOD
Range of innovations
Super fast processor
Great battery life
THE BAD
Too many gimmicks
Too big for some
Design lacks class
Performance
136
he Galaxy S4 is the latest in Samsungs

high-flying phone line-up, which has
nearly single-handedly put Android
smartphones on the map. Its a sleek looking
number thats not dramatically different
from its predecessor, but look closely and
youll see definite style improvements.
The S3 had swirly, curvy lines demarcating the
chrome effect from the colour. On the Samsung
S4 its all straight edges, giving a more elegant
and slightly more clinical look, which is at once
more demure and grown-up.
Big boys toy

Like last years model, this isnt a phone for petite
hands. But Samsung has squeezed in a screen
thats bigger than the S3s into a handset thats
slightly smaller. The change in depth is
particularly noticeable and means that, although
its big, it doesnt feel unmanageable. The display
is 5-inch, against 4.8-inch on the S3.
Even so, this phone clocks in at 130g against
the marginally heavier 133g last time around.
Most premium smartphones these days have
sealed-in batteries without the need to finish
the battery in a removable case, its possible to
maximise the size and power of the cell but
Samsung has opted for a back that pops off.
This is a very speedy phone. However much
youre doing, it never slows down or shows any
sign of being out of breath. It powers on, at
speed. The touchscreen is responsive, web pages
load quickly, and apps launch instantly. The
Qualcomm quad-core 1.9GHz chip and the 2GB
of RAM combine to make this phone fast,
powerful and stamina-rich.
The Galaxy S4 is a 4G handset and the available
frequencies mean that it works now on EE
and will be available on the new generation
networks when they arrive on Vodafone, O2 and
Three. The performance is impressive (though
lets remember the number of other customers
on the 4G network is still comparatively low, so
theres no issue with overcrowding). Theres no
doubt that this phone works well on 3G but if
youre getting a handset this fast and powerful,
the benefit of faster data traffic is considerable.
Call quality on the S4 is excellent. Theres a
second microphone designed to aid with
noise-cancelling, and this worked very well at
removing the background noise to clarify the
sound of the callers voice. Signal strength was
also good throughout, and Samsungs attractive
contacts and call screen remains the same as on
the Galaxy S3.
Smartphones drain batteries. Big screens drain
batteries. Fancy features such as air gestures
drain batteries. So you might fear that the S4
would be on its knees by lunchtime. But no,
theres a big cell in this phone and it keeps you
going through a full day with ease.
You can make it to a second day if youre
parsimonious in your usage, but daily recharges
offer the best peace of mind. This battery life is
excellent, bettering many of its rivals, though not

beating the Motorola RAZR HD.
Samsung has one of those new-fangled 13MP
sensors. Its a powerful little devil, which delivers
strong shots and is easy to use. But low light, as
ever with phone cameras, is not your friend.
This is a versatile and capable camera, but the
photos arent quite as wonderful as on the HTC
One, which takes a different approach with its
fewer-but-better pixel strategy. The 4-megapixel
sensor on HTCs phone is spectacular in lower
light, so you may never need to turn the flash on.
There are plenty of features to explore here,
too, such as the facility to shoot on the front and
rear cameras simultaneously. If youre on your
own at a spectacular vista, perhaps, you can
include your smiling face in the corner of the
view. Or at a gig, you can see whats on stage and
what the crazy dancing guy behind you is doing.
It takes some work to make the most of it and to
frame both shots simultaneously, and this is the
kind of feature that you may only use rarely.
More useful is HDR, where the camera takes
several shots quickly and combines them to offer
greater contrast and less shadowy areas. Its not
unique to Samsung, of course, but works well.
Theres an eraser mode, which also takes multiple
shots and lets you delete an element. But you do
need to set this mode up before you shoot.
Should you buy it?

