How to add Chrome for Android bookmarks to your home screen Chrome for Android recently updated, adding some new features. Yesterday we took a look at ditching the mobile version of a Web site and forcing the desktop version to load. Today we are going to take a look at the ability to add a bookmark shortcut to your home screen To place a shortcut on your home screen, you simply need to view your bookmarks in Chrome for Android. Pick the bookmark you want to add, and then long-press on the icon. You will then see a menu pop up, with the last option being add to home screen. Select that option and then go back to your home screen. That's it. For a better visual walkthrough of the process, watch the video above. This small, but important feature was something that Android has been able to do for a while with the default browser, but it's nice to see it being added to Chrome for Android.

How to add Chrome for Android bookmarks to your home screen

Chrome for Android recently updated, adding some new features. Yesterday we took a look at ditching the mobile version of a Web site and forcing the desktop version to load. Today we are going to take a look at the ability to add a bookmark shortcut to your home screen
To place a shortcut on your home screen, you simply need to view your bookmarks in Chrome for Android. Pick the bookmark you want to add, and then long-press on the icon. You will then see a menu pop up, with the last option being add to home screen. Select that option and then go back to your home screen. That's it.
For a better visual walkthrough of the process, watch the video above. This small, but important feature was something that Android has been able to do for a while with the default browser, but it's nice to see it being added to Chrome for Android.

The main attraction of Android for mobile phone manufacturers has been that it is free, but as phone makers like Samsung and HTC have found out, Android’s encumbrance is that it is constantly pursued in courts all over the globe by Apple and Microsoft. Samsung has already agreed to pay millions to Microsoft (MSFT) for licensing patents related to Android. Some investors may be surprised to know that the biggest blow landed on Android may not be coming from the fist of iPhone maker Apple, but instead from the samurai sword of Larry Ellison at Oracle. Jury selection begins today in San Francisco in a trial that pits Google against Oracle. Oracle is suing Google over intellectual property related to Java that was previously owned by Sun Microsystems. Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. Google’s defense is that Java was free and that Sun was a supporter of Android. Obviously Oracle disagrees. Oracle’s arguments may include an email from a Google engineer concluding that Google should seek a license from Oracle to use Java. Barring a settlement, we will know the results soon as the trial is expected to last only eight weeks. If Oracle wins, it will be in a position to seek an injunction against the sale of Android devices. In all likelihood, Oracle is not after an injunction, because it is not in the mobile device business. Oracle is angling for licensing payments. If Oracle wins, it may seek $5.00 to $7.00 in royalties per handset. Over a period of time, royalty payments may add up. Such royalty payments may cripple Android as it will take away its advantage of being free. Even if Google wins, Android is facing a big challenge from Apple. (Please see Apple To Make Billions On Google’s Android and Apple Could Rake In Billions From Android Licensing Instead Of Enriching Lawyers.)

Android May Be Big Loser In Oracle-Google Trial

The main attraction of Android for mobile phone manufacturers has been that it is free, but as phone makers like Samsung and HTC have found out, Android’s encumbrance is that it is constantly pursued in courts all over the globe by Apple and Microsoft.

Samsung has already agreed to pay millions to Microsoft (MSFT) for licensing patents related to Android.

Some investors may be surprised to know that the biggest blow landed on Android may not be coming from the fist of iPhone maker Apple, but instead from the samurai sword of Larry Ellison at Oracle.

Jury selection begins today in San Francisco in a trial that pits Google against Oracle.   Oracle is suing Google over intellectual property related to Java that was previously owned by Sun Microsystems.  Oracle bought Sun Microsystems. Google’s defense is that Java was free and that Sun was a supporter of Android.

Obviously Oracle disagrees.  Oracle’s arguments may include an email from a Google engineer concluding that Google should seek a license from Oracle to use Java.

Barring a settlement, we will know the results soon as the trial is expected to last only eight weeks.

