The Programming View

Thursday, 13 November 2014

Android is getting a whole lot sweeter with the release of Lollipop. We already knew that the new Android 5.0 operating system for mobile devices looks great, thanks to a preview at this year's Google I/O. Its interface might even be as good as (or better than) the iPhone's iOS 8. If you're an Android user with a Galaxy, an HTC, a Moto X, or a Nexus, here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about upgrading to Lollipop.

When can I upgrade? It started rolling out last week to Google Play and Nexus devices (Nexus 4, 5, 7, and 10). Google's just-announced flagship phone and tablet, the Nexus 6 and Nexus 9 by Motorola and HTC, respectively, can run Android Lollipop immediately. Next up will be the Motorola devices, Moto X, Moto G, Moto G with 4G LTE, Moto E, and Droid phones in the coming weeks. Some of the 2nd generation Moto G and Moto X have already received the upgrade. The HTC One M7 and M8 update will be released within 90 days, according to this HTC executive. LG announced that Lollipop will arrive on the LG G3 sometime in the fourth quarter, which ends Dec. 31. After that, Android 5.0 will roll out to most Android devices, but no official word yet from Samsung.
How do I upgrade? — First, back up your device's data. When Android Lollipop becomes available for your device, you should be able to update wirelessly. For most devices, head to the Settings app, click on "About Phone" or "About Tablet," and then tap "Software update" or "Check for updates." If a new version is detected, you will be able to download Lollipop right away. Your device will probably need a WiFi connection. Older Samsung devices may need to be connected to a computer with a software called Kies installed.
Why do I need it? — There are three major reasons why we love Lollipop: 1. It's rocking a beautiful new interface that Google calls Material Design. 2. The same operating system works across multiple devices (tablets, phones, TVs, and smart watches, so now all your tech will work together seamlessly). 3. There's a new battery-saver feature that extends your device's survival by 90 minutes.

Other notable features include a "guest user mode" that allows friends or family to use your device with a separate login. They won't be able to see your stuff. A new Priority Mode (activated with the device's volume button) allows only certain people and notifications to get through to you. Android 5.0 improves performance by up to four times. Android TV with Lollipop allows watchers to voice search Google Play, YouTube, and other apps. A tap-and-pay system to manage multiple payment apps and rival Apple Pay will also run on Lollipop.

Wednesday, 12 November 2014

Difference between Visit, Visitor and Page View

Visitor

A visitor is someone who visit your site. A visitor is tracked by cookie placed in their browser. A single visitor can have multiple visit on your site.

Visit

A visit is any time someone reaches your site from a referring source outside of your domain,that means that person was on another site and clicked on a link that took them to your site

PageView

A PageView is when a page on your site loaded by a browser.

Social computing for software engineering: A mapping study

Tuesday, 11 November 2014

Difference Between Android Lollipop & Android KitKat

There was plenty of debate over what the new version of Android would be called, with "Lemon Meringue" and even the controversial "Licorice" said to have been in the running at various points.

Thankfully the lovable "Lollipop" won out, as Google revealed when it unveiled the new Android update, but the name is hardly all that's been improved since the last version.

Here's exactly how Android 5.0 stacks up to Android KitKat.

1. Material world

Android Lollipop is the biggest change to Android in some time, finally bumping Google's OS up a full integer to version 5.0.

It's packed with changes, but the most obvious improvements are visual.

Google's been working on getting its new "Material Design" aesthetic out in the world for months, and Lollipop is its culmination. One of Android's biggest failings up to date — including with KitKat — has been that its design language never felt unified, and with Material Design Google hopes to fix that.

Material Design reflects this with clean, bold lines and colors that transform and alter with fun animations. At its best it lets you sense the depth behind the interface, even when it's at rest and appears flat.

This extends from app icons, fonts and interfaces to simple elements like the new navigation buttons and notification bar icons, and once you get past the changes you'll likely agree that most things look better now.