Samsungs flagship is a real beauty. It feels good,
looks smart and does more than previous
smartphones have done. On the other hand, just
as most people only scratch the surface of the
capabilities of their home computers, settling for
email, word processing and a little light gaming,
there are going to be a lot of customers who
barely dig into the features here.
Many are gimmicky, some are decidedly niche,
but it all still adds up to a phone with so many
capabilities, its likely therell be lots to delight
you. There are innovations to show off down the
pub and genuinely useful features. Even if you
dont use them, this phones performance is so
slick it is an appealing combination.
Is it the best Android smartphone yet? Well, it
lacks the gorgeous styling of the HTC One, and
the Sony Xperia Z edges it for photo skills, but
the combination of power and innovation puts it
towards the top of the tree, a branch or so below
the HTC One but outgunning all other rivals.Q
Theres no doubt the S4 will be

deeply popular and has a certain
wow factor. And it means Apple
will have to deliver something
special to stay ahead. Meantime,
this is easily Samsungs best yet.
Samsung Galaxy S4
Rated
9 reasons
to buy the
Galaxy S4
Bigger, yet smaller
The new Galaxy S4 packs in
more screen real estate into
a lighter, smaller package.
1
2 Delicious Jelly Bean

Android 4.2 still works
brilliantly with Samsungs
own features.
Buttery smoothness
Jelly Bean is super fast
because of Project Butter
Googles initiative to
streamline Androids lag.
3
Google Now
A card-based information
service that uses GPS in an
effort to become one step
ahead of the user.
4
Quad-core power
Powered by a Samsung
Exynos processor with 2GB
of RAM and up to 64GB of
storage, the S4 runs rings
around even newer phones.
5
6 TouchWiz
Theres a modded UI here,
which just adds to the Jelly
Bean experience.
NFC-enabled
Pay for things, share contacts
and set up networks with
just a touch.
7
8 Lightweight
Its hard to comprehend how
light the S4 is, until you hold
it in your hand.
Screen
The S4s stunning screen
boasts AMOLED technology,
which makes it look
eye-poppingly appealing.
9
137
Rated

The innovative S Pen returns for another outing on Samsungs tablet-phone hybrid
Price 514 / $690
Manufacturer
Samsung
Operating system
Android 4.3
Screen
1,920 x 1,080
Processor
2.3GHz quad-core
RAM
3GB
Storage
16/32/64GB
Cameras
13MP/2MP
Battery
3,200mAh
Video
1080p
Connectivity
Micro USB, micro SD
Sound
3.5mm headphone
DIMENSIONS
Height
151.2mm
Width
79.2mm
Depth
8.3mm
Screen
5.7-inch
Weight
168g
THE GOOD
Fast and smooth
Great battery
Full HD display
4G
THE BAD
Tricky to hold
Expensive
S Pen still limited
Tacky plastic rear
138
he Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is looking

to continue in the same vein as the
original Note and Note 2, offering you a
phone that could almost be mistaken for a
tablet, and wants you to believe its both.
A quick glance over the Galaxy Note 3 and it
does exactly what we thought it would it takes
over the mantle as the worlds most powerful
smartphone, although the advantage is a lot
smaller this time.
First we have to mention the display its
grown since the 5.5-inch offering on the Note 2
to a palm-busting 5.7 inches, complete with a full
HD, 1,080 x 1,920 Super AMOLED display. Thats
the same resolution as the Galaxy S4, but
because the screen is larger on the Note 3, the
pixel count isnt as great, at 386ppi, so its not
quite as pin sharp as its smaller brother. It still
looks pretty impressive, though and so it
should for the price Samsung is asking.
The display is as bright and colourful as youd
expect from Samsung, yet the quality isnt quite
as good as the One or S4. It may be full HD, but
due to the Note 3s larger screen, the pixel
density isnt as high and, compared with other
flagship phones, its lack of clarity is noticeable.
Body building
Were still waiting for Samsung to embrace the
full metal chassis weve enjoyed on the HTC One
and the iPhone 5, but it is trying something
slightly different with the Note 3.
The Galaxy Note 3 has retained the metal
frame from the Galaxy S4, running around the
edge of the device, but its on the rear where
Samsungs tried something new. Lay the Note 3
face down, take a quick glance at the handset
and it appears the rear is made of leather.
It isnt, of course its that famous plastic
Samsung is so fond off. The finish is textured to
give it the appearance of leather and this actually
provides some much needed grip. It may not be
everyones cup of tea and it looks a bit tacky
upon closer inspection, but the Note 3 does feel
like a solid, well built device.
On the plus side, the plastic cover can be
removed, giving you access to the Note 3s
sizable 3,200mAh battery as well as the micro SD
slot, which is stacked on top of the micro SIM
port, enabling Samsung to save some space.
Somehow Samsung has managed to make the
Note 3 slightly smaller than its predecessor,
measuring 151.2 x 79.2 x 8.3mm. Thats still quite
a sizeable device, but considering its got a
slightly larger display, beefier processor and more
powerful 13MP camera, its an impressive feat.
Those of you blessed with smaller palms will
still struggle to hold the Note 3 in one hand,
especially when typing, but thanks to its reduced
weight (its 168g, down from 183g on the Note 2)
its the most manageable Note phone to date.
With a 2.3GHz quad-core processor and 3GB of
RAM under the hood, the Note 3 is giving our
laptop a run for its money in terms of power, and
Android is one smooth operator thanks to this.

