Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
May 22, 2012
When you think of Android phones, you think of bloatware. We wish it weren't so, and not every phone comes with, but the majority of Android phones out there come from carriers and are chock ful...
Article
by Phil Nickinson
Mar 09, 2012
Oxford University Press -- the folks behind that big book full of words and defintions -- have just put out an android version of the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, 8th edition. It's ...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Feb 07, 2012
What is a widget? In Android, the word widget is a generic term for a bit of self-contained code that displays a program, or a piece of a program, that is also (usually) a shortcut to a larger...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Feb 02, 2012
What is sideloading? It's a term you see a lot thrown around while talking about Android applications, and it's simple to explain. It means installing applications without using ...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Feb 01, 2012
What is recovery? In Android, recovery refers to the dedicated, bootable partition that has the recovery console installed. A combination of key presses (or instructions from a command l...
Article
by Phil Nickinson
Jan 31, 2012
What is a QR code? These things are everywhere nowadays. Little square barcode-looking things. They're on website, they're on pictures, they're on advertisements -- they're everywher...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Jan 30, 2012
What is a PRL? PRL stands for Preferred Roaming List and is a database used in CDMA (think Sprint and Verizon here) phones. It's built and provided by your carrier, and used when you...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Jan 23, 2012
What is a kernel? If you spend any time reading Android forums, blogs, how-to posts or online discussion you'll soon hear people talking about the kernel. A kernel isn't somethin...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Jan 20, 2012
What is the JIT? JIT stands for "Just In Time," and we use it to describe a Dalvik JIT compiler, which was added to Android with the 2.2 release. It compiles bytecode into nati...
Article
by Phil Nickinson
Jan 17, 2012
What is GSM? When it comes to Android devices, especially for us here in the U.S., there are two major differentiators that really have nothing to do with Android and everything to do with the carri...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Jan 16, 2012
What is fastboot? In Android, fastboot is a special diagnostic and engineering protocol that you can boot your Android device into. While in fastboot, you can modify the file system image...
Article
by Phil Nickinson
Jan 06, 2012
What's an ETF? An early termination fee is something you agree to, albeit grudgingly, when you sign a contract with a carrier. In return for, say, Verizon, selling you a phone for $199 instead o...
Article
by Jerry Hildenbrand
Jan 05, 2012
What is Dalvik? We hear that word getting thrown around a lot on the Internet when talking about Android and its inner workings. While there's no easy explanation we can give in just...
Article
by Phil Nickinson
Jan 03, 2012
What is a bootloader? At its most basic level, your Android smartphone is like a hard drive, made of up several partitions. One of those partitions holds the Android system files, another holds...
Article
by Phil Nickinson
Jan 02, 2012
Welcome to our our latest feature here at Android Central. This one's geared more for you folks who are just getting started with Android, but it's a great refresher for you veterans as well...
Review
by Sean Brunett
Jun 28, 2011
Knowing more words and expanding your vocabulary is helpful no matter what industry you’re in. Dictionary.com is one of the most popular websites for providing definitions and with its Android a...