If Oracle wins, it will be in a position to seek an injunction against the sale of Android devices.  In all likelihood, Oracle is not after an injunction, because it is not in the mobile device business.  Oracle is angling for licensing payments.  If Oracle wins, it may seek $5.00 to $7.00 in royalties per handset.

Over a period of time, royalty payments may add up.  Such royalty payments may cripple Android as it will take away its advantage of being free.

Even if Google wins, Android is facing a big challenge from Apple.  (Please see Apple To Make Billions On Google’s Android and Apple Could Rake In Billions From Android Licensing Instead Of Enriching Lawyers.)

Chrome for Android Doesn’t Need No Stinking Mobile Websites

Chrome for Android Doesn’t Need No Stinking Mobile Websites

Google has released an upgrade for its new Chrome for Android web browser. Chrome for Android — which was released earlier this year — is still a beta release, but the latest version adds several nice new features, including a way to circumvent websites that try to force a mobile version on you.

The latest version of Chrome for Android can be downloaded from the Google Play store. Note that Chrome for Android requires Android 4.0 or better.

This release fixes a number of bugs and adds some new features, like the ability to reload a site that has redirected you to a mobile page. Despite Jakob Nielsen’s recent pronouncement that users want to be auto-redirected to simplified mobile sites, Google’s Chrome for Android developers think otherwise.

Chrome for Android’s new feature subverts websites that automatically redirect you to a mobile version by spoofing Chrome for Android’s user agent string, in this case sending the string for the desktop version of Chrome instead of the mobile (which developers should note has been updated as well).

The new feature means that if a site offers a sub-par mobile experience by default, you can always reload the desktop version with the press of a button.

Also new in this release is the ability to add bookmarks to your home screen for fast access to your favorite sites and web apps.

In addition to the new features, Chrome for Android is now available in 31 more languages and in all countries where Google Play is supported. Chrome for Android is still a beta release and there are plenty of known issues, but the browser is getting closer to a finished product.

Android Tops 50% Market Share in the U.S.

Android's share of the U.S. smartphone market topped 50% for the first time in February, according to comScore's MobiLens.

The figures were a 17-point increase over February 2011. Apple's share for iOS for the month was 30.2%, which was up five points over the same time period. RIM's BlackBerry platform claimed 13.4% vs. 28.9% in February 2011 while Microsoft had 3.9% of the market compared to the previous 7.7%. (The report didn't specify which version or versions of Microsoft's mobile operating systems were being measured.)
[More from Mashable: Instagram for Android Downloaded More Than 1 Million Times in 24 Hours]
Overall, in February, 234 million Americans aged 13 and up used mobile devices. Some 69.5 million people in the U.S. owned smartphones during that time.
Google's success with seeding the market with Android-based phones comes a day after Horace Dediu, an analyst with Asymco, ran the numbers and discovered that Google only makes $1.70 per Android device compared to the $576.30 that Apple makes per iPhone sale.
[More from Mashable: Instagram for Android: Advanced Camera, But No Tilt Shift [HANDS ON]]
Meanwhile, the U.S. market appears to lag the rest of the world for Android adoption. Global market share for the platform approached 50% last August.