You also get 3GB of RAM and the option of 32GB
or 64GB of storage, while the latest version of
Googles operating system Android 4.3 Jelly
Bean runs merrily on top of all this.
Battery life is impressive, too. Part of that is
down to the Snapdragon 800 processor, which
provides various power saving capabilities, and
the other part is down to the 3,200mAh battery
Samsung has squashed inside the slender frame.
Theres more good news in the battery
department, with the rear cover coming off,
giving you access to the removable power pack.
This means you can carry charged spares with
you if you know youll be away from a socket.
In charge
We feared battery life might not be up to much
thanks to the Full HD 5.7-inch display, which
adorns the front of the Note 3, but we were
pleasantly surprised. With average use emailing,
texting, a few calls, a bit of gaming, some social
media fun and web surfing the Galaxy Note 3
was able to comfortably see out the whole day
without wailing for a charger.
The S Pen, which has been given another
overhaul in terms of design and software
capabilities on the Note 3, is hidden in its own
slot in the bottom of the handset. Now Samsung
doesnt like to use the word stylus when talking
about the S Pen, because its much more than a
simple pointing device, but to all intents and
purposes, thats what it is an elaborate stylus.
Draw it out and the Note 3 vibrates and plays a
little sound to let you know its on its way. Its not
always easy to slide the S Pen out, though youll
need to have some nails to dig into the top of
the pen to pull it free.
The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is a great phone,
and if you were to own one you wouldnt be
disappointed. It provides a great on-screen
experience as long as your hands are big
enough to reach across it and its stuffed full of
tech to almost warrant its lofty price tag.
Its size will be a stumbling point for many, and
we recommend going into a store and holding
the Note 3 for a while to see if its something you
can cope with. And there will be some people
who will love the inclusion of the S Pen; it makes
sense in Asian markets where text input is greatly
enhanced with a stylus, but in the Western world,
its uses are far more limited. Q
This is the best Galaxy Note

smartphone to date and if youre a
fan of the range, youll love the
Note 3 but if youre looking for
the best smartphone in the world,
youll need to look elsewhere.
Rated
9 reasons
to buy the
Note 3
Screen
The 5.7-inch Note 3s screen
looks stunning, making
reading web pages easy.
1
2 Speed
The quad-core 2.3GHz
processor is a real
powerhouse.
Google Play
Googles online app store is
thriving, and easily competes
with Apples rival store.
3
4 S Pen
The smart stylus included
makes it better suited to
creativity than other phones.
Jelly Bean
The Note 3 comes with the
latest and greatest version of
Android out of the box.
5
6 Gorilla Glass
Cornings screen glass is
extra tough, which makes
the Note 3 super robust.
NFC
Its really easy to
communicate with other
devices thanks to near-field
communication technology.
7
Good camera
The snapper on the back is a
monster 13MP, which is great
for when you want to snap
pictures quickly.
8
Micro SD
You can extend the internal
memory by up to 64GB, by
adding a micro SD card.
9
139
Rated

