2013年10月23日星期三
Pet Supplies New Here: jowls flap and fur flies for shake dog photos by c...
Pet Supplies New Here: jowls flap and fur flies for shake dog photos by c...: jowls flap and fur flies for shake dog photos by carli davidson all images @ carli davidson capturing the ridiculous and playful facial ...
2013年10月16日星期三
Lenovo shows off an 8-inch Bay Trail-T tablet: the Miix2
Lenovo shows off an 8-inch Bay Trail-T tablet: the Miix2
Michael Brown
Look out Toshiba, Lenovo is gunning for you. The company showed me a new 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet last night, powered by an Intel Bay Trail-T quad-core processor with a $299 price tag, undercutting Toshiba’s Encore tablet by $30. Dubbed the Miix2, Lenovo will offer a second SKU with 64GB of memory for just $349.
Lenovo's Miix2 will be available with an optional stylus and cover.
The Miix2’s 800-by-1280-pixel display provides 10 touch points, but it can also be used with a stylus for more precise work. Lenovo offers an optional stylus and a detachable cover for the tablet for $20. The stylus can be stored inside the cover, and the cover can be folded to form a stand to hold the tablet upright.
The Miix2’s onboard memory can be expanded by an additional 32GB via a MicroSD card slot. The tablet will have a front-facing 2-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. There will be a 3G option, too; unfortunately, U.S. buyers will be limited to Wi-Fi.
Like Toshiba, Lenovo will include a full copy of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 with the Miix 2 when it ships the tablet later this month. Lenovo shipped a 10-inch version of the Miix earlier this year.
Michael Brown
Look out Toshiba, Lenovo is gunning for you. The company showed me a new 8-inch Windows 8.1 tablet last night, powered by an Intel Bay Trail-T quad-core processor with a $299 price tag, undercutting Toshiba’s Encore tablet by $30. Dubbed the Miix2, Lenovo will offer a second SKU with 64GB of memory for just $349.
Lenovo's Miix2 will be available with an optional stylus and cover.
The Miix2’s 800-by-1280-pixel display provides 10 touch points, but it can also be used with a stylus for more precise work. Lenovo offers an optional stylus and a detachable cover for the tablet for $20. The stylus can be stored inside the cover, and the cover can be folded to form a stand to hold the tablet upright.
The Miix2’s onboard memory can be expanded by an additional 32GB via a MicroSD card slot. The tablet will have a front-facing 2-megapixel camera and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera. There will be a 3G option, too; unfortunately, U.S. buyers will be limited to Wi-Fi.
Like Toshiba, Lenovo will include a full copy of Microsoft Office Home & Student 2013 with the Miix 2 when it ships the tablet later this month. Lenovo shipped a 10-inch version of the Miix earlier this year.
Samsung planning Knox 2.0 for smartphones, tablets
Samsung planning Knox 2.0 for smartphones, tablets
Agam Shah, IDG News Service
After releasing the first version of Knox security software following a long testing period, Samsung is working on version 2.0.
Knox 2.0 will offer more security features and work in more devices, said Jae Shin, vice president of the Knox Business Group in Samsung’s mobile communications division. Shin did not provide details of the new features in Knox 2.0, but development of features will depend on user needs.
Knox is built on Android, and taps into the OS and chipset features to secure a device. Samsung has partnered with mobile-device management software companies MobileIron, AirWatch, SAP, Citrix, Centrify and Mocana to take advantage of Knox.
“When we give [Knox] to them, we have a minimum feature guideline,” Shin said, adding that the companies adapt the security layer to match their mobile-device management software.
Knox now works with the Qualcomm chipset. Support for more chipsets, including Samsung’s, is being built in, Shin said. However, he couldn’t say if Knox would come to Windows Phone OS, which is also used by Samsung in some handsets.
The security software is in the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition tablet, which became available last week in the U.S. The security layer is also being offered with some Galaxy S4 smartphones.
Knox represents a big push by Samsung to make its tablets and smartphones relevant in the bring-your-own-device environment. Enterprises also are looking for easier mobile device management tools.
