New Wi-Fi router in 2023

It's time for a new wireless router in this household. We had been using Google's system for a while, but the change to 'Nest' hardware came with it a certain lack of reliability. The main unit remains connected, but the mesh connection flakes out just when we need it most.

Seeing as the selling point of Google's Wi-Fi routers are their seamless mesh capabilities, the fact that the mesh isn't holding up is a deal breaker for us. What comes next?

(TL;DR: We like this Asus router.)

Flying drones over at Drone Rush

Hello folks, so sorry I have not posted here in a long, long time. As you can imagine, I had to stop trying to make money here when I was hired full time into the Android Authority family. That has been an adventure, one that continues with my current role as Editor on our drones focused website Drone Rush.

Google is taking a more proactive approach to Android security, paying hackers to look things over

Google has given over $4 million to security researchers that have successfully identified security vulnerabilities in things like the Chrome web browser. Now, your Android experience will benefit from this approach as well.

Effective immediately, with more information to come, all Google built Android and iOS apps are eligible for bounty from the Vulnerability Reward Program.

Google Fiber continues to march forward, launching in four new cities

Google has been attempting to disrupt the U.S. internet provider market for a few years now. They've successfully rolled out their new Google Fiber internet services to a few major centers have a bunch of others on stand-by and have just announced they'll be launching in four new cities: Atlanta, Charlotte, Nashville and Raleigh-Durham.

Google Fiber is a fiber optic based internet service, capable of bringing speeds of up to 1Gbps up and down for about $75 / month. In contrast, one of my coworkers at Android Authority just received an advertisement in the mail from AT&T, offering up their 'High Speed' internet services with speeds up to 3Mbps. For serious AT&T?!?! 3Mbps?

How to use Android Device Manager to find a missing device

With the sometimes astronomical prices of today's Android devices, it is important to have security in place - a plan to find and secure your device should it go missing. There are many great tools out there for this, including Cerberus, Lookout and more. Today, we want to look at the Google developed option, Android Device Manager.

As is usually the case around here, I've put the entire tutorial over on my Android customization series on Android Authority. Be sure to check it out for the full step by step to enabling Android Device Manager.

While you're here, let's discuss how you might use the tools of Android Device Manager.

Dynamic and custom colors on a Zooper Widget Battery indicator

This past week on my Android customization series over at Android Authority, I took a quick look at a way to dynamically change the color of a battery element in a Zooper Widget.

The idea is simple, if your battery level is below a certain threshold, the icon or text turns red, if you have your device plugged in, it is all green and the rest of the time your icon and text is simply white.

Zooper Widget is great for this sort of advanced operation, and we didn't even need to tie into Tasker to get the job done. The only downside is that Zooper Widget's Advanced Parameters can be a little much to swallow the first time you dive in. That is why I not only go through the steps and the thought process, but simply give you the string that will make it all work for you.

It is still early days for Android Wear, here are a few difficulties you may face

I have been researching Android Wear devices. As a tech enthusiast, I can't wait to get my hands on one of the latest smartwatches like the Moto 360, LG G Watch R or the ASUS Zenwatch. On the other hand, I haven't worn a watch in years, and I am worried that that trend will continue. Nonetheless, if, like me, you want to know all there is to know about the devices and systems, read on.

While I am not crazy enough to stuff all there is to know about Android Wear into a single article, I would like to take a quick look at some of the difficulties that Android Wear powered smartwatch owners are facing with their devices right now. Just a few minor things to be aware of for when you bite the bullet and dive into the wearable technology.

Android design guidelines - a quick overview of Android L and Material Design

As we move ever closer to the official release of Android L, more and more developers are updating their apps with Material Design. Material Design is the name given to Google's latest design principles, which you will see in full force not only in Android L, but across most platforms, at least for Google's apps and services.

We've talked about this before, especially when Google opened their Google I/O app and code for all to use as a development reference.

LG G2 to get G3 UI and Android L, G3 has a flaw and G Watch 2 will be round

Welcome to the LG news hour. Let me run through things super quick: LG is launching a couple new budget line devices at IFA, the L Fino and L Bello, they will also be launching a new smartwatch, the G Watch 2 or possibly G Watch R, for 'round', be careful plugging in your G3, you might crack the casing, the G2 is to get an updated UI by the end of the year and LG promises the G2 will get the Android L update into 2015.

That is a lot to digest. Let's break it down:

Control music and more straight from your Notification bar, Tasker is just that good

Are you getting tired of Tasker yet? I'm not. I let you know about a big update that pushed out recently to Tasker, it included a lengthy list of updates and new features. One of the most up front new features that is either powerful or annoying, depending on your point of view, is the ability to place up to three buttons within the permanent Tasker notification, that fire off your favorite Tasks.

Whether you like the feature, or hate it, this tutorial will help you out.

Make your music charge your phone

While most of us are struggling to keep a charge on our phones and other mobile devices, we often turn to bigger batteries, extra power sources and software power saving measures to get through our day. While all of these measure satisfy our needs, researchers in London have another approach in mind, charging a device with sound.

The premise is simple, kinetic energy is harnessed to produce electricity, we've heard about this in numerous Japanese roads and walkways, and even old wrist watches that shake to charge. Sure, the tech is a little different, but the idea remains the same, physical actions performed on an object can be converted into electricity.

In the case of Queen Mary University in London, the devices are made to be not much larger than a couple quarters in size, small enough to fit inside the average smartphone, and accepts the vibration from sounds to do all the dirty work.

Humble Bundle adds dedicated Mobile section, launches SEGA bundle to kick it off

Fans of Humble Bundle rejoice! Well, Android users that are fans of Humble Bundle, anyway.

