Android 4.3 Sports Hidden App Ops Feature

Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, the latest mobile operating system flavor from Google, arrives on devices with some appealing new features packed inside, including one that expands the control that users have over the permissions that applications benefit from.

Called App Ops, the option has been found to be hidden by default, but to be easily enabled via a third-party app called Permission Manager and already available for download, a recent article on Android Police notes. Through it, users will be able to fine tune the apps’ permissions to read contacts, access location, read call logs, post notifications, and the like.

App Ops doesn’t appear to be ready for widespread use as of now, and no specific info on when it could be activated has been provided, but it certainly looks like Google is preparing some enhancements to Android’s security capabilities.

Download Permission Manager for Android 4.3 (Google Play Store link)

Permissions Manager for Android 4.3
Image credits to Google Play Store

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BlackBerry 10.2 to Bring Separate BBM Groups Notifications

The upcoming BlackBerry 10.2 operating system will bring along some appealing new features to BBM enthusiasts, including support for separate notifications for BBM Groups, the latest reports on the matter suggest.

According to CrackBerry, the info comes from Michael Clewley, who posted it on his BBM channel, although he did not offer further info on the matter. However, chances are that the availability of this feature will translate into two types of notifications in the BlackBerry Hub, as well as into individual settings for both BBM and BBM Groups. It should also allow users to keep things better organized.

Unfortunately, no specific info on when BlackBerry 10.2 will be released to users has been provided as of now, though the Canadian mobile phone maker is known to be already hard at work with its development.

BlackBerry 10
Image credits to Blackberry

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CyanogenMod Focal, New Camera App From CyanogenMod

Today, CyanogenMod announced a new application for devices running under its custom Android software, namely CyanogenMod Focal, the first new feature to arrive on devices as part of the recently teased Nemesis.

The new camera application comes with a feel similar to that of the stock Android camera, though it does have a variety of customizations on top. The software packs features that Android users should already be accustomed with, including photosphere (called Picsphere) and panorama, as well as the option to snap photos while shooting a video. CyanogenMod Focal comes with a radial menu, offering fast access to options such as Front-Facing camera, Picsphere, Video, Panorama, and Photo, as Android Police reports. However, these are only some of the options that users will find available for them in Focal’s menu, as there are also a variety of other features listed there.

Some of them include Flash mode (Torch, On, Off, Auto), White Balance (Cloudy Outside, Daylight, Fluorescent, Incandescent, Auto), Color Effects (Neon, Sketch, Emboss, Aqua, Whiteboard, Blackboard, Posterize, Sepia, Polarize, Negative, Black and White, Disabled), and Exposure. Additionally, there are options such as Scene Mode (Theater, Sunset, Steady, Sports, Snow, Portrait, Party, Night Portrait, Night, Landscape, HDR, Flowers, Fireworks, Candlelight, Beach, Backlight, Best Shot, Augmented Reality, Auto), ISO Sensitivity, Burst Mode, Timer, and Color Enhancements. CyanogenMod Focal also offers Exposure Measure Mode, and settings such as Widgets Chooser, Auto-Enhancement, Exposure Ring, and Image Size.

Users will be able to easily learn what each option is by long pressing on it, a move that will bring its name up on the screen. For the time being, however, the new mobile application is available only in a beta flavor, and still packs a series of bugs that affect users’ experience with it. However, the CyanogenMod team is said to be working hard on patching issues and adding enhancements to it. Apparently, the team is set to include the new CyanogenMod Focal camera app in nightly builds as soon as this weekend, so that users could enjoy its features and test it intensively. Stay tuned for more on this.

CyanogenMod Focal
Images credits to Android Police

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Samsung Galaxy Note III Emerges Again with 5.7’’ Screen

Galaxy Note III, the upcoming large smartphone from Samsung, has made yet another appearance online, with its hardware specifications allegedly confirmed by a source from the handset vendor itself.

The upcoming member of the popular Galaxy Note family is expected to make an official appearance on September 4 at IFA in Berlin, and should pack a 5.7-inch touchscreen. Previously, the smartphone was rumored to have been designed with a 5.99-inch display, and it seems that Samsung has indeed tested such as model, though it eventually opted for a smaller design. According to Korea’s Business Daily, the Galaxy Note III will also hit shelves with a Snapdragon 800 processor packed inside, and with support for LTE-Advanced connectivity.

Furthermore, the smartphone will include 3GB of RAM, being among the first handsets in the world to feature such a large amount of memory. The upcoming device will also feature a small bezel, which should allow it to keep roughly the same size as last year’s Galaxy Note II, which was launched with a 5.5-inch touchscreen display. At the same time, it is said to sport an outer design similar to that of Galaxy S4, including the metallic stripe around its body. Supposedly running under Google’s Android 4.3 Jelly Bean operating system, the Galaxy Note III should prove to be one of the fastest and most powerful such smartphones on the market (LG’s G2, set to be unveiled on August 7, should also pack a Snapdragon 800 CPU and 3GB of RAM).

As mentioned above, Samsung should make the handset official at the IFA 2013 trade show in Berlin in early September, which means that official details on specs and features will be unveiled only at that time. Until then, however, you can have a look at some more leaked photos with the Galaxy Note III, available courtesy of TechKiddy.

Alleged Galaxy Note III photo
Images credits to techkiddy

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