For example, Knox features allow the creation of secure boot so only authorized applications are on the device. Knox can create isolated environments to run specific applications, which will ensure Android isn’t compromised. Knox can also be used to establish secure VPN (virtual private network) connections, or to prevent keylogging or hacking. Samsung takes advantage of the TrustZone hardware-based security layer to store security keys and create isolated environments.
“Knox is an attempt by Samsung to do what Google should’ve done with Android a year ago, which is secure it,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.
Users also bring non-Samsung personal devices into business environments and the security features need to be on more devices for a more manageable BYOD environment, Gold said.
One of Samsung’s challenges with Knox is to deal with a diversity of handsets running different versions of Android with different OS upgrade timelines, Gold said.
Samsung is pushing Knox to wireless carriers, which will offer the security layer to customers. Canadian wireless carrier Bell last week said it will sell Knox-enabled Samsung mobile devices to its customers in vertical markets.
Samsung is also trying to woo developers in an effort to push its Galaxy smartphones and tablets into the enterprise. Samsung has released programming tools for Galaxy devices to members of its Solutions Exchange, a program announced last month to help companies write and deploy mobile applications.
LG earlier this month announced Gate security technology for smartphones, and will battle with Samsung to attract enterprise adoption.
The Knox service is available worldwide, Shin said. But the BYOD trend varies in different countries, affecting which security features and mobile-device management tools are deployed.
For example, people in Germany value privacy and don’t want employers to track any usage or application information, Shin said. In the U.S., users want the freedom to use social networking and other applications at work that they also use at home. In South Korea, users like to wall off personal and corporate applications.
Knox was originally announced in February at the Mobile World Congress trade show.
Agam Shah, IDG News Service
After releasing the first version of Knox security software following a long testing period, Samsung is working on version 2.0.
Knox 2.0 will offer more security features and work in more devices, said Jae Shin, vice president of the Knox Business Group in Samsung’s mobile communications division. Shin did not provide details of the new features in Knox 2.0, but development of features will depend on user needs.
Knox is built on Android, and taps into the OS and chipset features to secure a device. Samsung has partnered with mobile-device management software companies MobileIron, AirWatch, SAP, Citrix, Centrify and Mocana to take advantage of Knox.
“When we give [Knox] to them, we have a minimum feature guideline,” Shin said, adding that the companies adapt the security layer to match their mobile-device management software.
Knox now works with the Qualcomm chipset. Support for more chipsets, including Samsung’s, is being built in, Shin said. However, he couldn’t say if Knox would come to Windows Phone OS, which is also used by Samsung in some handsets.
The security software is in the Galaxy Note 3 and Galaxy Note 10.1 2014 Edition tablet, which became available last week in the U.S. The security layer is also being offered with some Galaxy S4 smartphones.
Knox represents a big push by Samsung to make its tablets and smartphones relevant in the bring-your-own-device environment. Enterprises also are looking for easier mobile device management tools.
For example, Knox features allow the creation of secure boot so only authorized applications are on the device. Knox can create isolated environments to run specific applications, which will ensure Android isn’t compromised. Knox can also be used to establish secure VPN (virtual private network) connections, or to prevent keylogging or hacking. Samsung takes advantage of the TrustZone hardware-based security layer to store security keys and create isolated environments.
“Knox is an attempt by Samsung to do what Google should’ve done with Android a year ago, which is secure it,” said Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates.
Users also bring non-Samsung personal devices into business environments and the security features need to be on more devices for a more manageable BYOD environment, Gold said.
One of Samsung’s challenges with Knox is to deal with a diversity of handsets running different versions of Android with different OS upgrade timelines, Gold said.
Samsung is pushing Knox to wireless carriers, which will offer the security layer to customers. Canadian wireless carrier Bell last week said it will sell Knox-enabled Samsung mobile devices to its customers in vertical markets.
Samsung is also trying to woo developers in an effort to push its Galaxy smartphones and tablets into the enterprise. Samsung has released programming tools for Galaxy devices to members of its Solutions Exchange, a program announced last month to help companies write and deploy mobile applications.
LG earlier this month announced Gate security technology for smartphones, and will battle with Samsung to attract enterprise adoption.
