What is the Best Mobile Flight Tracker App?

People who have family in far flung places, who travel frequently, or who simply have a love of aviation will all be acutely aware of the frustrations of air travel. Whether it’s knowing if a plane has been delayed, trying to work out what time to get to the airport to pick up a loved one, or working out landing times across multiple time zones, it’s not easy to navigate the minefield of information available.
There’s always been websites to track flights, but with the advent of smartphones, life has become a little easier for seasoned users of airlines. Most major carriers now provide their own apps, and there are numerous services that can tell you exactly where a flight is at any given moment.
Here we look at some of the best flight tracker apps.

FlightAware Flight Tracker

With more than 1 million downloads, the FlightAware app is one of the most popular flight trackers in the Google Play Store, and with an average rating of four stars off more than 21,000 reviews, you can be sure you are in good hands.

The app lets users see the latest updates and exact location of any commercial flight anywhere in the world, as well as any charter or private flight in the skies over the United States or Canada. The data provided by the app includes radar overlays, complete flight details, and even terminals of departure and arrival. This makes the app especially useful if you’re rushing to make a connection, or your flight has been re-routed to a different terminal or airport.
Finally, you can create alerts for specific flights, enable push notifications, and share travel details with friends in your contact list.
We didn’t include this in our list of best Android apps, but it’s highly recommended!

GateGuru

GateGuru claims to be “revolutionising the airport experience”, and their grandiose claims are surprisingly accurate. The app is like a better version of the once-popular GoHow Airport which we reviewed back in 2012.

They brand themselves as a day-of-travel app, meaning that they try and offer useful resources to travellers from the moment you leave your house to the moment you eventually arrive at your end destination.
The app covers airports around the world (125 in the United States, 17 in Canada, 31 in Europe, 29 in Asia, and 2 in Australia), and not only offers data about where your flight is, but also airport maps, car rental information, where to check-in, weather conditions and last-minute hotel deals.

Google Now and FlightStats

Google Now has lots of hidden features, but lovers of the service will be aware that for some time it has offered its users the ability to track their flights. To find out the necessary information, you simply need to search within Google Now for your flight number and the app will give you updates (if you have a flight reservation in your inbox — either yours or one that someone forward to you — this process should be automatic).
What is less-well advertised is that Google uses a service called FlightStats to provide you with the data. It means that if you either don’t have or don’t like Google Now, you can still access the same information.

FlightStats is available for free in the Google Play Store, and is a real-time flight status and airport tracking application. The full app actually offers considerably more useful material than the condensed Google Now version, and should definitely be part of your armoury even if you are an avid Google Now user.
You can access any flight status in the world as long as you know either its flight number, airport of departure or route, you can watch flights move around the globe in real time, and you can access lists of delays, gates and weather for almost all major airports.

Flightradar24 – Flight Tracker

This app is not free, costing $3.99 in the app store, however, if you are a keen aviation enthusiast, it will definitely appeal. In addition to the typical flight tracking and live updates, Flightradar24 includes some unique features that set it apart from the crowd.
Firstly, it includes a point-and-identify feature. That means that if you’re in your back garden, sitting at an airport viewing area, or driving along a road, and you see a plane in the sky — no matter how high or low — you just need to point your Android device at it and you will get a complete breakdown of flight number, airline, and destination; it works surprisingly well.

Secondly, the app includes a way to see what a pilot sees. This means you just need to select a plane from the map and you’ll be presented with a real-time 3D visualisation what the pilot is looking at through the cockpit. Not so exciting in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, but a really cool feature when a plane is over cities or interesting natural landscapes.
The app works by using ADS-B transponders (something most modern aircraft are fitted with) to access a plane’s positional data. They claim they have a “rapidly growing network of several thousand ground stations around the world to receive [the] data” and thus can use multi-lateration to work out the locations of planes that don’t have ADS-B transponders fitted. They also have access to a live feed from the US Federal Aviation Administration.
There is a free version of the app — but that doesn’t include the appealing 3D visualisations, search functions, and data about altitude and speed.

So Which Is The Best?

