Motorola accidentally leaks Android 'O'

Last week, Motorola launched its much awaited duo of budget smartphones, the Moto G4 and the Moto G4 Plus . Soon after the launch, the official website went live for millions of web users. The company however, also slipped in some extra information in one of the promotional pages, which has now has been taken down. As first spotted by Anzhuo website, the company not only said the Moto G4 Plus will be running the upcoming Android N but will also that it will be eligible for Android O.
We know Google provided some more details regarding Android N last week, at its I/O developer conference. Although the search giant is far from even confirming any details on Android O, the promotional page almost confirms the OS version exists and might as well in work already.
Both Google and Motorola might not reveal anything about the next version of the Android OS until next year, provided Google is still asking users to vote for their favourite Android OS names starting with 'N'. However, it is likely that Nexus and Motorola Moto G4 users might be among the first to receive Android O whenever Google plans to roll it out.
Motorola Moto G4 Plus and the Moto G4 were launched last week. The Android 6.0.1 Marshmallow-based handsets feature almost the same set of specifications, with some minor changes.
The Moto G4 Plus comes at a price tag of Rs 13,499 for the 16GB in-built storage+2GB RAM version, while the 32GB in-built storage+3GB RAM variant has been priced at 14,999. The company did not reveal the price of the Moto G4 at the launch event, but said that it will be available in June.
Moto G4 and G4 Plus handsets are successors to the company's Moto G (3rd Generation), launched last year. Both handsets support VoLTE and dual-sim functionality, along with 4G.

How to get Developer Options on Android: 34 useful things you can do in Android Developer Options

What are Android Developer Options?

Every Android smartphone and Android tablet contains a secret set of options: Android Developer Options. As the name suggests these are intended principally for developers - people who need additional functions to test software and apps they are writing for Android devices. There are many options that allow you to simulate app stresses or enable debugging options.

Android Developer Options allow you to enable debugging over USB, capture bug reports on to your Android device, and show CPU usage on screen to measure the impact of your software.

Android Developer Options also allow you to draw debugging information on screen including layout bounds, updates on GPU views and hardware layers, and other information.

How to access and enable Android Developer Options

Android Developer Options are available on all Android devices, but OEMs do make accessing them slightly different on occasion. They all make them impossible to accidentally access, for good reason. This is because the options offer great power - power most people can't usefully use. Regardless, generally speaking the following process works. I enabled Android Developer Options on my LG G3.

Go to Settings > General > About phone. Then scroll and select Software information > Build number. Now rapidly tap on 'Build Number' five times and you will see the message 'You are now a developer!'

The critical thing is to get to 'Build number', and then tap rapidly until you see the message. Some OEMs make it seven- rather than five taps. Under Settings > General, you will now see 'Developer Options'. Enable this to access the options outlined below.

Once you have enabled the options, there is no obvious way to delete the Developer Options apart from factory resetting your handset. But you can easily set the Developer Options slider to off, and do no harm.

34 things you can do in Android Developer Options

1. Animator duration scale: This setting changes the duration of the animations which take place when opening and closing the app menu.

2. Background process limit: Right down the bottom of the list, this option lets you set how many processes can run in the background at any one time.

3. Bluetooth HCI snoop log: The 'Enable Bluetooth HCI snoop log' allows you to capture and analyze Bluetooth HCI (Host Controller Interface) packets. Enabling this will places them for analysis in a file on the device storage (/sdcard/btsnoop_hci.log) for retrieval.

4. Bug report: Right at the top of the list you will find 'Take Bug Report'. Tapping this option surfaces the log files on your device, allowing you to send them wherever you wish to view them.

5. Debug GPU overdraw: GPU overdraw happens every time the application asks the system to draw something on top of something else. Debug GPU overdraw gives you information about this.

6. Desktop backup password: Android Developer Options allow you to backup and restore to and from your PC things such as apps and their associated data. This option requires a password for such backups.

7. Don't keep activities: Be very careful about using this setting: it force closes every application as soon as you leave its main view.

8. Enable OpenGL traces: A setting that records OpenGL errors. Enable OpenGL traces places errors in a log file of your choosing.

9. Force 4x MSAA: This setting forces multi-sample anti-aliasing (MSAA). This makes things look better, but puts more strain on the CPU / RAM.

10. Force GPU rendering: This setting forces apps to use hardware 2D rendering, even if they were written to not use it. It can make things look great, or it can temporarily bork your phone. Use with care.

11. Force RTL layout direction: This forces screen orientation for right-to-left language support. Useful principally for developers of multi-language apps.