The Knox service is available worldwide, Shin said. But the BYOD trend varies in different countries, affecting which security features and mobile-device management tools are deployed.
For example, people in Germany value privacy and don’t want employers to track any usage or application information, Shin said. In the U.S., users want the freedom to use social networking and other applications at work that they also use at home. In South Korea, users like to wall off personal and corporate applications.
Knox was originally announced in February at the Mobile World Congress trade show.
2013年10月13日星期日
12 great PC games best played alone
12 great PC games best played alone
By Alex Cocilova
Immersion is the best experience
When a developer builds a single-player game, its creative team can craft a deeper back story and slow down the pace to allow the gamer to enjoy all the tasty details.
It can cater to an audience of one, instead of engineering frenetic action designed to keep groups of people entertained. When you play alone, horror games deliver more scares, action sequences are more intense. It's also much easier to surrender to the experience when someone isn’t screaming in your headset, “Dude, you just got pwned!”
Check out this list of some of the most immersive and enthralling single-player gaming experiences you'll ever have. We'll start with a good ol' zombie apocalypse.
By Alex Cocilova
Immersion is the best experience
When a developer builds a single-player game, its creative team can craft a deeper back story and slow down the pace to allow the gamer to enjoy all the tasty details.
It can cater to an audience of one, instead of engineering frenetic action designed to keep groups of people entertained. When you play alone, horror games deliver more scares, action sequences are more intense. It's also much easier to surrender to the experience when someone isn’t screaming in your headset, “Dude, you just got pwned!”
Check out this list of some of the most immersive and enthralling single-player gaming experiences you'll ever have. We'll start with a good ol' zombie apocalypse.
Wireless Cell Phone Charger - Black
2013年9月29日星期日
Smart spear phishing could kill the power grid, experts warn
Smart spear phishing could kill the power grid, experts warn
John P. Mello Jr. @jpmello
While the energy industry may fear the appearance of another Stuxnet on the systems they use to keep oil and gas flowing and the electric grid powered, an equally devastating attack could come from a much more mundane source: phishing.
Rather than worry about exotic cyber weapons like Stuxnet and its big brother, Flame, companies that have Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems—computer systems that monitor and control industrial processes—should make sure that their anti-phishing programs are in order, say security experts.
"The way malware is getting into these internal networks is by social engineering people via email," Rohyt Belani, CEO and co-founder of the anti-phishing training firm PhishMe, said in an interview.
"You send them something that's targeted, that contains a believable story, not high-volume spam, and people will act on it by clicking a link or opening a file attached to it," he said. "Then, boom, the attackers get that initial foothold they're looking for."
How it could happen
In a case study cited by Belani, he recalled a very narrow attack on a single employee working the night shift monitoring his company's SCADA systems.
The attacker researched the worker's background on the Internet and used the fact he had four children to craft a bogus email from the company's human resources department with a special health insurance offer for families with three or more kids.
The employee clicked a malicious link in the message and infected his company's network with malware. "Engineers are pretty vulnerable to phishing attacks," Tyler Klinger, a researcher with Critical Intelligence, said in an interview.
He recalled an experiment he conducted with several companies on engineers and others with access to SCADA systems in which 26 percent of the spear phishing attacks on them were successful.
Success means that the target clicked on a malicious link in the phishing mail. Klinger's experiment ended with those clicks. In real life, those clicks would just be the beginning of the story and would not necessarily end in success for the attacker.
"If it's a common Joe or script kiddie, a company's [Intrusion Detection Systems systems will probably catch the attack," Klinger said. "If they're using a Java zero-day or something like that, there would be no defense against it."
In addition, phishing attacks are aimed at a target's email, which are usually located on a company's IT network. Companies with SCADA systems typically segregate them from their IT networks with an "air gap."
That air gap is designed to insulate the SCADA systems from the kinds of infections perpetrated by spear phishing attacks. "Air gaps are a mess these days," Klinger said. "Stuxnet taught us that."
"Once you're in an engineer's email, it's just a matter of cross-contamination," he added. "Eventually an engineer is going to have to access the Internet to update something on the SCADA and that's when you get cross-contamination."