If you’re prepared to spend some money, then Flightradar24 is the clear choice. Its depth of features and level of coverage (almost 100 percent globally) sets it apart from all the free offerings.
If you think Flightradar24 is a bit unnecessarily complicated, it is a tough choice between FlightStats and FlightAware. FlightStats will suit users on Google Now because the data and updates will be coordinated with the advice they receive elsewhere, but FlightAware’s NEXRAD radar overlay is an added boon for those who like to feel like a pro.
The advice? Try them all and settle on the one you are most comfortable with.

Have you used any of the four recommendations? If so, we’d love you hear from you. What features did you find worked well? Are there any features you wish were included? Let us know in the comments below.

Replace Samsung Apps With These Better Alternatives

Samsung phones have been among the most popular because they are very capable devices with handy features built in. There’s S Health, S Note, S Voice, and so much more.
However, even if you don’t have a Samsung phone, you can still get the same features that those apps provide. Also, these alternatives are a good way to avoid the Samsung-provided apps if you don’t like them.

For Imitating S Health

There are a few apps you can use to replace S Health. Google Fit can help you track your fitness goals and record your progress just by carrying your phone with you while you walk, run, or bike.
MyFitnessPal can help with counting calories and making sure that you’re eating just the right amount.
Finally, to get your approximate heart rate, you can use an app like Instant Heart Rate, which uses your phone’s camera and flash to track color changes in your finger that are used to get a rough estimate of your heart rate. In other words, you can use it without your phone actually having heart rate-monitoring hardware.

For Imitating S Note

S Note is a great application for taking handwritten notes, especially with the S Pen on Galaxy Note phones. However, Evernote has the capability for you to make handwritten notes as well (and plenty of other uses), so there’s little need to have to use S Note.
If you don’t have a Galaxy Note phone, you can also just buy a stylus or a pen/stylus all-in-one for cheap. Evernote is by far the best solution because S Note has the option to synchronize handwritten notes to Evernote; it’d be easier to just use Evernote from the beginning since it includes all of your notes, no matter what type they are.

For Imitating S Voice

S Voice can be replaced by Google Now, which varies in effectiveness based on how many of Google’s services you use. If you’re just doing random Web searches, then Google Now is great for everyone, but if you need it to make appointments in your calendar for you, it might be best if you’re already using Google Calendars.
You can do all sorts of things with the voice controls of Google Now, and it really is changing the way people search. It can even remind you where you parked. It’s a very solid alternative.

For Imitating Touchwiz

Touchwiz, the default launcher and user interface that comes with Samsung phones, has certainly gotten better in recent years, and there’s hope that it might actually be awesome (gasp!) as the Lollipop updates start rolling out.
However, for the time being, I still can’t recommend it. In fact, any other launcher will be great, with my two top picks being Buzz Launcher and the Google Now Launcher.
Buzz Launcher is highly customizable and lets you make your phone truly yours, while the Google Now Launcher makes using Google Now easy and keeps the rest of the experience simple and intuitive. However, there are certainly plenty of launchers to choose from, including some super simple ones.

For Imitating Hancom Office

Samsung phones come with the Hancom Office suite, which is alright enough for viewing office files. However, there are plenty of excellent options you can install on both Samsung and non-Samsung phones, such as Google Drive, Microsoft Office, and Polaris Office.
With all of these options, you will still be able to work on documents, spreadsheets, and presentations. If you’re not sure which one to pick, just install all three and then uninstall the ones you end up not liking or not using, or check out some of our comparisons.

For Imitating the GALAXY App Store

Samsung devices come with another app store, the GALAXY App Store. While you can’t get it on other phones, there is still another app store you can add to your device if you’d like more than just the Google Play Store: the Amazon Appstore.
While I personally don’t like other app stores because they cause fragmentation, I won’t tell others that they shouldn’t add them to their phones. And if you do add another app store, you might as well add the one from Amazon. While it’s not as great as the Google Play Store, it’s still a pretty nice addition to gain easy access to some extra apps. They often have great deals on free or cheap apps too.

Which Samsung Apps and Features Do You Want?

