Scansfer App for Android Offers a New Way to Transfer Files Between Mobile Devices

Scansfer Inc today announced the release of Scansfer, a unique app utilizing mobile QR code technology to allow users to simply scan and transfer files between mobile devices. Currently available for free on the Android Marketplace and Scansfer.com, expect to see an iPhone app soon - releases for other mobile platforms are also planned.
In a world where more and more people rely on mobile devices for day-to-day computing, it can be difficult and annoying moving files between devices. Scansfer promises to change that. Users no longer need to carry around USB cables, or fill their inboxes with email attachments. With just a few clicks, Scansfer securely uploads files to scansfer.com, and generates a private download key, only accessible by scanning a distinct QR code. The QR code can then be scanned from any mobile device equipped with a camera and bar code scanner app to instantly download the file.

Files up to 5MB can be "scansferred" from phone to phone, phone to computer, or computer to phone, using the Scansfer app in conjunction with the scansfer.com website. The process is quick and painless, making it a snap to "scansfer" documents, pictures, videos or any other type of file. It is not necessary for the mobile device receiving the file to have the Scansfer app installed; it only needs to be capable of reading a QR code using any one of the many popular QR code scanner apps.
While other QR apps allow users to send small bits of information such as contacts or web addresses, the developers of Scansfer say it is unique in being the first true file-transfer app using QR codes, taking the increasingly popular technology a step further. Scansfer Inc is a small company of just three people who came up with the idea while trying to share files between their Android phones, and wishing there was a better way than email.
"QR codes are used widely in other parts of the world," says Scansfer Inc President Josh Robinson, "but they haven't totally caught on yet here in the US. We are hoping that an easy-to-use app like Scansfer will help introduce more people to QR codes, because they're such a fast and effective way of communicating."
For more information on Scansfer please visit http://scansfer.com or download the free Scansfer App from the Android marketplace. Scansfer Inc is a Philadelphia based company formed in April 2011.

Android hits 3 billon app downloads and 350,000 daily device activations

More than 3 billion apps have been downloaded from Google's Android Market. Google has also seen a big boost in the number of Android devices being activated -- that is, sold -- every day.

"We're activating over 350,000 Android devices every day," said Google's Jeff Huber during the company's financial conference call last night. "Android Market is taking off too -- over 3 billion apps have been installed, up 50 per cent in just the last quarter."

If we're reading that statement correctly, that means it took three months for Android to go from 2 billion app downloads to 3 billion, and something like 11.1 million apps were downloaded each day during the past three months. These numbers allow us to compare Android directly to its rivals in the smart-phone software arena.

Apple announced in January that its App Store had passed the 10 billion downloads milestone, three months after passing 7 billion downloads. At one billion downloads a month, that means around 33 million daily app downloads.

Meanwhile, RIM announced in March that its BlackBerry App World was achieving 3 million daily app downloads, while Nokia revealed this week that the Ovi Store is hitting 5 million a day.

In other words, Android Market is growing fast, thanks to those 350,000 daily device activations, but its daily-app-downloads total is still a third of Apple's. That said, the Android Market is beating its other rivals by a considerable margin, and don't forget that Google's store isn't the only place you can download Android apps from.

5 reasons Android gaming hasn’t taken off

Android handset sales are through the roof, making it arguably the most popular smartphone platform around. So why hasn’t Android gaming come on at the same rate? Why do the majority of developers prefer making games for the less popular iPhone? Read on to find out.

Fragmentation

Yes, it’s that ‘F’ word again. The main reason developers don’t like making games for the Android platform is because it really isn’t a single platform. Rather, it’s a somewhat nebulous collection of disparate chipsets, memory load-outs and screen sizes, linked by a common operating system. Even then, the operating system is split across multiple versions, with numerous companies adding their own resource-hogging elements.

It’s a nightmare when you want to get complex games running and optimised for the lot of them, which is why the iPhone’s relatively simple requirements (just a few different specs to consider) is preferable.

Android Market

Another reason game developers like the iPhone is because of the App Store. While it’s not perfect (especially when it comes to discovery), it remains a relatively easy and extremely widespread means to buy and sell apps. It also allows for flexible and innovative pricing methods, such as the enormously popular in-app purchasing.

By contrast, Android Market is a bit of a mess. Navigation is awkward, the payment system isn’t in nearly enough countries and features like in-app purchasing have only just been introduced. Android Market is getting there, but it’s happening a little too slowly, leading to the introduction of third party app stores from the likes of Amazon and Opera.

Distrustful gamers

“You’re just not making money in the Android space as you are in the iOS space.” So concluded games industry legend John Carmack, who had anecdotal evidence of Android’s wider popularity but perplexing lack of  a credible games market. He believes that Android owning games fans simply aren’t willing to splash out for premium games on the platform like their iPhone-owning buddies. Could it be that gamers simply don’t have confidence in the Android gaming experience? Have the aforementioned fragmentation and Android Market issues tarnished the very  idea of playing games on your Android handset?

The games-focused Xperia Play was seen by many as the device to change these perceptions, but as smartphone games developer Polarbit told us, “the Play differs too much from Android handsets in general for it to be seen as the champion of Android gaming.” Are normal Android devices seen as great smartphones but lousy gaming devices, in spite of the massive improvements that have occurred?

Lack of unique games

Distrustful gamers means distrustful developers, and Android Market has until recently been marked by a chronic lack of killer games. That’s ‘really good’ games, you understand, not games about psychos (although there weren’t many of those either). Now the situation is much healthier, but the fact remains that the vast majority of quality new titles make their way to iPhone first and often exclusively.

Some of the oldest and biggest iOS hits like Fieldrunners and Zen Bound show no signs of appearing on Android, and the Google platform has very few titles that are both outstanding in quality and unique to the platform. Inevitably, the platform with the most exclusive hits attracts the most gamers, and that’s the iPhone right now.

Slow conversions

Even worse, the games that do make the switch from iPhone to Android often take an absolute age to do so. Take Flight Control, which was winning praise and setting multiple platforms ablaze a good nine months before Angry Birds turned up. Yet somehow it took two years to arrive on Android. Heck, it even turned up on Windows Phone 7 and – can you believe it – Java dumb-phones before it hit the Android Market. Something is deeply wrong with this picture.

Credit goes to the likes of Gameloft and Rovio who try to get their Android versions out soon after or even simultaneously, but Android really needs more developers of this stature to get their conversions in order quicker.

Vulnerability in Skype for Android ‘leaks private information’

A VULNERABILITY in Skype for Android can leak a substantial amount of private data, potentially affecting more than 10 million users of the app.

Android developer Justin Case wrote in Android Police that the hole could allow a rogue developer to modify an existing app and collect private information. Although no credit card information is involved, Skype does keep information in chat logs, as well as the user's name and phone number.

Case said the problem stems from a mistake by Skype that leaves folders in its directory accessible and completely unencrypted. Using a bit of technical know-how, you can access this information from another app.

The files contain quite a bit of private data, including the your "account balance, full name, date of birth, city/state/country, home phone, office phone, cell phone, email addresses, your webpage, your bio, and more".

Skype also keeps information on your contacts, which "holds similar information, but on friends, family and anyone else in your contact list". Case said that this is more than Skype exposes on other users publicly.

The report also said you can access chat information and instant messages. Skype was unavailable to reply, although it is "investigating".

Case said that the Internet phone and chat company could fix the issue by using proper file permissions and encryption, and performing appropriate security reviews before releasing software.