Time Warner Cable Live TV Streaming Coming to Android in Next Few Weeks

Time Warner Cable will bring streaming television to Android devices running the most recent version of Google's mobile operating system, Ice Cream Sandwich (ICS), before the end of May, the company announced on Thursday.
Time Warner Cable in December released a TWC TV app for Android phones and tablets, though it did not include live TV. At the time, the cable provider promised live TV access with the expanded rollout of Android 4.0 ICS.
"Well, that time is here," Jeff Simmermon, director of digital communication for Time Warner Cable, wrote in a blog post Thursday. "In a few weeks — definitely by Memorial Day — Android devices running Ice Cream Sandwich will be able to stream our live video product in the home."
But, there's just one problem — only 3 percent of Android-based devices are now running ICS. Android 4.0 ICS made its debut in the U.S. on the Samsung Galaxy Nexus for Verizon in mid-December. Since then, only a handful of devices have debuted with the updated OS, while handset manufacturers have been hustling to upgrade existing smartphones to ICS.
ICS is the only version of the Android OS that provides the "security and stability necessary to distribute video over our private network," Simmermon wrote. In contrast, adding live video to its iOS app is much easier, since it only involves one operating system made by one company that also manufactures its own devices, he said.
"Developing our video product for Android is not unlike tweezing one's eyebrows while using a disco ball for a mirror," Simmermon wrote. "We're going to get there, but it's going to happen one facet at a time."
Meanwhile, TWC previously launched a live TV iPad app in March 2011. Its release, however, prompted concern from content holders, who argued that Time Warner wasn't licensed to stream their content. Time Warner argued that the iPad app was simply like having another TV in the house and, since the content did not stream over the Internet, it was not a violation of the companies' content deals. Viacom however, ended up taking Time Warner Cable to court over the issue, though that case was resolved in August.

How to install and use Launcher Pro on Android One of the best things about Android phones is being able to customise them. Manufacturers do this too so their touchscreen phones look a bit different to everyone else's touchscreen phones. The number of manufacturer customisations is rather bewildering. HTC has SenseUI, Samsung has TouchWiz, Dell has StageUI and Motorola may or may not still have Motorblur. No wonder the unique selling point of the Nexus range is that it offers a pure Android experience. If you want to get rid of the custom front-end on your Android phone there are alternative homescreens, the most popular of which is Launcher Pro, which you can download from the Android Market. We also recommend that you enable all of its features by picking up Launcher Pro Unlocker for a small fee. 1. Installation Once you have installed Launcher Pro, it registers itself with your phone's Home button. Your phone will need to ask you which launcher to use whenever you press Home. Before selecting Launcher Pro, tick the 'Use by default' box so that you won't be asked again. If you change your mind, select Applications from the settings menu, choose Launcher Pro and tap the 'Clear Defaults' button. 222 2. Finding preferences The menu button on most Android devices brings up a set of five icons. Launcher Pro adds a sixth for its own preferences. You'll need to be familiar with this and the menu it launches. Throughout the rest of the guide, menu paths will be shown as follows: for example, to direct you to the hidden apps option in the general settings of Launcher Pro's preferences, you'll see Preferences > General Settings > Hidden Apps 333 3. The app drawer Since Android has an application grid (the app drawer) and homescreens, it seems redundant to place shortcuts on the latter. If you disagree, then you'll love the dock, see below. Homescreens are best used for widgets that provide glancable information about your life and what's happening in your applications. However, if your phone has lots of applications that you never use, finding what you want in the app drawer might be a bit daunting. Fortunately, Launcher Pro lets you hide the ones that you don't want to see: Preferences > General Settings > Hidden Apps 444 You can further customise the app drawer by removing or showing a home button with Preferences > Appearance Settings > Home button on app drawer. You can also turn on the 3D scrolling effect that you'll find on some Android devices by going to Preferences > Advanced Settings > Use 3D drawer. 4. The Dock The last section suggested that application shortcuts shouldn't be put on the homescreen. There are inevitably some which you'll use more than others and want fast access to. This is where Launcher Pro's dock is useful, and it can be found on the bottom row of every homescreen. You can have up to three docks and each can have five shortcuts. You move from one dock to the next by swiping sideways. See Preferences > Dock Settings. You can change the background of the dock to match other Android styles or just leave it blank by going to Preferences > Appearance Settings > Dock Background. 555 To change shortcuts in the docks, just long press an icon. You can add anything that you could put on the homescreen, plus there are buttons for moving between homescreens and opening the app drawer. From the long press menu, you can also set an action for an upward swiping gesture; for example, a preview of all homescreens (see step six). 666 5. Widgets You can add all of the same widgets in Launcher Pro that you can add to the regular homescreens. Simply long press in an empty space to open the widget menu. When you do this, you'll see an added option for widgets that are built-in to Launcher Pro. These added widgets are as follows: • People; thumbnails of a contact group e.g. favourites or family • Bookmarks; thumbnails or a list of browser bookmarks • Calendar; month and agenda views, but doesn't support tasks • Messaging; half-screen preview of last SMS • Twitter; timeline, replies and direct messages (very slow to update) • Facebook; news feed and your wall • Friends; combined timeline of Twitter and Facebook updates • Gmail; preview of inbox messages (does not work after the 2.3.5 Gmail update) 777 Widgets can be removed from the homescreen in the same way as any other Android system by long pressing and dragging to the bin. The bin also acts as a quick way to uninstall applications. Long press a shortcut (from either the drawer or homescreen), and wait until the bin appears. Then drag it to the bin, but don't let go. After a couple of seconds, text will appear stating that the application can be uninstalled, then you can let go. Launcher Pro supports scrolling widgets and lets you resize them too. To resize something, give it a long press, and then let go. It will become highlighted in orange with a resize grip in the lower right corner. 888 6. Homescreens Launcher Pro allows you to have up to seven homescreens which can be accessed via Preferences > Homescreen Settings. Either the home button or dock gestures can be set to show a preview of them all. As usual, all homescreens can be traversed by swiping, and you can set how or whether they loop around when you get to the first or last. For those who enjoy graphics-accelerated eye candy, there is a set of transition effects. They are: scale, rotate (two variants), flip (two variants), and cube. Go to Preferences > Behaviour Settings > Home key action. 999 Going further This has been a brief outline of what Launcher Pro can do. There are far more settings, but after reading this guide you'll be ready to go exploring by yourself. Let us know in the comments how you'd configure your perfect set of homescreens!

