How to Ditch Android and Join the Apple Side (and Bring Your Data with You)

Now that Apple’s got its bigger, better iPhone 6 and 6 Plus, we suspect oodles of big-screen Android aficionados may defect to iOS. (Apparently Apple thinks so, too). But while switching phones is one type of headache, switching phones and operating systems can induce migraine-level pains if you’re not properly prepared.

But you will be prepared. From your can’t-miss calendar events to your favorite apps, here’s how to make sure your most important mobile needs make the transition from Android to iOS as smoothly as possible.

Mail, Calendar, and Contacts
If you keep your life synced with Google’s cloud-based ecosystem, transferring from Android to iOS is relatively easy. You’ll need to create an Apple ID when you first begin your iOS journey (if you don’t already have an iTunes account), but you can add your Google account once you’ve finished your phone’s initial setup.

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To do this, go to Settings → Mail, Contacts, Calendars, then tap Add Account. There you can add your Google account (or any other email account you’d like synced on the device). Once added, you can choose to sync Mail, Contacts, Calendars, and Notes.

If you’ve kept your contacts stored locally on your Android phone, you’ll first need to export your contacts to that device’s SD card, connect it to your computer and download the resulting .vcf file, and then log into your Google account. Click where it says Gmail in the upper left to go toContacts, then click the More tab and select Import. Now, when you add your Google account to your iPhone, your contacts will come along, too.

Keyboards
Since iOS 8 now supports third-party keyboards, the chances you’ll be able to continue using a near-identical version of your keyboard are extremely high. Lucky you!

Adding a third party keyboard to your system is pretty simple. Download the keyboard app from the App Store, and then go to Settings →General → Keyboards → Add New Keyboard. Navigate to the section for third-party keyboards, and you’ll see all the keyboard apps you’ve downloaded. Select the one you want to use, give it permission to be used systemwide, and you’re ready to go.

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Popular keyboards like SwiftKey, Swype, Fleksy, and TouchPal should now all be available for iOS 8.

Widgets
While you won’t have the same sort of home screen widgets as on an Android handset, iOS 8 does allow widgets in its Today view in the Notification Center. You access with a swipe down from the top of the screen and, as its name suggests, this is where you’ll also find a list of recent, actionable notifications you’ve received.

As for widgets, the latest version of the Yahoo Weather app includes one that acts like a miniature version of the full-blown app, with a location-specific Flickr photo annotated with current and future temperature conditions. Calendar apps like Readdle’s Calendars 5 also offer Notification Center widgets for a better glanceable version of your daily schedule than Apple’s Calendar provides.

Dropbox, Evernote, and OpenTable are some of the other titles that offer such widgets. 9to5Mac has a comprehensive alphabetical list of apps that currently enable Notification Center widgets, but more will surely be on the way.

Your app collection
Unfortunately, there’s no one- or two-step way to get all your favorites from Android onto your iOS device. You’ll need to go through and manually restock your homescreen with the apps you use on the regular.

But this annoyance is actually an opportunity in disguise. Now is the time to take an inventory of your app collection. Make a list of your actual favorites, the ones you use daily, and the ones you can’t imagine living without. Ditch the rest. Congratulations; your app collection just got a thorough fall cleaning.

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With the exception of only a handful of titles (mostly games), nearly all of your Android favorites should also be on iOS. If you already shelled out big money for an Android version of an app, it could be worth dropping its customer service a line — it may be able to offer a discount code for your continued patronage, rather than risk you choosing a cheaper competing app. If the app is only $1, though, don’t be stingy; show the dev some love.

Photos, music, PDFs, and other media
One of the things I love about getting a new handset is the chance to start fresh. But some folks like to keep their favorite photos, videos, and music on their device, always. No sweat. If that’s you, you’ll want to first download them onto your computer (connect your Android device and then sync using Outlook or Exchange) and transfer them onto your iPhone via iTunes. To do this, connect your iPhone via USB or over WiFi and launch iTunes, click Sync with Phone , and then choose the media you want on your new phone (you can select from books, movies and TV shows, notes, photos, audio content, and more).

If you’re transferring PDFs and ePub documents, you can still access them on iOS using iBooks to read them (or another PDF reader). If you’ve got Office documents, then Apple’s Pages, Numbers, and Keynote will let you read and edit them on the iPhone, or you can use Microsoft Office for iOS.

Your MP3 files, if you aren’t already an avid Spotify or Rdio user, will live in Apple’s Music app on iOS once they’ve been added to iTunes. And once your audio collection is sorted, if you want to buy more music on the go, you’ll be buying content on iTunes (same goes for movies or TV shows).