With these apps, you’ll get the same popular features that come with Samsung phones. If you have a Samsung phone and don’t like the Samsung apps that come with it, these are great alternatives that provide the same functionality.

Best of all, they’re easy to get and work on any phone running a recent version of Android.

Samsung Gear Live Review and Giveaway

With Android Wear over six months old, one might wonder how the $199 Samsung Gear Live stacks up to its newer competition. To date, we’ve seen the $249.99 Sony SmartWatch 3, $249.99 Moto 360, the ~$120 LG G Watch, the $299 LG G Watch R and now the $199.99 Asus ZenWatch. What’s surprising is that the Samsung Gear Live still holds up well to its newer competitors. It offers rock solid build quality, good performance and decent battery life (compared to other Android Wear devices). But does its stalwart performance warrant a purchase?

Hardware and Specs

• Chipset: Snapdragon 400, 1.2 GHz single-core CPU, Adreno 305 GPU
• Screen: 1.63″ AMOLED 320×320 (278 PPI)
• RAM: 512MB
• Storage: 4GB internal memory
• Battery: 300 mAh Li-ion battery
• Dimensions: 37.9 x 56.4 8.9 mm
• Wireless: Bluetooth 4.0 LE (low energy)
• Weight: 59 g
• Water resistance: IP67

The Snapdragon 400 chipset technically includes a 4-core 1.2GHz CPU and the Adreno 305 GPU. It dominates as the chipset of choice for budget smartphones and all but one Android Wear (what’s a wearable OS?) smartwatch. In wearables, manufacturers disable three of the four cores – so while these are technically four-core systems, only one core works. To complement the CPU, Qualcomm packages the 400 series with a Hexagon Digital Signal Processor, which permits power-efficient voice recognition (among many other features). The Hexagon DSP makes it difficult for Samsung to leverage a custom Exynos chipset for Android Wear, without paying licensing fees to Qualcomm.
As of the end of 2014, Android Wear device manufacturers depend on the 400 series from Qualcomm. With the energy-efficient Snapdragon 410, it’s baffling why manufacturers haven’t yet moved to a better standard. It’s equally disappointing that Google discourages more energy efficient chipsets from entering the Android Wear ecosystem. As it stands, 1-3 days of battery life will remain the norm for at least the rest of 2015.

Aesthetics and Hardware

Unlike the LG G Watch, Samsung constructed the Gear Live from both metal and plastic. On its face, a brushed aluminum bezel surrounds the 320 x 320 AMOLED screen. On its rear surface, two plastic divots allow a the charging cradle to clip onto the Live. Unfortunately, the clips on my charging cradle snapped off immediately – which Samsung does not cover under its warranty program. The replacement charger — a flimsy piece of plastic — is priced at the near-criminal cost of $29.99, on Amazon. A quick perusal of the reviews indicate the replacement charger is just as weak as the original.

I recommend using a rubber band to hold the Live in place. The winner of this giveaway will receive both a rubberband and a broken cradle charger, at no additional cost!

Making Use of the Samsung Gear Live

The Samsung Gear Live implements a gorgeous, energy-efficient wallpaper. There’s two watch faces: One is multicolored and the other shows in black-and-white. The default display uses a Spartan, black-and-white layout. When users click the home button the colored watch-face overlays color on top. To date, this remains the best-looking – and most functional – watch-face design within Android Wear.
I would have preferred a red-and-black design for the permanently lit sections of the screen. White pixels on an AMOLED screen technically fire up three different color-emitting diodes, in order to produce white: Red, Blue and Green. Blue color emanating diodes possess less durability than green and red. Red diodes last the longest – which would make it the most suitable color for a persistent image. Also, red diodes require less energy by itself. Even so, the display looks great.