How to install and use Launcher Pro on Android

One of the best things about Android phones is being able to customise them. Manufacturers do this too so their touchscreen phones look a bit different to everyone else's touchscreen phones. The number of manufacturer customisations is rather bewildering. HTC has SenseUI, Samsung has TouchWiz, Dell has StageUI and Motorola may or may not still have Motorblur. No wonder the unique selling point of the Nexus range is that it offers a pure Android experience.
If you want to get rid of the custom front-end on your Android phone there are alternative homescreens, the most popular of which is Launcher Pro, which you can download from the Android Market. We also recommend that you enable all of its features by picking up Launcher Pro Unlocker for a small fee.

1. Installation

Once you have installed Launcher Pro, it registers itself with your phone's Home button. Your phone will need to ask you which launcher to use whenever you press Home. Before selecting Launcher Pro, tick the 'Use by default' box so that you won't be asked again. If you change your mind, select Applications from the settings menu, choose Launcher Pro and tap the 'Clear Defaults' button. 

2. Finding preferences

The menu button on most Android devices brings up a set of five icons. Launcher Pro adds a sixth for its own preferences. You'll need to be familiar with this and the menu it launches. Throughout the rest of the guide, menu paths will be shown as follows: for example, to direct you to the hidden apps option in the general settings of Launcher Pro's preferences, you'll see Preferences > General Settings > Hidden Apps

3. The app drawer

Since Android has an application grid (the app drawer) and homescreens, it seems redundant to place shortcuts on the latter. If you disagree, then you'll love the dock, see below. Homescreens are best used for widgets that provide glancable information about your life and what's happening in your applications. However, if your phone has lots of applications that you never use, finding what you want in the app drawer might be a bit daunting. Fortunately, Launcher Pro lets you hide the ones that you don't want to see: Preferences > General Settings > Hidden Apps

 
You can further customise the app drawer by removing or showing a home button with Preferences > Appearance Settings > Home button on app drawer.
You can also turn on the 3D scrolling effect that you'll find on some Android devices by going to Preferences > Advanced Settings > Use 3D drawer.