The changes to Android's interface with Lollipop aren't all visual, either — voice commands with "OK Google" are more prominent now as well, and can even be used when the screen is locked and off on some devices, and there are massive improvements to notifications.

2. Notifications

Notifications have been significantly overhauled in Android Lollipop.

The OS's lockscreen is no longer a static barrier you have to get through before you can reach the meat of your phone's functionality, but instead now has many elements of KitKat's notification panel, plus more interactivity

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In Lollipop you can see what notifications you've received and what's going on with your apps and contacts as soon as you pick it up, before you even unlock your device — and you can even respond to messages from the lockscreen.

The way you see notifications is changing as well — now rich, descriptive, and interactive notifiers will pop up on top of what you're doing without interrupting, so you can reject a call or read a message without quitting that game or whatever. Some of this functionality was present in KitKat, but it was half-baked and inconsistent.

Android Lollipop is also getting a "do not disturb" mode a la iOS, which Android KitKat and previous versions sorely lacked. You can use it to silence your ever-buzzing phone during specific hours or, more importantly, to only let notifications from specific sources come through.

Lollipop's quick settings bar also has new options that KitKat desperately needed, like easy buttons for flashlight, hotspots, and screencasting. Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and location options have been expanded here as well.

3. Connectivity and APIs

With Android Lollipop Google is making connectivity a big focus — not just between different handsets, but among different classes of device as well. For example Android TV is now built right into Android Lollipop, helping you easily navigate big screens with smartwatch voice commands, phone gestures, and more.

That's just scratching the surface, but it means your Android experience will be consistent across smartphones, tablets, TVs, smartwatches, and more.

Google also wants Lollipop's apps to communicate with one another more than KitKat's do. Examples are simple, like tapping links in Chrome and having them open in specific apps instead of taking you to mobile websites. The OS already does it sometimes, but Google wants it to be more consistent.

This depends quite a bit on app developers taking advantage of Lollipop's 5,000 new APIs. These will make the new Android OS more versatile over time, though their presence might not be noticeable for end users at first.

Google says Lollipop is also better at connecting with Bluetooth and Wi-Fi. For example Lollipop devices won't connect to a Wi-Fi network unless they can verify there's an actual connection there — so unlike with KitKat, you won't be stumped wondering why you suddenly have no data because your gadget decided to connect to a turd of a network.

4. Safe and sound

Android Lollipop has some new security features as well, like the ability to set geographical "safe zones" where your device won't require a PIN to unlock.

You can do the same with specific Bluetooth devices, like Android Wear smartwatches, which your phone or tablet will sense automatically and turn off its security barriers.

And despite all the changes to notifications that let you see and interact with them without unlocking your phone,

Android 5.0 also has new settings that let you hide sensitive information anywhere it might appear.

Lollipop also has better protection against vulnerabilities and malware thanks to SELinux enforcing for all applications, and encryption is turned on by default on all Lollipop devices.

And multiple user profiles on a single device, including temporary guest profiles, makes it easier to share your phone with others while still maintaining control over your own stuff.

5. Performance

Google has reportedly also put a lot of work into making Android Lollipop run better under the hood.

KitKat's optional runtime ART is now the standard for Android Lollipop, and Google says it will help make Lollipop run faster, more efficiently and with less hiccups.

That won't harm existing Android apps' compatibility, but it has let Google future-proof Android further against the inevitable onslaught of 64-bit smartphones coming in the near future.

These phones will have more RAM than existing phones with KitKat and other operating systems are capable of packing, which is a huge benefit that only future generations of Lollipop handsets will be able to take advantage of.

For now, though, Google says Android 5.0 is way more power-efficient over its predecessors, with the same phones getting significantly more battery juice out of Lollipop than they did with KitKat.

Multitasking has also been updated with the ability to have multiple cards for the same apps open at a time, letting you have more than one document or website next to one another, for example. It's also easier to switch keyboards now too, and Android Lollipop even supports RAW images.

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