12. Keep your phone awake: Check the 'Stay awake' option and the screen on your phone to stay on anytime and every time it is plugged in. Useful if you are working on Android development and find it annoying that the screen keeps timing out. But it won't do your screen any good in the medium term.

13. Mock locations: Hit the 'Allow Mock Locations' option, and you will be able to manually write location information. This is useful if you are developing an app that uses location information.

14. Pointer location: Places an information bar at the top of your screen that tells you the coordinates of the last place the screen was touched.

15. Power menu bug reports: This adds an option to the menu you see when you press and hold the power key, allowing you to collect and send a bug report.

16. Process stats: This is one of only a couple of options that remains enabled even when you switch off Developer Options. It shows you a tonne of data about what is going on in your smartphone or tablet.

17. Profile GPU rendering: This setting draws a graph - a visual rendering of how hard the GPU is working. You can either view onscreen or save to a file.

18. Select debug app: Choose an app, debug it.

19. Select USB configuration: Select how your Android device should react when it's connected to a PC over USB.

20. Select runtime: Here you can choose to use either Dalvik or ART. Important for developers creating apps to run on Android L.

21. Show all ANRs: Makes every process show an 'App Not Responding' dialog if it hangs. Even if it is running in the background, which is useful if the app you are developing is interfering with another process, and you need to work out what is happening.

22. Show CPU usage: Allows you to view CPU information onscreen at all times.

23. Show GPU view updates: Enable this setting and any onscreen element drawn with GPU hardware is viewed with a red overlay.

24. Show hardware layer updates: Tells you when hardware layers update.

25. Show layout bounds: This useful tool marks the edges of all the elements in a dialog so you know where a touch will activate them.

26. Show surface updates: Selecting this option makes the edge of an onscreen window flash when its contents are updated.

27. Show touches: This option adds a visual cue on the screen wherever a touch is registered.

28. Simulate secondary displays: Allows you to simulate different screen sizes.

29. Strict mode enabled: Flashes the screen when an app uses the main thread to perform long and intensive operations.

30. Transition animation scale: This setting sets the speed for transition-animation playback.

31. USB debugging: Allows your Android device to communicate via USB to your computer via the Android Debug Bridge (ADB). You can also revoke USB debugging authorizations: When you use a computer to debug over USB for the first time, you have to authorize it and set up a keypair. This setting revokes that.

32. Verify apps over USB: Use this setting and Google scans apps you installed looking for malicious behavior.

33. Wait for debugger: Not enabled unless you are set up to debug an app. When enabled it prevents that app from starting until the debugger is attached.

34. Window animation scale: Sets the speed for window-animation playback.

Google blocks The Pirate Bay in Chrome and Firefox as a ‘deceptive site’

Users of Google Chrome and Mozilla Firefox who visited popular torrent site The Pirate Bay today were greeted with a malware warning — just like the one Kickass Torrents visitors saw last month and in October 2015. Navigating to The PirateBay results in a message cautioning you to go no further (“Deceptive site ahead” in Chrome and “Reported Web Forgery!” in Firefox).

Interestingly, if you navigate to The PirateBay in Firefox, you get a very bare homepage and only receive the warning if you search for a torrent. In Chrome, the error is there right off the bat.

This issue only affects those browsers because Google’s Safe Browsing is flagging the site. The service powers similar security features in Chrome and Firefox.

The warnings are a bit different depending on the browser you’re using, but the gist is the same. Chrome users are told that “Attackers on thepiratebay.se may trick you into doing something dangerous like installing software or revealing your personal information (for example, passwords, phone numbers, or credit cards).”

Firefox users are told, “This web page at thepiratebay.se has been reported as a web forgery and has been blocked based on your security preferences.”

Chrome users can get around this message by clicking Details and then “visit this unsafe site,” while Firefox users can click “Ignore this warning.” You should only do this if you trust The Pirate Bay, though we would recommend simply using another torrent site while the issue is addressed.

The diagnostics report offers little detail:

thepiratebay.se contains deceptive content.

Don’t panic. Users sometimes post bad content on websites that are normally safe. Safe Browsing will update the safety status once the webmaster has cleaned up the bad content.

These types of warnings typically occur when an ad network is compromised and starts serving malicious ads. Because sites often use multiple advertising networks, some specific to certain regions, not all users are always affected. In short, at least one of The Pirate Bay’s pages is serving up malware, according to Google.

Chances are The Pirate Bay will find the problematic ad network and remove it. But as we’ve seen before, it will take days for the change to trickle down to Google’s Safe Browsing service.

There Are Going to Be New Nokia Android Phones and Tablets

Nokia's N1 Android tablet from 2014 (Image: Nokia)

Nokia has just announced that a licensing deal will see a new range of Android phones and tablets produced under its name for the next ten years.