A single press on the screen turns on Google Now. Alternatively, users can use the accelerometers to flick the screen on and then speak the key words “OK Google” – this enters into voice recognition mode, in which the user can vocally input commands. There’s a long list of Google Now voice-commands (which continue growing). These fall into roughly five categories:

• Scheduling: Calendar and reminder;
• Communication: Social media, texting and phone calls;
• Entertainment: Music, movies, TV, etc…;
• Navigation: Google Maps;
• Google Search;

These five categories cover the majority of on-the-go needs of the average user. I found myself relying heavily on the Gear Live while driving – Google Now nails hands-free navigation and texting. Other devices offer the same functionality – for example, the Moto X can perform the same hands-free functions as an Android Wear smartwatch, with similar battery life. So why would anyone buy a smartwatch?

Think of it this way: You can turn any Android 4.3 device – including budget phones – into a Moto X. A good example would be the Moto G or E, which retail for below $200. Dampening this realization: The user need worry about the battery life of two devices, instead of one. Even so, a budget smartphone and a smartwatch costs less than the retail value of a $550 2014 Moto X.
The user experience between Android Wear devices remain near identical. While the $130 G Watch requires more manual interaction than the $200 Samsung Gear Live, the price difference between the two might justify going with the G Watch.

Battery Life

The Gear Live is no Pebble. Many users report getting a full-day of battery life out of the Gear Live. I received almost two days with ambient display turned off and a full-day with ambient display turned on. This owes – in part – to Samsung’s AMOLED screen, which allows black pixels to be turned off when not in use. Some may notice the G Watch and Moto 360’s similar battery life, with LCD screens; LG crammed a 400 mAh battery into its G Watch. The Moto 360’s battery life won’t last a full day with its screen turned on all the time.
All said, a day or two of battery life means that the Gear Live puts a lot more wear-and-tear on its battery. I found that if not charged daily, the battery could completely discharge – and remained discharged for extended periods of time. In the long-run, virtually all Android Wear devices will require a replacement battery. And none of these devices are user-serviceable.

Software and Applications

The Android Wear Operating System – a closed source derivative of Android – offers some of the same apps within the Google Play Store. Many developers pushed out half-baked Android Wear versions of their Play Store app. Most of these do not offer additional functionality, compared to their tablet and smartphone cousins. Users still cannot choose to install apps direct onto their smartwatch. Instead, apps install to a paired device, which are then pushed onto the watch.
More than six months after release, the Android Wear app library boasts thousands of apps. The most popular applications simply extend the smartphone app onto a smaller screen. The rest simply show notifications or allow users to read information from their app, directly on their watch-face. You can find a complete list of Wear apps, here.

The Gear Live’s OLED screen allows “ambient screen”, or when the screen runs constantly. This owes to its OLED (organic light emitting diode) technology, which allows individual pixels to exude light, while shutting off black cells. The drain on always-on OLED (or AMOLED) is reported to be 70-80% less than LCD screens, which require a backlight to constant run. An always on LCD screen consumes the same amount of power whether it displays blacks or whites. Technically speaking, LCDs consume less power while displaying whites, but it’s a minuscule difference.
One of the most useless features on the Gear Live: Its heart-rate sensor. The sensor uses the green-light method of measuring beats-per-second. This method has proven useless for tracking heart-rate while the user is in motion. As such, users can only check resting heart-rate because the design of the Gear Live doesn’t properly isolate external light, which interferes with the sensor. Do not buy the Gear Live if you’re looking for a fitness tracker. It can only reliably count footsteps (which most wearables can do anyway, such as the Basis B1 Health Tracker or the Basis Peak).

Samsung also configured the Gear Live to disable its accelerometers whenever the ambient screen is enabled – so you can’t just swing your arm up to activate Google Now.

Conclusion

To my surprise, the Samsung Gear Live still offers good value compared to the other Android Wear smartwatches. Its battery life, while not amazing, does quite well for a ~300 mAh battery. It holds up well because there isn’t enough differentiation between Android Wear watches to justify anything more than trivial price differences. For example, compared to the Asus ZenWatch, the Live falls behind a bit in every respect – but there’s no tremendous difference between the two devices.

Don’t buy it. If you do need an Android Wear device (despite my warnings), the Samsung Gear Live offers slightly less value than comparable Wear devices. It may not offer the same aesthetic beauty as the Moto 360 or the Asus ZenWatch, but it does get the job done (which boils down to hands-free activation of Google Now).

