Android App of the Week: SnapTax Lets You File Your Taxes from Your Phone

There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is, if you know that filing your taxes is going to be a complex affair involving many investments and assets and dividends, SnapTax, from Intuit, is not going to help you. The good news is, if you have a really simple tax return ahead of you, it’s about to get even simpler! SnapTax is Intuit’s mobile version of the popular TurboTax software, and will allow you to take a photo of your W-2 form using your phone, from which it will glean all relevant information for your tax return. So, for all you non-home owners who are scraping by with wages or unemployment and filing with the 1040EZ, SnapTax will get your return done in…well, a snap. You can pick it up for free from the Android Market.

Android Ice Cream might stop fragmentation, sundae a sign?

One of the most used words when someone wants to criticize Google’s Android OS is the “fragmentation.” So it’s very convincing that the Ice Cream update of the popular operating system will address the issue. According to Bloomberg Business Weekreport posted last week, Mountain View, California will limit smartphone manufacturers and wireless carriers from tweaking the open-source Android operating system, obviously to stop the growing fragmentation.

What does this report means? Well, Google will try its very best to give their mobile and tablet operating system a solid barrier from “designers.” Apparently, some manufacturers are not updating their Android smartphones to sell more phones. I don’t need to name some of them because it will eat half of this post.

Anyway, the report added that if a manufacturer wants to license Android, they need to receive approval from a now-strict curators of Android. Oops! Goodbye TouchWiz and HTC Sense?

Surprisingly, Google’s search engine is now celebrating the tasty Ice Cream sundae’s 119th year anniversary. Is this a big sign that this quarter will be the start of a cleaner, and a more unified Android operating system? One of the best signs that Android is trying its best to end fragmentation is the list of the upcoming Android devices that will arrive this year. Most of them (like the HTC Thunderbolt, Motorola Atrix 4G) are using FroYo version, which is not the latest version of the fast-growing OS.

According to our very own Carlo Diokno, the Android Ice Cream update might hit some smartphones this quarter, the same quarter that the rumored Apple smartphone will arrive, the iPhone 5 (although some are speculating that Apple might delay the iPhone 5 until next year).

Aside from Apple’s iOS devices, Google is also facing another rival coming from Microsoft, the Windows Phone 7, that will soon get a best friend from Europe, the hardware-popular smartphone maker Nokia.

Shame on You: Pirated Android App Really Shameware

A pirated version of an Android app is actually a Trojan that "shames" someone who installs it by sending an SMS message to all his contacts telling them of his piracy.

The original app is called Walk and Text, and costs $2.10 in the Android Market. The app uses the camera on the back of a smartphone to show a user a visual of his upcoming surroundings, which will supposedly prevent the user from running into the street or across a set of train tracks.

[Of course, since many tend to look down as they text, it's also possible they will see only the ground, unless they retrain themselves to hold the phone perpendicular to the ground as they walk. For us, that seems really hard to do.]

The pirated version is available from unofficial Android app markets, and once installed and redirects the pirate to the legitimate app in the Android Market, while also sending the following SMS message to the phone's entire contact list:

"Hey, just downlaoded [sic] a pirated app off the internet, Walk and Text for Android. Im stupid and cheap, it costed [sic] only 1 buck. Don't steal like I did!"

Finally, a message pops up on the phone's screen:

"We really hope you learned something from this. Check your phone bill ;) Oh and dont forget to buy the App from the Market."

Security firm Avast took a look at the pirated app, and made some conclusions that resulted in a huge blow-up in the comments section, including threats of a lawsuit. That contentiousness came from Avast's original post, which determined that data from the pirated app was sent to a URL owned by Georgi Tanmazov, CEO of Incorporate Apps, the developer of a number of Android apps including the legitimate "Walk and Text" app.

The conclusion of the original post was that the app was a sort of punishment by Incorporate Apps to pirates. According to some of the Incorporate Apps comments in the post, which has since been rewritten, "We argued about a previous version of our Apps being stolen and hijacked on numerous forums and I guess people tried to get back on us in some way."