Continuing to rock the Android world, the folks behind Humble Bundle are topping off a whirlwind tour of a new Android app and a great mobile bundle with another great mobile bundle and a full dedicated mobile section on their website.

The new bundle is called the Humble SEGA Mobile Bundle, packed with your favorite SEGA games, so mostly just Sonic the wedgehog stuff. Sorry, hedgehog. The Mobile tab on the website is really the exciting thing here, as it brings with it the promise of a continual stream of Android games, apps, books, comics, music and more.

YouTube Music Key and Google Play Music Key to unite audio and video

It is only just a leak so far, but we have it on good authority that Google's YouTube will be launching a service called YouTube Music Key, which will be a paid subscription service to provide ad-free, curated music videos, recorded concerts and more. In addition, Google Play Music All Access is to be renamed Google Play Music Key and add 20 million new tracks to their collection.

The combined YouTube Music Key and Google Play Music Key is expected to sell for $9.99 per month. That's the same price as All Access runs for now. 

The resulting service provided here is one that is ultimately unparalleled in the media streaming world right now. Google is effectively providing a one stop shop for all of our musical desires. No longer will we have to go to Play Music to listen to tunes, then kill it off and open up YouTube to be able to catch the video for that same artist we were just listening too.

Should your car block you from talking on the phone behind the wheel?

MIT recently outlined research taking place in Brazil that can track and identify when you are talking on the phone behind the wheel of your car. The research is out of the Santa Catarina State University and is a hardware/software solution that lives in the car itself, operating completely independent of the cell phone in hand.

I think this opens a major conversation about what distracted driving laws and measures should exist.

While the general idea is that driving while using your phone is a terrible idea, vendors like Google, with their upcoming Android Auto system, are looking to integrate mobility into the car itself. Developing a custom interface that is embedded into the dashboard is accepted as a legal usage of your phone, mainly because it keeps your hands free for driving.

KeepScreen, a free tool to control your display timeout on a per app basis

Everyone loves Tasker, right? Hold on, I think I heard someone in the back say no. They think Tasker is too complicated and, well, expensive. Fair enough, over on my Android customization series on Android Authority I'll beginning to look at free alternatives for common Tasker task.

To that end, KeepScreen is quick and cheap, let's you decide which apps keep your display turned on and when to let your phone go to sleep.

KeepScreen is free, but it is really old and has had no updates in a while. It still works, and well, but if you prefer an active developer, perhaps there are other options out there for you. (Like Tasker... Sorry, I had to.)

You may know ZTE as that low-end phone maker, but they are actually a big deal!

I would like to make a confession: I knew that ZTE was a fairly large company, but I didn't realize it was this large! Fourth largest phone manufacturer around the globe is not a trivial thing, and, as a major contributor to the LTE standards that keep us connected, make for a company that we should all respect.

I had originally titled the article "Why I think you should love ZTE, and their low-end phones." Those words resound strongly for me, as they sum up my realizations in researching ZTE and all they've done for the industry as a whole.

Bottom line, ZTE is a major phone manufacturer, whether you like their gear or not, they are out there. They shipped their five hundred millionth device last year, not bad, and are getting more and more into the Android game as they move along.

Chromebook sales are up, PC sales down

Look at that, just after I go out and purchase a Chromebook of my own, sales numbers for 2013 and first quarter 2014 are hitting the web. The results are straightforward, PC sales continue to decline and Chromebook sales are on track to possibly double over last year.

Mixed into the numbers are some dramatic numbers out of the Microsoft camp, where the Surface division is reported to have accrued losses upwards of $2 billion in the last couple years.

As for the Chromebooks, they clocked in for a little over 2 million unit sales last year, not bad, but they rang up over 1 million sales in the first quarter of this year alone, on track to 4 million then?

There is no doubt that mobile and Chromebooks are taking over the majority of sales these days, these numbers only prove it.

Nvidia 64-bit Tegra K1 processor information released

The next generation of mobile devices is looking to be a powerful adventure in computing. Nvidia has just released a good bunch of information about their upcoming 64-bit Tegra K1 processor. If you've been following the news, you may know this processor as the beast expected in the upcoming Nexus 8 tablet.

So, what's all the hype? Before I get into the details, let's just say that Nvidia is all but promising the 64-bit  Tegra K1 to produce PC-like performance. That's right, your next mobile device will have as much computing horsepower as a similarly spec'd laptop or desktop computer.

Best of all, all of this horsepower will be available to you requiring no more power to perform as your current Android powered phone or tablet.

Canada may soon be home to another smartphone manufacturer, Yota Devices

Like it or not, BlackBerry is not doing so well as a company and, if nothing changes soon, destined for complete failure. I am not here to suggest that BlackBerry is doomed for failure, just that they've never impressed me and have been shedding good employees for several years now.

The great news here is that Yota Devices, maker of the dual-display YotaPhone, is reportedly looking to move to town and get those good people back to work.

YotaPhone, as I mentioned, has two displays, one on each side. What you see in the image above is the second generation YotaPhone equipped with e-ink on one side and a 5-inch AMOLED panel on the other. In all other regards, this is a mid-range Android phone by today's standards, due to ship by the end of the year.

WiFi File Transfer Pro - transfer files between your computer and your Android device with no wires

When it comes to transferring files between your Android devices and your desktop and laptop computers, there are a number of great tools out there. One of my favorite, and most reliable, is called WiFi File Transfer Pro.

WiFi File Transfer Pro costs a little over $1 in the Google Play Store, but I believe it is totally worth it. There is also a free version, it has all the same functionality, it just comes with a 5MB file size limit.

I've talked briefly about WiFi File Transfer Pro before, it was covered in my brainstorming article on transferring files wirelessly, but it was slightly overshadowed by ES File Explorer and how to use ES as an FTP server.