The winner will be selected at random and informed via email. View the list of winners here.

Samsung Galaxy Core Prime Now Available Online at Rs. 9,275

Samsung's new budget Galaxy smartphone, the Galaxy Core Prime, soon after being officially listed by the company, has gone on sale in India.
The Samsung Galaxy Core Prime smartphone is now available to buy at eBay India, priced at Rs. 9,275.
Notably, the South Korean company is yet to announce official availability of the new smartphone.
The Samsung Galaxy Core Prime earlier this month was claimed to launch soon in India by an established Mumbai-based smartphone retailer, Mahesh Telecom, who said the smartphone would be priced at Rs. 9,599 in India. Prior to this, the handset was also seen listed on Flipkart, an e-commerce website, in October at Rs. 8,499.
The Android 4.4 KitKat-based Samsung Galaxy Core Prime is said to feature dual-SIM support, a 4.5-inch WVGA (480x800 pixels) PLS (plane-to-line switching) TFT display, and a 1.2GHz quad-core processor coupled with 1GB of RAM.
It comes with 8GB of inbuilt storage, and supports expandable storage via microSD card (up to 64GB). The Galaxy Core Prime is said to include a 5-megapixel autofocus rear camera, and a 2-megapixel front camera. There is a 2000mAh battery onboard. The connectivity options on the handset include Wi-Fi b/g/n, Wi-Fi Direct, Wi-Fi Hotspot, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS, and 3G.
The Galaxy Core Prime includes an accelerometer and proximity sensor, apart from measuring 130.8x67.9x8.8mm and sporting a matte body finish with metal sides. It is currently listed in three colour variants - Charcoal Grey, White, and Silver.
Last month, Samsung's dual-SIM variant of the metal-clad Galaxy A5 was listed on company's China website. Listed on Samsung's China website as the Galaxy A5 (SM-A5000), the smartphone came with dual Nano-SIM support, and packs the same specifications as the single-SIM Galaxy A5.

Samsung Galaxy A7 specs look better than you might expect

While most of the attention goes to Samsung's top-of-the-line flagships - the Galaxy S and Note series smartphones - Samsung is putting solid effort into its new mid-range line the Galaxy A series. The Galaxy A3 and A5 were the first Samsung devices to feature all-metal bodies; and now, the rumored specs of the Galaxy A7 look better than you might expect from a mid-range device. The big improvement looks to be with the processor found in the Galaxy A7. Whereas the A3 and A5 each used the Snapdragon 410 chip (a lower/mid-range SoC), the new rumor says that the Galaxy A7 will use the same octa-core Exynos 5433 SoC that you would find in a Galaxy Note 4. There had been rumors that the Galaxy A7 would move to the Snapdragon 615, but the Exynos 5433 would be an even bigger step up for the device as it would be clocked at 1.8GHz for the high power Cortex-A57 cores, and at 1.3GHz for the Cortex-A53 cores. Beyond that, the A7 is expected to feature a 5.5-inch 1080p display, which will be the standard for all markets. Previously, it was speculated that Samsung would have different variants for different markets. The A7 is also said to have 2GB of RAM, a 13-megapixel rear camera, 5-megapixel front camera, 16GB of storage, and a 2600 mAh battery. The dimensions of the A7 also look pretty solid at 150 x 75 x 6.3mm and 150g. For comparison, that would make the A7 roughly the same size as the LG G3 (146.3 x 74.6 x 8.9mm, 149g), but noticeably thinner. Ultimately, it looks like the Galaxy A7 will be more of a high-end device, and could end up sporting a higher price tag than the A3 or A5. There's still no word when the A7 might be released, but we'll keep watching for it.