The rewritten post offers other alternative theories as to the URL and to why data would be sent to it.

Mozy Releases Android Apps

When you've got all your most important files securely stored in the cloud by an online backup provider, it only makes sense that you should be able to access them while you're on the road using your smartphone.

Several online backup providers have already delivered iPhone and Android apps that let you do things like access files you have stored on their servers, change backup schedules, and even send links to share content with contacts, as our Editors' Choice SOS Online Backup's does. Today the biggest player in online backup, Mozy (a division of storage giant EMC), announced the availability of apps for iPads and iPhones, with apps for Android 2.x devices to follow.

The new Mozy app lets users of the online backup service view and open stored documents. It also lets them view photo thumbnails, download them, or post them directly to Facebook. The app is a free download from the Apple App Store, but of course is only useful to Mozy subscribers. For extra security, users can specify a passcode that will be required before accessing their account. A search box means you don't have to burrow through deep folder trees to get to the file you want.

"When we first mentioned a Mozy app for iPhone and Android to our MozyHome customers a month ago, the feedback was overwhelmingly positive," said Charlotte Yarkoni, COO of Mozy. "We're very excited to announce that it's now available in the iTunes AppStore and our customers can access all of their backed up data from their iOS or Android mobile device."

One feature missing from the app is the ability to go in the other direction—backing up data from the iPhone or iPad to the servers. Competitor IDrive offers a free app that handles this for contacts and photos.

Mozy offers desktop software for Windows and Mac OS that offers unattended backup uploading. The service costs $5.99 a month for 50GB of online storage on one computer or $9.99 a month for 125GB from up to three computers. Mozy recently discontinued its unlimited storage plan, citing excessive storage and bandwith usage by a minority of its users.

For more on the new mobile online backup software, head to mozy.com/mobile. You can also download the app directly from the iTunes App Store.

Firefox for Android gets it mostly right (video)

Mozilla lifted the lid off Firefox for Android earlier this week, but what's the big deal? Oh, just that this is Firefox's most important mobile appearance since browser-maker Mozilla began its mobile project, notably as the Minimo browser for Windows Mobile 5 and 6, and later as Fennec for Windows Mobile 6. (Mozilla later dropped Windows Mobile support when Microsoft began work on Windows Phone 7.)

Firefox for smartphones: An evolution (photos)

     

There's also the fact that Firefox offers a couple of unique mobile components, like its signature add-ons convention, as well as Firefox Sync, which gives your smartphone access to URLs that you opened on your computer.

For navigation, Firefox makes use of swiping the screen left and right to reveal controls in the gutters. This takes a bit more effort than tapping a persistent onscreen control, but it also frees up that precious screen space for reading and browsing.

An attractive, logical interface only goes so far, and thankfully Mozilla seems to have tightened up the spotty performance we've seen in earlier beta efforts. There's always room for growth, especially considering that Firefox for Mobile will reach the most users it ever has now that it's on the Android platform.

There's still the issue of missing Flash support, which Mozilla sloughed off over a year ago. That will potentially hinder the app's adoption since the default Android browser does support Flash. Mozilla, however, is betting on HTML5 for playing video and other dynamic Web content.

For now, I will say that Mozilla has hit most of the usability high points, and that after long years of development, it has created a mobile browser worthy of competing with the likes of Dolphin Browser and Opera Mobile 11.

Amazon Cloud Player (for Android)

Amazon Cloud Player (Free, 3.5 stars), Amazon's new music storage and streaming service, lets users access audio libraries that have been uploaded to the Amazon Cloud Drive (Free, 3 stars) from a variety of Web-connected devices—with the notable exceptions of the iPad and iPad 2. The service comes to the Android platform bundled within the Amazon MP3 app in the form of Amazon Cloud Player for Android. The Android app (reviewed here) lets music lovers stream tunes, create playlists, and download uploaded tracks on their mobile devices. Overall, Amazon Cloud Player for Android is an enjoyable, useful app (featuring 5GB of free Web storage) that's only limited by the impositions placed upon the user, particularly in regards to compatible file types.