Sonys struggled with mobile over the last few years; does this tablet mark a decent return?
Price 399 / $499
Manufacturer
Sony
Operating system
Android 4.1.2
Screen
1,920 x 1,080
Processor
Qualcomm Snapdragon APQ8064
RAM
2GB
Storage
16GB
Cameras
8.1MP/2.2MP
Battery
6,000mAh
Video
1080p
Connectivity
Micro SD, micro USB
Sound
3.5mm headphone
DIMENSIONS
Height
172mm
Width
266mm
Depth
6.9mm
Screen
10.1-inch
Weight
495g
onys first effort the Sony Tablet S

hardly set the world on fire, and since its
lacklustre launch in 2011, a broader
selection of tablets has emerged. The
next-gen Sony Xperia Tablet S was also a
rather average device, but can the new
version turn the tables?
Superlatives rarely last long in tech, but
toppling the svelte dimensions of the Sony
Xperia Tablet Z the worlds thinnest tablet
will take some doing. The thinness is evident
the second you pick it up, and at just 6.9mm, it
makes most tablets feel overweight.
When some companies shave off weight, it
can make the device feel cheap yep, were
looking at you, Samsung but thats not the case
with the Tablet Z. The compact size means theres
no disconcerting creaking, and while it feels like
plastic (albeit premium plastic), the chassis is
actually made of reinforced glass fibre (on the
back) and glass fibre polyamide (on the frame).
There is a slight unnerving flex, but thats due
to the size-zero body, which is so thin you can
almost wrap your hand around it and hold it like
an ereader. Its head and shoulders above the
Tablet S, Sonys last 10-inch Android outing.
As a 10-inch tablet, theres a lack of standout
features, and compared with some new tablets,
such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 and Asus
FonePad, theres a refreshing lack of gimmicks. In
fact, other than size, theres little to boast about.
Theres no input pen, no telephony capabilities,
but there is a trick up the Xperia Zs sleeve: its
waterproof. Like its smartphone sibling, the Sony
Xperia Z, the Tablet Z can survive in liquid for up
to 30 minutes, and its covered ports means its
dust-resistant, too.
Elsewhere there are dual cameras 8.1MP on
the rear, which also records in 1080p, and 2.2MP
on the front for video calling. Both cameras are
standard affairs, with particularly noisy pictures
when used in artificial light.
The iPads FaceTime camera offers better value
for chatting, and while its loaded with effects
such as panoramic shooting, burst mode and
HDR, we still believe tablet photography is an
offence punishable by public humiliation.
Well connected
THE GOOD
Great looking
Scarily thin and light
Waterproof
THE BAD
Pale flat screen
Parts under hatches
Mediocre performance
140
Connectivity is good, too, with micro SD support,

meaning you can add extra storage up to 64GB.
Unfortunately, this is necessary, because the
maximum internal storage is a paltry 16GB.
Unlike the latest crop of Windows tablets, theres
no USB port, and under the waterproof catches
that dot the Tablet Zs sharp lines, theres just a
micro USB, which doubles for charging.
In a world dominated by super dense screens,
the 1,920 x 1,200 panel does little to pique our
interest. Sonys made much of its screens on
both Xperia Z devices, but results are mixed.
Firstly, the visuals are noticeably smooth, with
cool-looking colours and eye-searing brightness
when cranked up to maximum. However, despite
the 224ppi, theres a noticeable lack of sharpness,