Samsung might not launch a Galaxy S6 Edge after all

Lately, we’ve been hearing quite a lot of things about the alleged Galaxy S6 - Samsung’s next flagship smartphone that’s expected to be released in the first half of 2015. There have been two separate reports suggesting that Samsung’s getting ready to wow us with a Galaxy S6 Edge that sports a curved, flexible display (similar to that featured by the Galaxy Note Edge), in addition to preparing a regular version of the new handset. However, according to Sam Mobile, “there might not be” any Galaxy S6 variant with a curved screen. Even so, it’s said that Samsung may still introduce a “separate variant” of the upcoming flagship - though it’s not clear what the difference between it and the regular model will be. The regular Galaxy S6 is expected to come with a 5.5-inch Quad HD display, and a brand new design - part of what Samsung is reportedly calling Project Zero. The smartphone should be powered by a 64-bit octa-core Exynos 7420 processor (at least in some markets), while also featuring: a 16 MP or 20 MP rear camera, 3 GB of RAM, 32 GB of internal memory, and Android 5.0 Lollipop. As always when official details are yet to arrive, for now we can’t be sure of anything regarding the Galaxy S6. This, of course, won't stop the leaks coming, so check back soon for more!

Samsung will make a foldable smartphone display in 2015

Flexible displays are slowly but surely making their way into our lives - and mobile devices. The first step has been represented by panels bent during the production process, like those in the LG G Flex, Samsung Galaxy Round, and Galaxy Note Edge. The next step, however, will be represented by displays that can be "folded in half", according to a senior Samsung executive. The wording seems to imply that the smartphone that will have that screen attached to it will be bendable as well. Samsung's display-making subsidiary is gearing up for production of such panels, and it boasts that it will have the capacity to make 30,000 to 40,000 of them each month by the end of next year. Apparently, none of Samsung's competitors will be able to match that production capacity for flexible displays until 2016. And Samsung plans to use its advantage, by coming out with a bendable phone before the end of 2015. That said, "nothing has been decided on the finished product" just yet. But if it does come out in 2015, expect it to be another "limited edition" type thing, just like the Galaxy Note Edge is this year. That's because a mass market flagship will require millions of units being made per month, and not tens of thousands. Samsung Display wants to lower its dependence on Samsung Electronics, hoping to sell half of its panel output to other companies within three years. It's also got big plans for AMOLED, getting prepared for the tech to "compete directly with LCD". To do that, the company will lower production costs for AMOLED panels, in order to lure more customers.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 Video Review

Good things don't come cheap. In fact with the Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4, just about the only thing we could find to complain about was the $399 price tag for the base WiFi-only 16 gig model. As 8" tablets become the new 7" in terms of popularity, the only thing missing was a high end model running Android. The $349 LG G Pad 8.3 was the first higher end model to hit the streets, but now it has serious competition from the Tab Pro 8.4. For $50, you get a better display and a faster CPU, though you won't get the nice metal back on the LG. Samsung marches on with their plastic faux leather back, available in black or white. It's actually nice looking and grippy, so we won't complain. And yes, the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.0 was once high end, but it's nearly a year old and the specs are outdated. One thing the Note 8.0 bests the Tab Pro 8.4 on is pen input: sadly this is a "Tab" rather than "Note" tablet, so there's no pen.

The Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 has an 8.4", 2560 x 1600 Super Clear LCD. That's the same resolution as top 10" Android tablets, and that translates into super high pixel density and text and graphics that are razor sharp. It's one of the best tablet displays I've ever seen. Whites are white with no tint and colors are saturated yet natural. It's a bright display too, with good contrast and decent, though not Super AMOLED, black levels.

The processor is top of the line too. The Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 runs on the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 CPU with Adreno 330 graphics. That 2.26GHz quad core CPU is the same used on the newest Android flagship phones, and it few Android tablets are running on such fast CPUs (the LG G Pad 8.3 has a Snapdragon 600). The tablet has 2 gigs of RAM and your choice of 16 or 32 gigs internal storage plus a micro SDXC card slot. Yes, it feels fast thanks to the top notch processor, but also because Samsung's new Magazine UX is more streamlined than the TouchWiz of old.

The Pro 8.4 has dual band WiFi 802.11ac, Bluetooth 4.0, a GPS, a microSD card slot, 2 megapixel front camera and a rear 8 megapixel camera with LED flash, 1080p video recording and HDR. It runs Android 4.4 KitKat.

Here's our Samsung Galaxy Tab Pro 8.4 video review. Our full written review will follow.