Norton Mobile Security

   In my continuous search for the best Android mobile security, Today I will talk about Norton. I have tested this while was on beta version and now the product is finished under the Lite name for the free version.

   From the beginning I can confirm that Norton keeps the same engine style which requires resources - the same as the PC version. And here I am referring to battery as lasts with  about 5% up to 10% less with this security suite installed. For the rest the Norton Mobile Security is a classic protection software with modules like antivirus for threats, anti-malware and virus prevention. It has an online scanner which notifies the user live if a downloaded application is infected and a remote lock which locks the smartphone in case is stolen.

   If you wish to upgrade to the paid version you get other three modules like web protection for your browser, anti-theft for location and wipe the device. Last module is call and text blocking which works like a black list application. Now I remember while I had this installed in the beta version that there was one time when my phone turned-off automatically as battery was very low. After charging and when I turned it on, Norton detected a new SIM card (and it was the same card) so was asking me for password. I spent about 30 minutes to remember the password (my bad here) and at the end I unlocked my phone. However during this time I was able to call my 3 contacts added as backup in case I forgot the password. This was great but I know that some users had to reset the phone to factory settings as they did not remember the password.

   Did I mention that scans the SD card together with the entire phone memory and that has a notification bar icon? In conclusion this is another mobile security suite for Android which users can install but personally I was not very impressed. It takes about 2-3 MB of internal space.

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ESET Mobile Security

   For some time I am searching and testing the free mobile security suits for Android to try and find out which one can protect best my smartphone. I have tested Norton Mobile Security, ESET and now I have Bitdefender. But Today I will talk about the ESET Mobile Security and not because I find it the best, but because has some features which I believe are important to be mentioned.

   First I have to confirm that the product is still in beta version, so yes there are bugs to be solved from time to time. However I have the feeling this will be a great security software once the final complete application is released. The ESET Mobile Security comes with: an antivirus for removal of any unwanted or harmful programs which may affect your phone, an anti-spam for SMS/MMS/Voice which is working like a black list application, an anti-theft system based on SIM card registration and SMS commands for lock, wipe or locate, a security audit feature with built-in task manager to check which of the installed applications have access to your data, a password protection for modifications including uninstall and finally an update option for downloading the latest virus signatures.

   The antivirus feature scans the entire phone and the micro-SD card for for worms, trojans, viruses, spyware, spam and other attacks. More than that the protection is a proactive one with heuristics technology which means that can detect an unknown virus at that moment by recognizing it as a threat. The anti-spam module is working as a black list application and all it does is to block any SMS, MMS or calls from certain contacts or from unknown numbers as customized by user. 

   The security audit feature is an interesting and useful one. It shows all applications installed with report for information accessed but also has a task manager to close these. Now for the time I have tested this, not all the applications were able to be closed. But after a while I realized that this was because some programs are re-opening, so the ESET task manager may be a realistic one. Another great feature of security audit is the fact that can show a warning message for the free space needed by the OS to run properly - I was not aware that 25 MB of free space or more are required for Android to run properly. Last good thing is that security audit has a battery life and Bluetooth monitor.

   The update for new virus signature did not work for the time I tested it. It was always showing the message that all definitions are up-to-date. Users can lock the settings and removal of ESET Mobile Security with a password. And as I mentioned the removal part I believe some users will be happy to check the solution below (provided by ESET customer service) if they wish to uninstall:

1.Go to Settings - Location & Security and tap the Select Device Administrators option

2. Un-check the EMS box

3. Select deactivate and confirm with OK

4. You can now remove EMS from Manage Applications as normal.

   ESET Mobile Security does not require too much space - about 2.5 to 3 MB - and also does not kill many of your phone`s resources. I will get back with future reviews for Android security products.

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Apple iOS 5

Apple has announced yesterday the new version of mobile operating system iOS 5 with many new features, and when I say new, these are new only for the apple platform. As you will see below most of the iOS 5 capabilities are already implemented for some time in Android, Blackberry, Symbian and others.First is the Notification Center which shows all available alerts regarding messages, emails, friends and others. You need to swipe down from the top of the screen and you will open the notifications. Now speaking in a fair way, this looks like was copied exactly from Android and also notifications are shown even if the screen is locked - which again is the same as per Google`s mobile OS.

Next we have the iMessage that offers the possibility to send unlimited texts through Wi-Fi or 3G from iPhone, iPad or iPod and between any of these. But you can also share photos, videos, locations and contacts. It`s great that they have implemented this but I do not see revolution in the messaging system or is not very different than other mobile OS.