Current concerns
Phishing attacks on SCADA systems are likely rare, said Raj Samani, vice president and CTO of McAfee's EMEA.
"I would anticipate that the majority of spear phishing attacks against employees would be focused against the IT network," Samani said in an interview. "The espionage attacks on IT systems would dwarf those against SCADA equipment."
Still, the attacks are happening. "These are very targeted attacks and not something widely publicized," said Dave Jevans chairman and CTO of Marble Security and chairman of the Anti-Phishing Work Group.
Jevans acknowledged, though, that most SCADA attacks involve surveillance of the systems and not infection of them. "They're looking for how it works, can a backdoor be maintained into the system so they can use it in the future," he said.
"Most of those SCADA systems have no real security," Jevans said. "They rely on not being directly connected to the Internet, but there's always some Internet connection somewhere."
Some companies even still have dial-in numbers for connection to their systems with a modem. "Their security on that system is, 'Don't tell anybody the phone number,'" he said.
John P. Mello Jr. @jpmello
While the energy industry may fear the appearance of another Stuxnet on the systems they use to keep oil and gas flowing and the electric grid powered, an equally devastating attack could come from a much more mundane source: phishing.
Rather than worry about exotic cyber weapons like Stuxnet and its big brother, Flame, companies that have Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems—computer systems that monitor and control industrial processes—should make sure that their anti-phishing programs are in order, say security experts.
"The way malware is getting into these internal networks is by social engineering people via email," Rohyt Belani, CEO and co-founder of the anti-phishing training firm PhishMe, said in an interview.
"You send them something that's targeted, that contains a believable story, not high-volume spam, and people will act on it by clicking a link or opening a file attached to it," he said. "Then, boom, the attackers get that initial foothold they're looking for."
How it could happen
In a case study cited by Belani, he recalled a very narrow attack on a single employee working the night shift monitoring his company's SCADA systems.
The attacker researched the worker's background on the Internet and used the fact he had four children to craft a bogus email from the company's human resources department with a special health insurance offer for families with three or more kids.
The employee clicked a malicious link in the message and infected his company's network with malware. "Engineers are pretty vulnerable to phishing attacks," Tyler Klinger, a researcher with Critical Intelligence, said in an interview.
He recalled an experiment he conducted with several companies on engineers and others with access to SCADA systems in which 26 percent of the spear phishing attacks on them were successful.
Success means that the target clicked on a malicious link in the phishing mail. Klinger's experiment ended with those clicks. In real life, those clicks would just be the beginning of the story and would not necessarily end in success for the attacker.
"If it's a common Joe or script kiddie, a company's [Intrusion Detection Systems systems will probably catch the attack," Klinger said. "If they're using a Java zero-day or something like that, there would be no defense against it."
In addition, phishing attacks are aimed at a target's email, which are usually located on a company's IT network. Companies with SCADA systems typically segregate them from their IT networks with an "air gap."
That air gap is designed to insulate the SCADA systems from the kinds of infections perpetrated by spear phishing attacks. "Air gaps are a mess these days," Klinger said. "Stuxnet taught us that."
"Once you're in an engineer's email, it's just a matter of cross-contamination," he added. "Eventually an engineer is going to have to access the Internet to update something on the SCADA and that's when you get cross-contamination."
Current concerns
Phishing attacks on SCADA systems are likely rare, said Raj Samani, vice president and CTO of McAfee's EMEA.
"I would anticipate that the majority of spear phishing attacks against employees would be focused against the IT network," Samani said in an interview. "The espionage attacks on IT systems would dwarf those against SCADA equipment."
Still, the attacks are happening. "These are very targeted attacks and not something widely publicized," said Dave Jevans chairman and CTO of Marble Security and chairman of the Anti-Phishing Work Group.
Jevans acknowledged, though, that most SCADA attacks involve surveillance of the systems and not infection of them. "They're looking for how it works, can a backdoor be maintained into the system so they can use it in the future," he said.
"Most of those SCADA systems have no real security," Jevans said. "They rely on not being directly connected to the Internet, but there's always some Internet connection somewhere."