particularly evident when looking at web pages.
Whites look dull, making it harder to read text,
and theres a paleness to the whole panel,
whether youre movie watching or web surfing.
Unlike the Nexus 10, visuals dont pop and its
not a device for movie lovers. On that note, the
built-in speakers proved to be well below par,
which is disappointing for a company such as
Sony, which produces great audio products.
The CPU is a Snapdragon S4 quad-core
processor clocked at 1.5GHz, which youll find
used frequently in mid-range tablets. The timing
is awkward for Sony because on the horizon are
the blisteringly fast Tegra 4 and Snapdragon
600/800 chips, while its shiny new tablet delivers
pretty mediocre performance.
Not a sprinter
The score of 4,353 in SunSpider processor speed
tests was devastated by the Nexus 10s 1,507.
While this shouldnt make a difference in general
navigation, the difference is evident in web page
rendering, app loading time and could manifest
itself as games become more advanced.
Sonys previous tablet felt sluggish to use but
theres no hint of the jerkiness or juddering here.
The Sony skin which isnt as good as stock
Android or Samsungs increasingly well
developed TouchWiz didnt miss a beat as we
swiped between its screens and widgets.
Not having the blistering performance of the
latest processors helps the Sony Xperia Z to
achieve a solid eight hours of movie playback.
The test involves streaming an HD movie in the
YouTube app on full brightness, so the pixel
pushing combined with data drawing make this
a healthy score. In standby mode it rarely slipped
more than a few per cent overnight.
Its a great result, when you consider that the
diminutive size and weight means theres little
room for adding larger batteries, such as Apple
on the iPad 4. Rocking a Retina display means
there has to be a pay-off, if you want your iPad to
last on a long haul flight or weekend trip away
and the Sony Xperia Tablet Z certainly has this
in the locker.
While the Xperia Z is up there with the Nexus
10, Googles slate just takes first place for us.
Despite being substantially heavier and thicker,
the vastly superior screen and lightning-quick
performance tip the scales in its favour. Q
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z is

certainly the best Sony tablet ever
made, and the insanely thin lines
and lightweight build will appeal
to Android-hunters looking for a
device that turns heads.
Rated
9 reasons
to buy the
Xperia
Tablet Z
Crazy thin
The thinnest 10-inch tablet
on the market, the Sony is
seriously portable.
1
2 Lightweight
At just 500g, you wont find
many lighter tablets than the
Tablet Z.
Great battery
With around eight hours of
movie playback, the Tablet Z
is a great performer.
3
4 Good screen
While not mindbogglingly
dense, the Sonys screen is
crisp and great for surfing
the web.
5 Waterproof
Dont worry about taking
this tablet out its
waterproof and dustproof to
boot. Perfect for the beach.
6 Good camera
If you insist on taking snaps
with your tablet, then this
ones for you, especially with
the 1080p video recording
built in.
Good performer
Multi-tasking apps is
handled with aplomb,
thanks to the 2GB of RAM.
7
8 Expand
Use the micro SD port to add
up to 64GB of storage to
your Xperia Tablet Z.
Great looker
The Sony Xperia Tablet Z
seriously turns heads with its
sleek lines and cool styling.
9
141
Rated
Asus Memo Pad HD 7
Asus Memo Pad HD 7

Can Asuss own 7-inch tablet measure up to its collaboration with Google on the Nexus 7?
Price 129
Manufacturer
www.asus.com
Operating system
Android 4.2.2
Screen
1,280 x 800
Processor
Cortex A7 1.2GHz quad-core
RAM
1GB
Cameras
5MP/1.2MP
Battery
1,500mAh
Video
720p
Connectivity
Micro SD, USB, Bluetooth
Sound
3.5mm headphone
THE GOOD
Cheap price
Micro SD slot
Colourful design
THE BAD
Hard to press buttons
Slightly dull screen
142
hile Google may take the headlines

for the Nexus 7 tablet, it is in fact
manufactured by Asus the
company also behind the Asus Memo Pad
HD 7. Costing just 129, the Memo Pad HD 7
is priced way below similar-screen-size rival
the iPad Mini, while still being a lot cheaper
than the Amazon Kindle Fire HD and the
new Nexus 7.
Often with cheaper tablets, the screen
resolution is the first thing to be slashed. The
Memo Pad HD 7, however, retains a relatively
sharp and crisp display, and also feels sturdy in
the hand. It may not have the industrial design
of Apples iPad Mini, yet its plastic shell by no
means feels cheap.
The Memo Pad HD 7 weighs in at 302g,
slightly heavier than the Nexus 7 (290g), but
lighter than the iPad Mini, which weighs 312g.
Theres 16GB of internal storage, which can be
upped by a further 32GB through micro SD
expansion. It seems that fewer and fewer tablets
are coming with a card slot these days, and its
great to see Asus including one here.
Around the back is a 5-megapixel shooter,
which takes decent snaps but we wouldnt
recommend relying on it for capturing your
summer holiday. Video chat and selfies are also
taken care of, thanks to the 1.2-megapixel
front-facing camera.
The 7-inch HD IPS screen is definitely a
surprise, especially for a bargain tablet like this.
At a resolution of 1,280 x 800, it by no means
stands up against the beautiful displays of the
Nexus 7 2 or iPad 4, but it is more impressive
than that of the current iPad Mini and on a par