Newsstand is the new magazine, newspaper and books reader for iOS. With this you can read and organize your favorite articles, titles, stories etc. I wonder if anyone present at Steve`s Jobs event remembered about Google Books and other book reader applications in Android Market. 

Reminders is another application in iOS 5 which works as a To-Do list integrated with the calendar and synchronized with the online server. In Android the Google calendar and Facebook calendar are synchronized in one device and of course this is cloud.

Twitter was integrated finally in iOS with location and contacts features. If you would like to take a picture with the iPhone camera now you can upload it in iCloud. In Android you can upload photos on Facebook, Twitter and others for some time now. Safari is now a tabbed browser, kind of late after the Android, but better late than never.

In conclusion I would like to make a few things clear. The iCloud is the only feature in iOS which brings attention for experienced smartphone users. But again this is not new - it`s just that they have done it better than Google and is extended across all multimedia iOS platform. However iCloud will not beat the already very well known Dropbox cloud service, especially because this works across all platforms like Windows, Android, iOS, Mac, Linux, Blackberry. In the end I am not defending Google`s Android as they have some work to do (like providing a working task manager and others), but I am not going to be surprised about iOS 5 and it`s 'new' features.

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Apple iOS 5 - video

Microsoft Windows Phone 7 Mango

   Today Microsoft have announced their new updates to the Windows Phone 7 and the new version was called Mango. As there were rumors a few days back, it appears that 500 new features have been implemented. Not all were made public at the press conference but we should see the rest in the next period. 

   First important updates are regarding the communications. The Mango has an organizer for social networking applications. User will be able to chat on Facebook, Windows Live Messenger and SMS in the same time or switch fast between these. Contacts can now be grouped into personalized live tiles; have Twitter, Linkedin feeds integrated. Also Facebook comes with check-in service and face detection software. There are good news for email too because you can link multiple accounts in a single Inbox now. Final communication update brings voice-to-text and text-to-voice capability for a hands free SMS or chat.

   Next is the Applications approach with Windows Hub. Applications are grouped in one place and can be opened where and when are needed. To most expected feature is the multitasking witch has finally arrived on Mango. Now users can open several applications and can leave a few to run in background to save battery life and performance.

   The internet navigation has been improved with Internet Explorer 9. And is the mobile version based on the PC version, but has full hardware acceleration and HTML 5 support. With the Local Scout option you can now receive search results based on current location with shopping and social activities recommendations. Bing is the default search engine for web and with Quick Cards you can have a relevant information summary of a product, place, movie or event.

   At the end Microsoft have announced new hardware partners which will release new Windows phones. These are Acer, Fujitsu, ZTE and are added to the ones that are already have windows phones: Samsung, LG Mobile and HTC. Of course the new strategic partnership with Nokia was mentioned. I remember that HTC promoted Android and Android promoted HTC in the world about 2-3 years ago and this continues Today. I believe the same thing may happen with Nokia and Microsoft - it`s something like help me help you situation.

   In the end, it appears to me that Windows Phone has now caught Android from behind and can have a fair battle now in the mobile OS market.

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Google Docs

   Good news from Google Today as they have released the Android application for their known office editor - Docs. And the same as the web application, the smartphone version is a full editor but has some extra features too. 

   So with Google Docs you can edit for free Word, Excel and PowerPoint files. With your Android device you can view Pdf documents and share any office files with contacts from your agenda. Then if you already have an office suite document in your phone, this can be uploaded and edited in the GMail account.

   The application has a home screen widget integrated which can offer instant access to three core tasks: open any starred documents, create a new document and take a photo to upload. But most wonderful and useful feature of Google Docs for Android is the scanning. If you have a text paper document, this can be scanned and will turn from a photo into an editable Word, Excel or PowerPoint through the optical character recognition system. For now this is working only for English and is not to be used for hand-written documents. But you can convert any already taken photos from your device memory as this is working as a converter. They say that will be improved in time - perhaps support for other languages will be added.

   I believe this is a great replacement for any other free office editor which can be found on Android Market but can also compete with many paid similar applications.

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ActionComplete

   For a while I was looking for an application to organize my projects and business tasks on the Android Market. Recently I have discovered the ActionComplete, a productivity software based on David Allen`s Getting Things Done (GTD) methodology. This program has four modules: Actions, Waits, Projects and Ideas.

   Actions can be assigned to different projects, but you will need to define these projects first. All actions are shown in this tab and also there are the projects details in the description. I have to say that this is a great to-do list for short and long term, for personal and for business as you can set these tasks with a deadline and a reminder.