Earlier , we found out that Microsoft was selling its feature phone business, branded using Nokia's name, to a Foxconn subsidiary, FIH Mobile. Now, Nokia has explained as part of the deal it's provided FIH with "an exclusive global license to create a full range of Nokia-branded smartphones, tablets, and feature phones for the next decade." The Finnish company explains that the new smartphones and tablets will be based on Android, though there aren't any more details right now.

You may, however, be in for a wait before you're toting a new Android-loaded Nokia. "There is still much work for HMD to do, so you'll need to wait a bit longer to see what the next wave of Nokia phones and tablets look like," explains the firm.

[Nokia via Engadget]

Google's New Super-Powerful Messaging App Is Here, and It's Called Allo

The app is powered by Google's newly announced AI bot Google Assistant and Google's Knowledge Graph. Once you sign up with your phone number and link your Google account to the app, you're ready to go.

It's got cutesy little features like easy-to-use volume control to "shout" messages (read as: make font bigger). But some of the "woah future" moments came with a demo of impressive image recognition built into the app. For example, when you send a picture of a dog, Allo will automatically populate possible responses because it recognizes that the image is of a dog. Yes, Allo is so advanced, it will even do the messaging for you.

You can also message @google and launch all the powers of the Google search engine brain, powered by Google's own Knowledge Graph. You can also this robot text messaging a group experience.

Google didn't definitively express that Allo is a replacement for Hangouts and Messenger. But with all these genuinely exciting features, "out with the old and in with the new" .

Android N: The Latest Features

Google gave a demo of its annual iteration of the Android operating system in Google I/O yesterday and we are already excited. For the first time, Google had released a developer preview of the new Android, termed Android N (for now), a month and a half earlier, to get developers acclimatized to the new ecosystem. 

Google released a working beta available only for Nexus phones. Here's a roundup of the best features of Android N:


1. Multi-Window Support: Multi-windows have been there for a while now, in Samsung and HTC phones, but Android has integrated the feature seamlessly inside the operating system this time. Guaranteeing spikes in productivity, users can now run two apps simultaneously. In Android tablets, the multi window will work picture-in-picture style so you can monitor tweets simultaneously with watching the latest Game Of Thrones episode. The possibilities of multi-tasking now seems endless. You can now look at your recipe on the browser and add the things on your shopping list, or take a call while watching a video, all without having to switch screens. Now we get the point of bigger screens completely.

2. Notifications Control: Notifications have received an overhaul in the new OS. Notifications have now become more interactive and visible. There's option of bundling similar notification to appear as a single one. You can peak inside a child notification from a parent one, which will temporarily appear as a heads-up notification and view the most recent notification and the actions associated with it. You can also blacklist apps from showing notifications or silent them completely, right from the notification panel.

3. Direct Reply: Did the new quick reply option in WhatsApp surprise you? Get used to it, because Android is integrating this beautiful upgrade straight into the system and just about any app can provide the quick reply option. Now, you can directly reply to a message, right from the screen you are on, without having to open that app.

4. Doze on the go: Battery has been the single biggest headache for smartphone users and Google has been constantly putting their brains behind improving the battery life of Android devices. The latest attempt develops from Marshmallow's Doze feature, which shuts down the apps when the phone is not in use. It has now developed further to put the apps in doze mode simply when the screen is off. Also, the memory and battery management has improved significantly, as part of Project Svelte, which stops apps from waking up as often when a change in network and connectivity occurs.

5. Data Saver: Android has included a neat data saver feature, accessed from the quick settings panel as well as from the settings app. When the Data Saver feature is turned on, the system blocks background data usage and signals apps to use less data in the foreground wherever possible. Of-course, you can white-list apps you want to be ignored by this feature. However, the data saver only works when connected through a metered connection, which is basically your cellular data plan or a DHCP Wi-Fi connection, and your Android device will be smart enough to recognize a metered connection very well on its own.

Trophy Leagues - Clash of Clans

Trophy Leagues are groups of players that are all within the same trophy range. While in a Trophy League, each multiplayer victory will award a loot bonus based on league level.

Summary

• Added in the Version 3.124 update on April 17th, 2013.
• In the 7.156 update on July 1, 2015 the Titan and Legend leagues were added

Joining A League

• 1. To join a league, start by completing one multiplayer attack.
  2. At the end of this attack (regardless of victory or defeat), as long as your trophy count is higher than 400, you will be automatically placed into an appropriate league based on the league level's trophy range.
• You will be promoted to a higher league or demoted to a lower league if your trophies reach certain limits for your current league (listed below).