with the Amazon Kindle Fire HD. Text is crisp,
which is great when youre reading a book,
while videos look good, too. Sometimes the
colours are a little dull, with bright shades in
particular looking washed-out and lacking a bit
of oomph.
Packed behind the plastic shell is a quad-core
1.2GHz processor, paired with 1GB of RAM. For
the most part, the device is speedy scrolling is
smooth and if all you do is check some emails,
browse Chrome and dabble in a spot of Angry
Birds, youll rarely feel a slow-down. More
intensive games, such as Real Racing 3, perform
rather worse, with frequent lag becoming fairly
common as you play.
The battery on the Memo Pad HD 7 lasted for
around nine to ten hours plenty for lasting the
working day or if youre flying to the States, but
a few times when the tablet was left unused
overnight, the amount of juice left had
substantially depleted. Theres no nifty wireless
charging tech here, just the standard micro USB
port. All in all, though, not bad for the price. Q
Asuss Memo Pad HD 7 lacks that

special something, both in design
and overall feature set, but with such
a low price tag, a decent screen and
plenty of power for the average user,
it can easily be recommended.
+++++
Tesco Hudl
Rated
Tesco Hudl
Price-busting supermarket Tesco enters the tablet arena with its rst ever offering
Price 119
Manufacturer:
www.tesco.com
Operating system
Android 4.1
Screen
1,440 x 900
Processor
Cortex A9 1.5GHz quad-core
RAM
1GB
Storage
16GB
Cameras
3MP/2MP
Battery
9 hours
Video
720p
Connectivity
Micro USB, micro HDMI, micro SDHC
Sound
3.5mm headphone
THE GOOD
Sturdy design
Tesco apps
Dual-Band Wi-Fi
THE BAD:
Tinny speakers
Poor screen
Small memory
he Tesco Hudl is the companys first

ever tablet and proof that even a
supermarket can enter into the
fast-paced world of consumer technology.
Rather than try to take on the more
expensive 10-inch market, the Hudl is
looking to claim dominance over the
ever-increasing 7-inch category, which
already includes some impressive pieces of
tech the Google Nexus 7 2013 and the
Amazon Kindle Fire HD being just two.
The first thing youll notice when you take it
out of the box is just how heavy this tablet is
at 370g, the Hudl is almost 100g heavier than
the new Nexus 7. The all-plastic body feels rigid
overall, with almost no bend or flex aside from
some give in the middle of the back, but its
hardly noticeable.
Tescos first 7-inch tablet comes with a 1,440 x
900 LCD HD display and, while on paper that
sounds more than adequate, the results are
sadly lacking. Colours feel quite heavily washed
out, with whites almost appearing as creams.
And while the clarity is certainly there, the
backlight unfortunately just isnt up to the task
of showing it.
Unlike super-cheap tablets and Amazons
Kindle tablets, the full version of Android 4.1
means youll get full access to the Google Play
store. This means you can get access to the full
complement of apps, without finding yourself
tied into a badly stocked and poorly supported
app store.
Of course, one of the big features that many
potential customers will be interested in is the
Tesco Hub button, which is discreetly located in