   In the Projects tab there is information related to these including how many tasks (actions) are assigned to each. Also the Ideas tab is great to note all your thoughts regarding any pending projects or tasks. What`s great on actions is the possibility to assign one to a contact from your smartphone agenda with the tag feature.

   The ActionComplete also has voice commands options and places (like Facebook places or Foursquare) just you can tag or assign a project or task to a certain place. There is the ActionComplete Pro (the paid version) which has assorted shortcuts, Due Today live folder and integration with the system wide-search - but I for me the free version is doing the job just great.

   In conclusion this is a very nice and useful application to organize your tasks and projects. The only thing I do not like is if I close the ActionComplete from the Android task manager the reminder will no longer work. But I hope they will fix this in the future versions or perhaps will work better with Gingerbread. There is the ActionComplete for web and you can use this from the computer. This will synchronize the information with the smartphone.

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Norton Mobile Utilities

   For some time I was looking for a utilities application for my Android phone. Symantec has released a beta version of Norton Mobile Utilities for Android about two months ago. I decided to use this as a replacement for a task manager but I got more. This application has 4 modules integrated - Apps, Usage, Device, Installer.

   The Apps module shows information regarding installed applications on your device and the location (if are stored in phone memory or SD card), size, battery percentage these use and program version. Also this is working as a task manager providing details on how many programs are running, which are system apps and which are external. Most of these can be closed using the 'X' button but will not work for too long or not all will be terminated. I believe this is because Android does not have a good task manager, at least not for the Froyo version. But I hope this will be solved as soon as I receive upgrade to Gingerbread for my HTC Desire. More than that there is the option to uninstall applications - even the system ones - but have not tried this yet.

   Next Norton Mobile Utilities module is Usage working as a monitor for how many minutes and SMS were used or internet traffic data from your monthly subscription package. There is the option for an alarm notification when the limits will exceed. The third module is Device which shows battery usage, phone`s temperature, CPU, memory, network and internal storage under live charts. Also if you click the 'System Information' button you will be able to check your phone`s model and product information, CPU minimum and maximum clock, OS version and sub-version, operator with service status and signal strength, phone`s IMEI, IMSI and IP address. 

   Last module is the Installer - working as an application installer manager. This will help you install applications from outside the Android Market but also to uninstall or delete these. What I like at Norton Mobile Utilities is - first that is a system manager integrating several useful applications, thus avoiding the installation of four up to five or more independent applications on my phone which could affect the performance. Then I like that is very efficient for battery life and I was somehow surprised as I was not expecting this given the fact that is a Norton application. The application is available as beta version for now but is working good and hope they will release the full version soon and also that will remain free. So if you were looking for a system manager for your Android phone I recommend this one.

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Google Voice Number Porting

   Today Google announced the opening of porting numbers to a Google Voice account for all existing users. The porting operation will charge the user with 20 USD and porting should be completed in about 24 hours with a confirmation email sent to the requester. After the number is ported to the Google Voice account the mobile service plan will be cancelled. It appears that users may experience disruptions in sending and receiving text messages for up to 3 business days. The good part is that users will be able to receive/initiate calls using this number from any device/computer which has the Google Voice application installed.

   If you wish to port your number you will need to login to the Google Voice account and access the Settings page. Here you will need to click the 'Change/Port' link which will appear next to the Google Voice number.

   Oh, by the way: - Hey Google, when are going to expand your Voice services outside US - like Europe countries? We are waiting for some time now... Thank you.

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Google Translate

   Google has released the other days a new version of the Translate application for Android devices. The 2.0 version brings something I thought I will not see too soon. This is the real-time speech translation through the conversation mode, but is working for now only between English and Spanish and is still in testing period. The conversation mode should allow the user to communicate fluidly with a nearby person in another language. So if I call a friend who is speaking only Spanish and I speak only in English we should be able to get long very well with the help of this software. I just need to touch the microphone icon and speak. 

   After I have updated the Google Translate to this new version and opened it, I saw that I can download many other language packages. So in the future there will be available other languages for the conversation mode also. Other improvements in this version are better drop-down list buttons for selecting the language you want to translate from and into, cleaner icons, cleaner layout and better input box. The SMS translation is still there too.

   Google Translate was lunched a year ago in January 2010 and now it supports 53 languages with voice input for 15 of them. This is available for Android 2.1 and above versions and you can download or update it from the Android Market. I believe this is great for the users who need to communicate but are a part of different cultures. This what I like about Google - they are always making things easier for the users. That`s why I am using their blogging platform and this is why I have an Android smartphone.

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