About Leagues

• Every player in a league gets the privilege to show off their league badge. The badge will appear next to your name in many game areas (e.g. chat, clan, tops, friends list).
• Demotion occurs when the player drops more than 100 trophies below the limit required to join that division of the league (50 trophies for Bronze League II and I). For example, if you are in Silver II and you drop to 900 trophies, you will be demoted to Silver III. This is to prevent players from changing leagues too often.
• You will get a loot bonus for every multiplayer attack victory. The bonus can be seen in the battle result screen and is awarded in addition to the amount of loot that you stole from your opponent.
• The loot bonus is not awarded for defensive victories or single player victories.
  • After the March 21 Update, revenge attacks now count towards the league bonus.
• The loot bonus gained is reliant on the total damage you have done. In order to get the full loot bonus, you must achieve at least 70% destruction. Destroying any less than that in a victory will award partial loot bonus; for example, 80% of the loot bonus is awarded at 50% destruction.
• The leagues are the determining factor of your Star Bonus; higher leagues will offer more loot in the Star Bonus.
• Each league will track victories while both attacking and defending. You can see them near your name in the league screen which can be accessed by clicking the trophy icon shown below your current trophy count. The victory counters automatically reset when the season ends or if your trophy count drops under 300 at any time.
• There is no limit to the number of times you can be promoted or demoted during a season. Climb as high as you can, or drop as low as you can go; it is all up to you!
• You will be grouped with up to 100 players at a time in your league to help you gauge your progress. Each league will track the number of places you move up or down inside your own league group.
• Each league has 3 separate divisions, except for Legend, which has only one.
• Also note that if you are demoted from Bronze III, you will lose any league ranking and will be leagueless until you raise your trophies back up to the required amount of trophies.

When A League Season Ends

• All players are removed from their leagues and automatically become "unranked" (Your badge will be replaced with a gray, empty badge).
• The placement process will start all over, so complete another multiplayer attack to be placed back into a league. If you don't keep playing, you don't get to keep your badge!
• Even if your league level doesn't change, you will get grouped with a completely new set of players within your league once you rejoin it.
• League seasons last approximately one month and they reset on the first Monday of each month at Midnight Eastern Time (US). You can check to see how much longer the current league season will last by clicking on the trophy icon at the top left of the main screen. The remaining time will be shown below your league level.
• When entered in the Legend League, each season will last 4-5 weeks.
  • At the end of a Legend League season, all players in the Legend League will have their trophies reset to 5000, however they acquire prestigious Legend Trophies to make up for the excess Trophies that they lose - purple Trophies that will be permanent in their profile. For example, if at the end of a Legend League season, a player finishes with 5100 trophies, they get reset back to 5000 trophies and earn 100 Legend Trophies.

Level		Trophy Range	Demotion if at or below	Promotion if at or above	Maximum Win Bonus	Maximum Win Bonus	Maximum Win Bonus
Bronze III		400 - 499	300	500	700	700	0
Bronze II		500 - 599	450	600	1000	1000	0
Bronze I		600 - 799	550	800	1300	1300	0
Silver III		800 - 999	700	1,000	2,600	2,600	0
Silver II		1,000 - 1,199	900	1,200	3,700	3,700	0
Silver I		1,200 - 1,399	1,100	1,400	4,800	4,800	0
Gold III		1,400 - 1,599	1,300	1,600	10,000	10,000	0
Gold II		1,600 - 1,799	1,500	1,800	13,500	13,500	0
Gold I		1,800 - 1,999	1,700	2,000	17,000	17,000	0
Crystal III		2,000 - 2,199	1,900	2,200	40,000	40,000	120
Crystal II		2,200 - 2,399	2,100	2,400	55,000	55,000	220
Crystal I		2,400 - 2,599	2,300	2,600	70,000	70,000	320
Master III		2,600 - 2,799	2,500	2,800	110,000	110,000	560
Master II		2,800 - 2,999	2,700	3,000	135,000	135,000	740
Master I		3,000 - 3,199	2,900	3,200	160,000	160,000	920
Champion III		3,200 - 3,499	3,100	3,500	200,000	200,000	1,220
Champion II		3,500 - 3,799	3,400	3,800	225,000	225,000	1,400
Champion I		3,800 - 4,099	3,700	4,100	250,000	250,000	1,580
Titan III		4,100 - 4,399	4,000	4,400	280,000	280,000	1,880
Titan II		4,400 - 4,699	4,300	4,700	300,000	300,000	2,060
Titan I		4,700 - 4,999	4,600	5,000	320,000	320,000	2,240
Legend		5,000+	4,900	-	340,000	340,000	2,400