Setup and Interface
Once I downloaded the Amazon MP3 app to a Samsung Epic 4G smartphone, I was presented with the option to either enter the Amazon MP3 Store to purchase music, or launch the Amazon Cloud Player. I selected the latter option. Once inside the Cloud Player, I was given the choice of listening to music that's "On-device" (as is, physically on the phone), or you can signing into "Cloud Drive Music." Once again, I selected the second option.

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After downloading the Amazon MP3 app to a Samsung Epic 4G($129, 4 stars) smartphone, I was presented with the option to either enter the Amazon MP3 Store to purchase music, or launch the Amazon Cloud Player upon firing up the app. I selected the latter option. Once inside the Cloud Player, I was given the choice of listening to music that's "On-device" (that is, stored on the phone itself), or signing into "Cloud Drive Music." Once again, I selected the second option.

I signed into Amazon Cloud Player for Android with my credentials, but didn't see the handful of tracks that I had uploaded to Amazon Cloud Drive earlier that the day. The app suggested that I log out of my Could Player for Android account, move back to the desktop, sign into the browser-based Amazon Cloud Player, return to the phone, and then log back in. It worked! My handful of songs appeared within seconds, and I could sort music based on artist, album, or song.

Specifications

Type

Personal

Free

Yes

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Tapping "Create Playlist" opened a dialog box that let me name my list. Next, I added songs to the playlist by clicking the bright green "+" icons that live to the right of each file, and then clicked "Done." Tapping "Edit" let me remove tracks from the playlist, or add new songs. You can also download files by tapping the download icon—data transferred quickly over the phone's 4G connection. Thankfully, Amazon includes a search field that returns results on the fly as you key in letters—a much-appreciated addition for those of us with deep song catalogs. Creating a playlist from the content within "On-device Music" let me assemble a playlist of music stored on the handset. At this time, you're unable to upload music from your phone to the cloud.

Streaming Audio Quality
Amazon Cloud Player streams music at a song's original bit rate audio quality. I enjoyed the loud, crisp, uninterrupted music when I streamed David Byrne's "Like Humans Do," and other tunes, to my phone using the 4G and then the Wi-Fi radios. The bottom-end sounds were a bit weak, but that was more of a speaker issue than a streaming issue as the bass was quite substantial when I streamed songs through the browser-based Amazon Cloud Player.

Amazon Cloud Player Desktop
The other half of this equation is the desktop version of Amazon Cloud Player. This browser-based music player lets you play songs (in AAC or MP3 format), create and manage playlists, and upload audio files. Unfortunately, you can't upload files directly into Cloud Player; you're required to download Amazon MP3 Uploader to accomplish that task, which automatically scans your hard drive and uploads files. This is an odd setup, as I could upload files directly into Amazon Cloud Drive. I would've liked the choice of using either option. On the upside, the Amazon Cloud Player imported three playlists that I had created in iTunes and synced them to Amazon Cloud Player for Android—very cool.

The desktop Cloud Player has a few curious limitations. You can't upload audiobooks, ringtones, files larger than 100MB in size, or tracks recorded in FLAC, OGG, WAV, or any other types other than AAC and MP3. This mean that you can't stream them to the Android app.

Storage
By default, you get 5GB of free storage, but you can bump it up to 20GB for $20 per year. Purchasing a MP3 album before the end of the year gives you a free year of 20GB cloud storage. There are also 50GB ($50 per year), 100GB ($100 per year), 200GB ($200 per year), 500GB ($500 per year), and 1000GB ($1,000 per year) options available. I really appreciated the fact that music purchased from Amazon MP3 does not count against your storage. Amazon has really gone out of its way encourage people to sample their music store and new service.

Making Music Purchases
I purchased Pete Yorn's "Life On A Chain" and was given the choice of saving the DRM-free track to the handset itself or saving it to Amazon Cloud Player. I saved it the Cloud Player, returned to the desktop Cloud Player, and was happy that it had quickly synced.