the bottom-left of the screen.
When pressed, this opens up a Hub,
showcasing the range of exclusive services that
come with the tablet, including Tesco BlinkBox,
BlinkBox Music, Tesco Direct, Tesco Bank and
Clubcard TV, which offers a range of TV series
and films to Clubcard holders for free. This alone
could be a draw for many potential users.
If theres one area Tesco hasnt skimped on its
the hardware, because the Hudl comes with a
quad-core 1.5GHz processor along with 1GB of
RAM and a quad-core GPU for gaming. The Hudl
feels as quick as youd expect, with apps loading
fast and games running smoothly. Theres also a
mini HDMI out, so you can beam your gaming
or content up to a HDTV so you can view it on a
bigger screen.
Tesco claims the Hudl has a nine-hour battery
life and with light usage and occasional media
viewing, the Hudl will certainly last the day.
Although its never going to win any awards,
the Hudl is a testament to how far weve come
in the world of consumer technology. Q
The fact that somebody can walk into

a Tesco supermarket, pop a 7-inch
high-definition tablet into their trolley
and pay less than 100 (using a
Clubcard) to buy it is something that
should be applauded.
+++++
143
Rated
Nook HD+
Nook HD+
Barnes & Nobles kooky-sounding Nook arrives with a bigger screen than before
Price 149
Manufacturer
www.nook.com
Operating system
Android 4.0
Screen
1,920 x 1,080
Processor
TI OMAP4470 1.5GHz dual-core
RAM
1GB
Storage
16GB
Cameras
None
Battery
6,000mAh
Video
None
Connectivity
Proprietary, micro SD
Sound
3.5mm headphone
THE GOOD
Lightweight
Impressive 9-inch HD screen
Google Play access
THE BAD
Poor custom UI
Ugly design
Sub-standard Nook Shop
144
ith the Nook HD, US bookstore

giant Barnes & Noble entered the
wide-open 7-inch tablet market,
but with the 9-inch Nook HD+ it faces a
single and much more daunting foe. The
full-sized tablet market continues to be
thoroughly dominated by big-name brands,
and when even Google and its technically
impressive Nexus 10 struggles, what hope
does the Nook HD+ have?
With an astounding 1080p, 9-inch display, a
slim and lightweight body, and a 149 price tag
for the 16GB version, Barnes & Noble has
certainly come out fighting. The company has
pulled out all the stops, and the specs list makes
impressive reading.
This is a full-fat tablet thats light enough to
hold in one hand at least for brief periods. At
just 510g, the Nook HD+ is almost 140g lighter
than the iPad 4. Thats roughly the weight of an
HTC One shorn from its body.
Like the Amazon Kindle Fire HD, the Nook
HD+ is essentially an Android 4.0 Ice Cream
Sandwich tablet with a heavily customised
interface layered on the top, and we applaud
Barnes & Nobles belated inclusion of the Google
Play store.
Admittedly, the Nook HD+ is hardly powered
by the most cutting edge of processors, but its
1.5GHz dual-core TI OMAP 4470 CPU should
really be capable of running such a lightweight
UI without a hitch.
Barnes & Noble claims that you should be
able to get up to 10 hours of reading time, and
nine hours of video time out of a single charge
of the Nook HD+s 6,000mAh battery, but a brief

glimpse at the small print should tell you to take
these claims with a pinch of salt.
In moderate real-life use, however, which
involves cranking the brightness right up,
leaving the Wi-Fi on and using the tablet for
occasional web browsing, a little reading and
the odd five minutes of gaming here and there,
its more than up to the task of lasting a couple
of days like any other tablet.
There are no connectivity surprises with the
Nook HD+. Its a Wi-Fi-only tablet, and theres no
3G option, so dont expect to be able to
download a new page-turner while youre
sitting bored on a beach somewhere stock up
before you go.
The truly excellent screen, however, really
does bring high-definition media content to
life. Its also extremely light for a full-size tablet,
making it as easy on the arms as its crisp picture
is easy on the eye. If youre thinking of buying a
cheap but high-quality media player for a long
journey, these two factors alone make it a
serious contender. Q
Its custom UI is clunky, its own media

store is a bit of a write-off, and it
wont win any awards for its looks. But
for HD multimedia kicks on a budget,
there arent many better value
alternatives out there.
+++++
Samsung Galaxy Tab 3
Rated