4. The Dock

The last section suggested that application shortcuts shouldn't be put on the homescreen. There are inevitably some which you'll use more than others and want fast access to. This is where Launcher Pro's dock is useful, and it can be found on the bottom row of every homescreen. You can have up to three docks and each can have five shortcuts. You move from one dock to the next by swiping sideways. See Preferences > Dock Settings. You can change the background of the dock to match other Android styles or just leave it blank by going to Preferences > Appearance Settings > Dock Background.
 

To change shortcuts in the docks, just long press an icon. You can add anything that you could put on the homescreen, plus there are buttons for moving between homescreens and opening the app drawer. From the long press menu, you can also set an action for an upward swiping gesture; for example, a preview of all homescreens (see step six).

5. Widgets

You can add all of the same widgets in Launcher Pro that you can add to the regular homescreens. Simply long press in an empty space to open the widget menu. When you do this, you'll see an added option for widgets that are built-in to Launcher Pro.
These added widgets are as follows:

• People; thumbnails of a contact group e.g. favourites or family
• Bookmarks; thumbnails or a list of browser bookmarks
• Calendar; month and agenda views, but doesn't support tasks
• Messaging; half-screen preview of last SMS
• Twitter; timeline, replies and direct messages (very slow to update)
• Facebook; news feed and your wall
• Friends; combined timeline of Twitter and Facebook updates
• Gmail; preview of inbox messages (does not work after the 2.3.5 Gmail update)

Widgets can be removed from the homescreen in the same way as any other Android system by long pressing and dragging to the bin.
The bin also acts as a quick way to uninstall applications. Long press a shortcut (from either the drawer or homescreen), and wait until the bin appears. Then drag it to the bin, but don't let go. After a couple of seconds, text will appear stating that the application can be uninstalled, then you can let go.
Launcher Pro supports scrolling widgets and lets you resize them too. To resize something, give it a long press, and then let go. It will become highlighted in orange with a resize grip in the lower right corner. 

6. Homescreens

Launcher Pro allows you to have up to seven homescreens which can be accessed via Preferences > Homescreen Settings. Either the home button or dock gestures can be set to show a preview of them all. As usual, all homescreens can be traversed by swiping, and you can set how or whether they loop around when you get to the first or last. For those who enjoy graphics-accelerated eye candy, there is a set of transition effects. They are: scale, rotate (two variants), flip (two variants), and cube. Go to Preferences > Behaviour Settings > Home key action.

Going further

This has been a brief outline of what Launcher Pro can do. There are far more settings, but after reading this guide you'll be ready to go exploring by yourself. Let us know in the comments how you'd configure your perfect set of homescreens!

WARNING: Factory Resetting your Android may leave private data on your device

 A researcher has discovered that even if you hit Factory Reset on an Android phone, your personal data may not be permanently deleted. 

It’s never fun to have to issue a warning, but a new study by the LA Times indicates that the Factory Reset function on Android devices may not work as advertised. The site worked with a security expert to run a test on BlackBerry, Android, and iOS devices as well as PCs. It discovered that important, sensitive data could be retrieved on a large portion of Android devices even after the Factory Reset feature had been properly used. 
Robert Siciliano, an identity theft expert from McAfee performed the experiment, where he purchased 30 used devices (mostly smartphones and laptops) from random users on Craigslist. His goal was to see how smart people were about removing their personal information from phones, but as it turns out, even though a majority of owners did correctly Factory Reset their Android devices, he was still able to retrieve vital data like “Social Security numbers, child support documents, credit card account log-ins, and a host of other personal data.” This finding is all the more disturbing since he could find no problems with the way iPhones, iPads, or BlackBerry devices delete their data. The only other weak link was Windows XP, which is so old it’s almost expected. 
We’ve reached out to Google’s Android team to try and learn more about this potential vulnerability, but have not heard back as of publication. We’ll update this article if and when we get some answers. 
Until we learn more, we don’t recommend that you don’t sell your used Android devices to anyone that you don’t know or trust. It’s quite possible that personal information could be leaked from it.