Some companies even still have dial-in numbers for connection to their systems with a modem. "Their security on that system is, 'Don't tell anybody the phone number,'" he said.
2013年9月22日星期日
11 great PC co-op games to play with your buddies
11 great PC co-op games to play with your buddies
Alex Cocilova @TheBrowncoat88 Sep 20, 2013 3:00 AM
Best friends forever
Need some time to bond with your buds? It’s been a busy summer, you haven’t been around, and you want to get back in their good graces. Here's my solution: play some co-op games!
What brings people together more than blowing up aliens, robbing banks, or trapping each other in physics-defying infinite wormholes? Nothing I can think of.
We’ll start with some robbery hijinks that are guaranteed to lead to playful yelling and uncontrollable laughter.
Alex Cocilova @TheBrowncoat88 Sep 20, 2013 3:00 AM
Best friends forever
Need some time to bond with your buds? It’s been a busy summer, you haven’t been around, and you want to get back in their good graces. Here's my solution: play some co-op games!
What brings people together more than blowing up aliens, robbing banks, or trapping each other in physics-defying infinite wormholes? Nothing I can think of.
We’ll start with some robbery hijinks that are guaranteed to lead to playful yelling and uncontrollable laughter.
5 launcher apps to give your Android phone a fresh new look
5 launcher apps to give your Android phone a fresh new look
Florence Ion @Ohthatflo
There are many faces of Android: There’s the stock version offered by Google that’s stylized in Google’s own vision, and there’s the version that your manufacturer would rather have you use. When it comes to interfaces we wish we could change, the latter version is usually the one causing headaches.
It’a a matter of taste, but the interface that your Android phone comes saddled with may not always be the most appealing, and that’s why there are myriad launcher apps available in the Google Play store. These apps customize the way the interface looks and operates, and even streamline animations as you pan between screens.
How to enable a launcher
Once you install an application launcher, you’ll have to remember to make it the default home screen. When you go to your home screen, Android will prompt you about which launcher you wish to use, so be sure to select the new launcher you’ve installed and tap Always, unless you want to be prompted every time you go to the home screen. If you get sick of your new interface, you can always reset your defaults in the settings menu.
Nova Launcher
Nova Launcher is a longtime favorite of Android users, and for good reason: It’s extremely customizable and it doesn’t veer too far from the Android experience you’ve grown accustomed to.
Nova Launcher can move the status bar and the dock, and whittle your Android interface down to absolute simplicity.
Its settings menu may appear overwhelming at first, but once you spend some time perusing your options, you’ll discover that you can do things like set the style of the Google search bar, set the space between margins, and enlarge or shrink all system icons. You can even set how you want folders to look and whether you want to switch to Google’s stock icons or stay with the ones your phone maker has provided you with. For many of the options, you can choose which version of Android to emulate, which can come in very handy if you have an older phone that won’t get updated to the latest version of Android anytime soon.
Don’t be overwhelmed by these settings. They’re there to help you.
You’ll have to upgrade to the $4 Nova Launcher Prime if you want to unlock a few other of its customizable features, including dock swipes, gestures, and the ability to hide apps that you hardly use. Nova Launcher works only on Android 4.0 and later.
Smart Launcher
Smart Launcher adds a bit more flair to your interface—and a sidebar.
Smart Launcher starts off by asking you to select your app preferences, like which browser you prefer and what music app you usually listen to, and then it pops up an entirely new home screen with a menu bar on the left-hand side.
Smart Launcher will make your icons look mismatched if you have an icon pack installed.
It isn’t the most appealing interface, nor is it very intuitive. I didn’t like the way it organized my apps at first, and if you’re using a manufacturer-provided overlay, like Samsung’s TouchWiz UI or LG’s Optimus UI, the interface will look crowded. Smart Launcher’s sidebar looks a bit nicer on a tablet interface.
Smart Launcher is nicer looking on a tablet.
The app also offers gesture support, downloadable theme packs, and various customization options for the interface, including the ability to install plug-ins, though the only available plug-ins I could find were in the Google Play store. You can also install custom icon packs, though they can look mismatched among the non-stock apps also hanging out on the Home screen. If you decide that you want to stick with Smart Launcher, you can shell out $4 for the Pro version to get a secondary panel for widgets, more transitions, more colors to personalize the home screen, and multi-touch gestures.