Should You Use Amazon Cloud Player for Android?
Amazon Cloud Player for Android is designed for music fans who want to listen to their libraries on the move with a tablet (but not an iPad) or smartphone (but not an iPhone) in tow. Audiophiles should shy away as the service doesn't support lossless codecs, but if you're an Android user who isn't already tied into another system, you should give it the app a go, as it lets you effortlessly keep all of your tunes at hand without worrying about transferring the catalog from device to device.

PS1 Games Arrive on Android Store, but Xperia Play Launch Hobbled

PlayStation One games are now available to download from the Android mobile phone Marketplace - the only problem is, you might be hard-pushed to find a Sony Ericsson Xperia Play to actually run them.

The new gadget - rumoured for months before its official unveiling as the 'PlayStation Phone' - launched today, is the only one on the market to sport a certified console-style control pad, and allows for the integration of the PlayStation Network onto a mobile device. Part of this deal was that you could play PS1 titles on it.

And sure enough, the Android Marketplace has already been updated with Syphon Filter, Destruction Derby, Medievil, Jumping Flash and Cool Boarders 2 available for £3.99 each, in several languages.

Google tightens grip on Android manufacturers in bid to fend off fragmentation

While it affords more space than the likes of iOS, there's been an increasing level of debate of late regarding just how 'open' a platform Android really is.

Google once pitched its OS as a playground where OEMs could twist and tweak with the software, offering consumers differentiation and pushing the platform in multiple new directions.

Now, if BusinessWeek is to be believed, it's attempting to reign in its partners, presenting Android as a more unified experience to consumers.

Why? Fragmentation.

Heavy hand

The site reports that "several people familiar with the matter" have claimed that Google has been insisting that Android licensees abide by "non-fragmentation clauses" to enable the firm to have a final say over any adjustments they may have made to the OS.

Not only does that include additional services and interfaces the OEM might have employed, but also the very companies they may have partnered with.

As such, the site alleges Verizon devices that make use of Microsoft's Bing search engine have been "held up", as well as an Android phone rumoured to be in development at Facebook.

Keeping competitors in check

Such a clamp down would likely cause major waves, arguably moving Google into territory where it was not only protecting its platform from fragmentation, but also hindering attempts by its competitors to gain a share of the Android ecosystem.

It comes at a time when Microsoft has already hit Google with an anti-trust probe in Europe, citing what it believes is a "pattern of actions" that impede its rivals to its search business.

Google itself denies there's been any change in its tact, with VP of engineering Andy Rubin reportedly claiming that non-fragmentation clauses have been a part of Android since the beginning.

However, delays to the release of Android code into the public domain – Honeycomb's source code set to be restricted to approved partners – suggests there's been an undeniable shift in Google's approach of late, with Android's move to the top table resulting in the doors to its once open kingdom being pulled to a touch.

[source: BusinessWeek]

Before you Download an Android App!

With a slew of Android mobile devices streaming into the market, there is a lot of excitement around Google's Android OS and its market. A report by Gartner published in Feb 2011 makes this clear by pointing that in the smartphone OS market, Android grew 888.8 percent in 2010 and moved on to the second position, just next to Symbian which is still the supremo.

However, recently few security issues related to Android raised concerns amongst the consumers. Let us dig into some of these issues and the kind of threats that they have been posing.

Security issues with Android's 'Instant app download' feature

Until recently the only way to access Android Market was to do so directly from an Android device using the Android market app on the device. But recently Google launched the Android Market website that allowed users to choose the apps and automatically download them to their Android devices over the air.

What the user has to do, is to go to the Android Market website (https://market.android.com/) and sign in using his Google credentials and the application immediately retrieves information of Android devices registered in the person's name and also the data about market apps that have been already installed.

Once you choose a particular app that you would want to install on your Android device, the required permissions are displayed by the website which you can either accept or decline. But once you accept installation of the app, on the website, the app is automatically downloaded on mobile device in the background. That is, the user is not asked to grant permission on the device itself.