Uninstalling System Apps and Bloatware in Android: Safe to Remove Apps

Most of the Android phones come loaded with some extra apps that we never use. As a result, when the memory of the phone becomes almost full, the only solution that remains is uninstalling other apps. But if you need all the apps you have installed yourself the other alternative is uninstalling system apps and bloatware. In that case, the first thing you will need is a rooted phone. Without root access, you cannot really uninstall those not-so-must-have apps. In a rooted phone, you can use apps like System App Remover to uninstall any app you want, but you need to be careful about what you are uninstalling. Any wrong decision might make your phone unusable or cripple one or some important functions. Here is a list of items you can safely remove from your phone

Play Clash of Clans on PC

Clash of Clans is a very popular game on both iOS and Android, but many players want to have the same fun when they are on PC. In that case the solution is very simple with an extra download of 110mb or more depending on the Android Emulator you choose. This name might sound very geeky and complicated but using and installing them is very easy now a days. Once you install it like any other simple program, you can run it and see that a virtual android OS is booting up. Then simply do anything you would do on a new phone.

In the past there was only the official Android Emulator which was used by the developers mainly, but now there are many alternatives which are easier to use.

First there came Bluestacks which is still a very popular and easy to use Android emulator. You will have to download a small online installer which will later on download the other necessary files. After installing you can simply start the app by clicking the shortcut from your desktop and find a phone like environment where you can also use the App Store. Find and download Clash of Clans and voila! You are ready to go!

The procedure will be similar for other Android Emulators too. There is Genymotion which do not have support for Play Store. The solution is easy. Use the browser in mobile and find 1mobile market and download it. It is on per with the play store and you can find Clash of Clans there too. The rest is similar. The most popular and new Android Emulator of this time is Andy. You can also try Andy for the same purpose in the same way. Though it is easy for playing single touch games like Clash of Clans but if you try games like Injustice: Gods among Us that needs double touch, you might have to use a touchpad or a clever trick which involves pressing CTRL while clicking to block attacks. One more alternative is YouWave, but I would not recommend that as it starts with a trial and not free.

For playing Clash of Clans on PC all of these solutions should be equally similar as most of the developers have you as their target users in their mind.

Set Chrome as Default Browser in iOS

Chrome Browser for all the iOS devices is already out now and at the top of the app store. But using a 3rd party browser is not very helpful when you are using iOS. You cannot actually change that as it is set by Apple. But that ends today. If you have jailbroken your device already, there is an app for that ;)

You will have to download the free Cydia plugin BrowserChooser in your idevice and then choose your default browser as Chrome. Thats easy and simple. Nothing else to make it complicated. This tweak supports not only Chrome but also other popular third party browsers in the app store. So if you have other browsers in mind, you can try your luck.

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Galaxy Note vs LG Optimus Vu: The Battle of the Giant Phones Begins

This is a competition in a new arena of smartphones. This new battle can be termed as the battle of 5+ inches phones with stylus. This is the territory where no other companies have dared to step on. It was first Samsung who took the challenge of making the phablet phone factor popular. For some months, it did not have any competitor of its kind, but it looks like the good days are over for Galaxy Note. LG has announced the new LG Optimus Vu with a 5 inches display and guess what else, the support for stylus. So the Galaxy Note vs LG Optimus Vu battle is just the beginning of a new kind of battle.


Galaxy Note vs LG Optimus Vu

There is nothing new to tell about the Galaxy Note as Samsung has made a carpet bombing of advertisements on the Galaxy Note all over the world. It has a 5.3" high res display, slim body and stylus support. The present Android version of this phone is Gingerbread and Samsung is not very clear about the ICS update on Galaxy Note and LG is promising the ICS update after 3 months of the lunch. It could be an instant winner if it was released with Android 4.0 or ICS. LG Optimus Vu, the new kid on the block is a bit different in design. Unlike the traditional Android phones, it has a 5:4 aspect ratio. The display size of LG Optimus Vu is 5", which is .3 inches less than the Galaxy Note. The aspect ratio is a bit uncomfortable too. The battery of LG Optimus Vu is also a bit weaker than that of Galaxy note. On the processor side, the Galaxy Note is powered by a dual core 1.4 GHz Exynos processor and the Optimus Vu runs with a dual core 1.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor. The Optimus Vu has a resolution of 1024x768 pixels which is lower than its competitor, the Galaxy Note. With its iPad like resolution, it also features the iPad like display, the famous IPS display. The cameras and other specification of these two phones are quite similar and before the original release and testing, its better to hold on to any comments about these.

How to Do Video Calls on Android Gtalk

If you have an Android device you must have seen the pre-installed Gtalk app. It is titled only as Talk and quite faster than any other messenger on the device in any kind of slow or fast network. There are some cool things in the messenger like sweeping your fingers left and right to change chat window. Still this app has a great lacking. As expected, Android Gtalk video is not present in most of the Android phones, rather it is exclusive to very few Gingerbread phones. Same is applicable for Android Gtalk video. It is just missing.

But nothing to worry. You have an app for that! It is the Vtok, which is already famous for its iOS iteration. It is quite successful there and now it has come to reign in the Android Market too. Still, we can see many people giving it one star for different compatibility problems. It is understandable as there are just too many devices running Android and it is almost impossible to make an app ready for all. Still, it does a great job on most of the phones. Moreover, if you have any front camera on your Android phone, you might miss Android Gtalk video features, but you will still be able to take the advantage of Android Gtalk audio. Best of all, it’s totally free! So giving a try doesn’t hurt actually. Search in any Android Market or App store for Vtok to get your app.

The Best SIRI Alternatives for Android

You have already seen the 'magical' iPhone 4S with its new voice features

named SIRI. This has been greater than what it sounded like and people are making a lots of experiments and fun with it.

If you are an Android user, you might have looked for some SIRI alternatives. Voice is already built in Android for a while though for commands or conversations you will need third party apps which do the job quite good.

The most mentioned SIRI alternative for Android is of course Vlingo which has a good list of commands like texting, calling, setting alarms, google seaching and many other things. But if you are wondering whether you can have a SIRI alternative for Android that has the capability to reply to your commands and questions, you have two good options. One is Voice Commands which is a good one with faster results. I have used it with 2G networks and got almost instant answers. Besides it has some functions like google search, calling and texting.

There is a new app now which was made for fun in just 8 hours but now it is almost ready for serious business. Its IRIS, the opposite of SIRI. To prove that, it even claims itself to be a male. It has gone through 2 updates after coming to Android Market and the last update has included some functions similar to Voice Actions and a futuristic UI like the new Ice Cream Sandwich theme. It is available in the Android Market and you can try it for free. Besides, Vlingo and Voice Actions are also free apps.

P.S: IRIS is mainly based on internet searches. Therefore, do not expect it to understand everything. It will match your words with some album names or song titles most of the time. Still its a good thing to play with if you were missing the SIRI fun.

Link2SD for Gingerbread

Previously using Link2Sd for Gingerbread was a big troublesome thing. You had to run some scripts to activate it everytime and reset the phone again after one reset. There is an easy solution to Link2SD in Gingerbread. The latest version of Link2SD is ready for Gingerbread and you do not have to do much hassle to use it. So after updating your phone to Gingerbread just update the Link2SD app and you are good to go! It works same as the Link2SD in Froyo