Go Launcher EX
Theme junkies, Go Launcher EX features thousands of themes for personalizing your interface, though it requires a bit of tweaking before you can get it to function to your liking. You’ll also have to individually delete a few pages of trial apps and widgets that it bundles with the download, but from there it’s an easy process: Go into the settings, select Themes, and choose something from Go Launcher’s vast library.
It’s gaudy. It’s busy. It’s chock-full of “try me now!” buttons.
This app also features a number of downloadable plug-ins, like a custom-lock-screen app, a file manager, and its own official UI 3.0 theme. Also included are options to enhance things like the flipping speed and transition effects,enable infinite scrolling, and fit icons to the screen. Sometimes it felt like Go Launcher packed in too much choice, however, so you’ll need some time to peruse the various options. Bear in mind that the app also features one of the largest user communities, many of whom are constantly submitting new wallpapers and themes.
So many themes, so little time.
Go Launcher EX is ad-supported, but you can unlock the app, as well as a number of extra features, with an in-app purchase of $6.
Apex Launcher
Like Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher is a fairly straightforward application, and it offers plenty of options for altering the overall look of your Android interface without detracting from the experience you’re used to. There are also themes available, should you choose to go that route, or you can leave your interface as is and instead alter things such as the transitional effects between screens or the size of your app icons. With Apex Launcher, you can also hide the icons of apps you never use and resize widgets that are not normally resizable.
Apex Launcher can give you a nice, pristine-looking interface.
If you upgrade to the $4 Apex Launcher Pro, you can unlock the ability to add tabs and folders to your application drawer, change dock swipe options, and enable the ability to allow widgets to overlap, among other thingss.
ADW.Launcher
ADW.Launcher starts you off with a setup screen that walks you through the process of configuring the Action Bar, the App Drawer, the home page, and transitions.
ADW.Launcher makes subtle tweaks, like moving the button for the App Drawer to the right in the dock.
Like the others launchers listed here, ADW offers a surfeit of display options. If you had themes installed previously, ADW will recognize those and point them out for you. A nice option embedded in the Advanced settings called ‘Keep in Memory’ helps prevent the app from going wild with your device’s memory usage. And you can select whether or not you want widgets to overlap. ADW.Launcher will work with your aging Android handset, up to Android 1.6 Donut.
You can set up the transition effects between screens (left) in ADW.Launcher’s settings menu (right).
After you’re done, be sure to share your interface creations online at My Color Screen and on the official subReddit for Android themes. You can also use those sites as resources for ways to make your Android device your own by customizing the interface.
Florence Ion @Ohthatflo
There are many faces of Android: There’s the stock version offered by Google that’s stylized in Google’s own vision, and there’s the version that your manufacturer would rather have you use. When it comes to interfaces we wish we could change, the latter version is usually the one causing headaches.
It’a a matter of taste, but the interface that your Android phone comes saddled with may not always be the most appealing, and that’s why there are myriad launcher apps available in the Google Play store. These apps customize the way the interface looks and operates, and even streamline animations as you pan between screens.
How to enable a launcher
Once you install an application launcher, you’ll have to remember to make it the default home screen. When you go to your home screen, Android will prompt you about which launcher you wish to use, so be sure to select the new launcher you’ve installed and tap Always, unless you want to be prompted every time you go to the home screen. If you get sick of your new interface, you can always reset your defaults in the settings menu.
Nova Launcher
Nova Launcher is a longtime favorite of Android users, and for good reason: It’s extremely customizable and it doesn’t veer too far from the Android experience you’ve grown accustomed to.
Nova Launcher can move the status bar and the dock, and whittle your Android interface down to absolute simplicity.
Its settings menu may appear overwhelming at first, but once you spend some time perusing your options, you’ll discover that you can do things like set the style of the Google search bar, set the space between margins, and enlarge or shrink all system icons. You can even set how you want folders to look and whether you want to switch to Google’s stock icons or stay with the ones your phone maker has provided you with. For many of the options, you can choose which version of Android to emulate, which can come in very handy if you have an older phone that won’t get updated to the latest version of Android anytime soon.