The Korean company continues to wow us with its phones but what about its tablets?
Price 159
Manufacturer
www.samsung.com
Operating system
Android 4.1
Screen
1,024 x 600
Processor
Marvell Armada PXA986 1.2GB dual-core
RAM
1GB
Storage
16GB/32GB
Cameras
3.15MP/1.3MP
Battery
4,000mAH
Video
720p
Connectivity
Micro SD, micro USB
Sound
3.5mm headphone
THE GOOD
Solidly built but easy to handle
Intuitive UI
Micro SD slot
THE BAD
Dated design
Poor value
Average performance and screen
he Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 follows the same

visual template as the Samsung Galaxy
S3 and, by extension, the S4. This
means its functional, solid, yet plasticky.
It lacks the understated class of the latest
Nexus 7 and the sheer premium feel of the iPad
Mini, with details such as a glossy white plastic
back panel and silver plastic rim feeling dated
and unappealing.
The Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 somehow feels sturdy
and well built despite its cheap appearance,
though. You can imagine it surviving a fair few
drops with scarcely a scratch to show for it.
At 300g, the Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 is 44g
lighter than the Galaxy Tab 2 7.0, 8g lighter than
the iPad Mini and just 10g heavier than the 2013
Nexus 7. Its pretty much average for the
modern 7-inch tablet, in other words, and while
it doesnt exactly feel light in the hand, it was
undoubtedly comfortable to hold for extended
web browsing and gaming sessions throughout
our test period.
Our issues really begin with the Samsung
Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 when you move beyond its
conservative external design. Powering the
tablet is a dual-core 1.2GHz Marvell Armada
PXA986 CPU. Hardly a cutting-edge component,
and certainly well off the pace of the quad-core
chips found in both generations of Nexus 7. The
1GB of RAM is respectable, but again half that
found in the new Nexus 7 and other modern
Android devices.
Theres a choice of 8GB or 16GB of internal
storage, and once again, you can opt to expand
this by up to 32GB via a welcome micro SD slot,
which is readily accessible behind a somewhat

flimsy plastic door on the lower left-hand side.
If the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0s internal specs are
underwhelming, wait until you lay eyes on its
7-inch LCD display. Viewing angles are good
thanks to IPS technology, but its 1,024 x 600
resolution feels woefully out of date next to the
1,280 x 800 of last years Nexus 7, let alone the
1,920 x 1,200 featured in this years model.
With a deeply unimpressive pixel density of
169ppi, text and images have that fuzzy
nondescript appearance that we thought wed
left behind with the advent of HD displays.
Were not quite sure what Samsung was
hoping to achieve with the Galaxy Tab 3 7.0. Its
like the company has been in a state of Nexusdenial over the past year or so, failing to even
acknowledge the existence of two generations
of Google-approved compact tablets.
The tablets display seems like its from a
bygone era, before 720p YouTube videos
became the norm. It seems to discourage
protracted web browsing sessions, too, which is
surely much of the point of a modern tablet. Q
Theres no getting around it the

Samsung Galaxy Tab 3 7.0 is a deeply
average tablet thats been way
over-priced by Samsung. Its specs
arent really good enough to show off
the best of the Android platform.
+++++
145
GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TABLET OR PHONE
VOLUME 13
EDITORIAL
Editor Alex Cox

Reviews Editor James Stables
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Production editor Katharine Davies
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PHOTOGRAPHY
Future Studios (London and Bath)
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Call the ad team: 020 7042 4000
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INCREDIBLE TIPS & TRICKS FOR YOUR TABLET OR PHONE!

GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR TABLET OR PHONE

Turn your unloved

Explore the world

+ THE AUTOMATIC ANDROID

GIVE YOUR PHONE INCREDIBLE NEW FEATURES WITHOUT SPENDING CASH

N AT URE + T ECHNOL OGY + SPACE + HUM A NS + ENGINEERING

FIND THE ANSWERS & MORE IN

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Letter from the editor

I love customising my stu. And not in the way a

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Angry Birds Star Wars II

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Paid-for games round-up

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Steve Jurvetson, Wikimedia Commons

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good and bad, as has the rumour of

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lightly. In fact, its one of the spurs that

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its one-click, though in reality its more

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TV stick and build something really

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CM further by creating a business around

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