For anything stored in the cloud — for instance on Evernote, Google Drive, or Dropbox — you’re good to go. Just download the iOS versions of those apps, and you’ll be able to access your files once they’re synced.

iPhone 5s vs. iPhone 6: Pictures Show Possible Size Differences

New pictures of alleged iPhone 6 cases show the potential size differences between the iPhone 5s and the iPhone 6 variants that are expected to replace it later on this year.

Apple still isn’t ready to talk about a new iPhone but that doesn’t mean that rumors haven’t been talking for it. iPhone 6 rumors have been rampant in 2014 with leaks and rumors detailing everything from the alleged iPhone 6 release date to its design to its potential screen sizes. Rumors suggest that Apple will be releasing two new iPhone models with two new screen sizes sometime later this year.

iPhone 6 rumors have centered around two new models including a 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and a 5.5-inch iPhone 6 that is sometimes referred to as iPhone Air. The measurements haven’t been confirmed but iPhone 6 rumors have repeatedly outed these two dimensions as the screen sizes of the next two iPhones.

With a size change all but confirmed for the iPhone, consumers are starting to wonder how big the iPhone 6 might be. We’ve seen a number of leaks showcase the supposed iPhone 6 dimensions next to devices like the Samsung Galaxy S5 and HTC One M8 and now we’re getting another look at how the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and 5.5-inch iPhone 6 might compare to the current iPhone 5s.

These cases show the possible size differences between the iPhone 5s and iPhone 6.

A new listing spotted on e-commerce site Alibaba appears to show alleged iPhone 6 cases next to the 4-inch iPhone 4s. In the photos, we see what appears to be a case for the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 and a case for the larger 5.5-inch model. The size difference between the iPhone 5s and the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 case is noticeable but subtle.

However, the size difference between the case for the larger iPhone, the smaller iPhone 6 and the iPhone 5s is striking. The larger case is much bigger than the 4.7-inch model and it towers over the 4-inch iPhone 5s. We’ve seen this difference in size before but these photos offer a clear glimpse at the potential size differences between the three iPhones.

These cases match up with previous iPhone 6 design leaks that point to a redesign complete with new button placement and rounded corners that resemble the look of the iPod touch. The iPhone 6 design is rumored to be extremely thin, perhaps 7mm, and these cases appear to have been made from a thin mold.

While these cases line up with just about every iPhone 6 design rumor that’s emerged in the past two months, there is still no guarantee that these cases resemble the final iPhone 6 design.

iPhone 6 rumors continue to firm up in the days after Apple’s WWDC 2014 conference in San Francisco. In the past week, we’ve seen iPhone 6 release date rumors continue to point to an arrival this fall alongside Apple’s iOS 8 update which is scheduled to be released from the beta program later this year.

Rumors continue to point to an arrival in September though reports continue to peg the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 release for later in the year, perhaps in September or October. Specific release dates are not yet known though September 19th is being thrown around by at least one international carrier. September 19th is the third Friday in September and Apple typically releases its iPhone on Friday.

We’ve also seen iPhone 6 rumors point to a number of potential features including larger higher resolution displays, a brand new A8 64-bit processor, a redesign, a new camera with optical image stabilization, NFC, wireless charging, and more. The iPhone 6 is said to still be comprised of  moving parts which means that some rumored iPhone 6 features may not make the final cut.

The iPhone 6 is expected to be joined by a number of new Apple products including the new iWatch, new iPads and perhaps, new Mac hardware to support the company’s OS X Yosemite roll out.

 

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iPhone 6 Specs: How Will Apple’s New Smartphone Fare In A Big Smartphone Competition?

 

Earlier this week, Foxconn released a press release confirming that it will be working on the new iPhone 6 smartphones from Apple. More importantly, it confirmed the half year-long rumor that the upcoming iPhone will get bigger screens, specifically 4.7 inches and 5.5 inches long.

Now, that we already know that Apple is really developing ‘gigantic’ smartphones compared to the iPhones previously and currently available in the market, can it stand the heat?

Today, the Android heavyweights rule the big smartphone competition with phone makers such as Samsung, HTC, LG and Sony releasing bigger and bigger smartphones for the past previous years. Remember when everyone thought that the original Galaxy Note smartphone was ridiculously big? That’s not the case now, and in fact smartphones today are much bigger than Galaxy Note pioneer.

Apple is well praised as far as display goes in its past iPhones, particularly due to the Retina display the company uses. However, previous reports from DigiTimes and other alleged insiders claim that Apple will soon ditch the Retina in favor of higher resolution options.

This could be due to the fact that the screen sizes of its upcoming iPhones are too big for Retina or could add a hefty amount to the phone’s production cost per unit. However, another report from 9to5mac claims that the 4.7-inch iPhone 6 would only get 1,704 x 960 resolution.

Other rumors also claim that the new iPhone would get a thinner display thanks to the on-cell touch technology which would be implemented on the smartphone. Other alleged specs of the new Apple phone include a 64-bit supported A8 chip, the new iOS 8 which was announced at the WWDC in San Francisco, and an improved Touch ID home button.