Don’t be overwhelmed by these settings. They’re there to help you.
You’ll have to upgrade to the $4 Nova Launcher Prime if you want to unlock a few other of its customizable features, including dock swipes, gestures, and the ability to hide apps that you hardly use. Nova Launcher works only on Android 4.0 and later.
Smart Launcher
Smart Launcher adds a bit more flair to your interface—and a sidebar.
Smart Launcher starts off by asking you to select your app preferences, like which browser you prefer and what music app you usually listen to, and then it pops up an entirely new home screen with a menu bar on the left-hand side.
Smart Launcher will make your icons look mismatched if you have an icon pack installed.
It isn’t the most appealing interface, nor is it very intuitive. I didn’t like the way it organized my apps at first, and if you’re using a manufacturer-provided overlay, like Samsung’s TouchWiz UI or LG’s Optimus UI, the interface will look crowded. Smart Launcher’s sidebar looks a bit nicer on a tablet interface.
Smart Launcher is nicer looking on a tablet.
The app also offers gesture support, downloadable theme packs, and various customization options for the interface, including the ability to install plug-ins, though the only available plug-ins I could find were in the Google Play store. You can also install custom icon packs, though they can look mismatched among the non-stock apps also hanging out on the Home screen. If you decide that you want to stick with Smart Launcher, you can shell out $4 for the Pro version to get a secondary panel for widgets, more transitions, more colors to personalize the home screen, and multi-touch gestures.
Go Launcher EX
Theme junkies, Go Launcher EX features thousands of themes for personalizing your interface, though it requires a bit of tweaking before you can get it to function to your liking. You’ll also have to individually delete a few pages of trial apps and widgets that it bundles with the download, but from there it’s an easy process: Go into the settings, select Themes, and choose something from Go Launcher’s vast library.
It’s gaudy. It’s busy. It’s chock-full of “try me now!” buttons.
This app also features a number of downloadable plug-ins, like a custom-lock-screen app, a file manager, and its own official UI 3.0 theme. Also included are options to enhance things like the flipping speed and transition effects,enable infinite scrolling, and fit icons to the screen. Sometimes it felt like Go Launcher packed in too much choice, however, so you’ll need some time to peruse the various options. Bear in mind that the app also features one of the largest user communities, many of whom are constantly submitting new wallpapers and themes.
So many themes, so little time.
Go Launcher EX is ad-supported, but you can unlock the app, as well as a number of extra features, with an in-app purchase of $6.
Apex Launcher
Like Nova Launcher, Apex Launcher is a fairly straightforward application, and it offers plenty of options for altering the overall look of your Android interface without detracting from the experience you’re used to. There are also themes available, should you choose to go that route, or you can leave your interface as is and instead alter things such as the transitional effects between screens or the size of your app icons. With Apex Launcher, you can also hide the icons of apps you never use and resize widgets that are not normally resizable.
Apex Launcher can give you a nice, pristine-looking interface.
If you upgrade to the $4 Apex Launcher Pro, you can unlock the ability to add tabs and folders to your application drawer, change dock swipe options, and enable the ability to allow widgets to overlap, among other thingss.
ADW.Launcher
ADW.Launcher starts you off with a setup screen that walks you through the process of configuring the Action Bar, the App Drawer, the home page, and transitions.
ADW.Launcher makes subtle tweaks, like moving the button for the App Drawer to the right in the dock.
Like the others launchers listed here, ADW offers a surfeit of display options. If you had themes installed previously, ADW will recognize those and point them out for you. A nice option embedded in the Advanced settings called ‘Keep in Memory’ helps prevent the app from going wild with your device’s memory usage. And you can select whether or not you want widgets to overlap. ADW.Launcher will work with your aging Android handset, up to Android 1.6 Donut.
You can set up the transition effects between screens (left) in ADW.Launcher’s settings menu (right).
After you’re done, be sure to share your interface creations online at My Color Screen and on the official subReddit for Android themes. You can also use those sites as resources for ways to make your Android device your own by customizing the interface.
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