A report by The Week also claims that the battery of the new iPhone will be more power efficient which in turn would let the smartphone last for a couple more hours.

Of course, all of these rumors are unconfirmed unless we hear from Apple itself.

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Smartphones driving ‘Bring Your Own Device’ growth in Asia: IDC report

Market for Bring Your Own Devices to work will continue to witness strong growth this year in the Asia Pacific region, driven by burgeoning smartphone sales and tablets in the consumer segment, research firm IDC said.

BYOD refers to employees purchasing devices with their funds and employers neither subsidising nor supporting the devices’ hardware and software.

According to IDC, mobile devices utilised under the BYOD model accounted for 22.5 percent of all consumer smartphone sales, followed by notebook PCs (11.7 percent) and tablets (4.9 percent) shipped in 2013.

IDC expects that close to 155 million consumer smartphones will be used in the BYOD model across the region in 2014, a year-on-year growth of 40.4 percent.

Tablet BYOD will grow to nearly four million units (y-o-y growth of 62.7 percent), while notebook PC is expected to see a steep decline as the PC industry slows down and BYOD users migrate to other BYOD platforms.

IDC expects just 3.1 million units of consumer notebook PC will be utilised under the BYOD model, a year-on-year decline of 20 percent.

The momentum of BYOD has definitely increased over the past 12 month and it will continue the upward swing in 2014 and well into 2015, IDC Asia Pacific Research Manager Enterprise Mobility Ian Song said.

“With the user experience of mobile devices improving, end users can start to perform more complex task on those devices. In addition, the price of device has also dropped to a level where increased proliferation becomes possible,” Song added.

He said enterprises across the region are also becoming more open to the idea of BYOD as a way to drive mobility in their organisations and that BYOD is being driven primarily by the usage of personally-owned smartphones in the enterprise.

“BYOD smartphone utilisation will peak around 2016 to 2017 and tablets will peak around 2017 2018,” Song added.

However, IDC does not anticipate the BYOD growth to last as it is a compromise between users and the enterprise.

“While BYOD has a capability to streamline some of the internal operations, personally owned devices will not be able to drive core business functions without compromising security and management,” it said.

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Exclusive: Nokia X2 Android smartphone to be launched later this month

Microsoft is all set to launch the second generation of its X-series of Android smartphones later this month. Reliable sources tell BGR India that the launch is three weeks away, so we are looking at the announcement to take place sometime in the week of June 23.

BGR India has also received the shipment manifest of the Nokia X2 (codename RM-1013) units that have arrived in India for testing purposes. It is quite likely that the launch of the second-generation Android smartphones could take place in India, though the arrival of testing phones and the launch plans are not related.

This will be the first X-series smartphone to feature a dedicated home button like BGR India had exclusively reported last month. Nokia had found many users complaining about the lack of a home button in the Nokia X, which only had a back button. These users did not realize that long pressing the back button would take them to the home screen rather than having to press it multiple times to reach the home screen one step back at a time. Reaching the home screen easily is crucial in the Nokia X-series of smartphones as it doesn’t have a regular swipe down notification bar like other Android smartphones. In order to check notifications, users have to first go to the homescreen and then reach the Fastlane interface by swiping from the side of the display.

Earlier, specifications of the Nokia X2 had leaked thanks to a benchmark listing on AnTuTu. According to the listing, the Nokia X2 will feature a 4.3-inch WVGA (800×480 pixels) display, 1.2GHz dual-core Snapdragon 200 processor, 1GB of RAM, and 4GB internal storage. It will also sport a 5-megapixel rear camera and VGA front-facing camera.

In comparison, the original Nokia X came with a 4-inch WVGA display, 1GHz Snapdragon dual-core processor, 512MB of RAM, 4GB storage, microSD support, a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 1,500mAh battery and dual-SIM card support.

 

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Apple Introduces HomeKit To Securely Pair iPhones With Smart Home Devices

 

We’ve seen hundreds of so-called “smart” connected devices pop up over the last few years — everything from smart thermostats to smart refrigerators — but with that proliferation of devices has also come confusion about what device works with what smartphone platform.

Today at WWDC, Apple is seeking to eliminate some of that confusion with HomeKit, a new toolkit for iOS 8 developers that will create a standard for developers to pair their iPhones with different smart home devices. That will make it simpler for users to provide secure access to those devices.

The smart home program was first reported in the Financial Times.

According to Apple SVP Craig Federighi, the HomeKit API will create a secure pairing structure, so that developers can control individual devices in your home and group them together. Combine that with the extension of Touch ID to third-party apps, and you could unlock your door with your fingerprints.

It will also have Siri integration, which could allow users to say “good night” to their phone, which could signal that smart locks should be locked and smart lamps turned off.