5 hot Google Chrome apps

Even without a Chromebook , you can still try out some fantastic web apps if you have Google Chrome installed on your machine. Whoever said a browser is only good for surfing the web, didn't hear of the Chrome Web Store... Head to google.com/chrome to download and set up the Chrome browser. Once installed, visit the Chrome Web Store at chrome.google.com/webstore and search the app (by the name in bold). Click, and download.

Quake The game's premise is simple: you're armed with some really big guns, and you have to run like crazy in a dungeon-like setting, pulverizing monsters before they pulverize you. Strictly Darwinian - it's all about the 'survival of the fittest.' If you haven't played Quake yet, in Chrome, you can. Load times are minimal, there's a lot of action, and it can be played offline. It even includes support for a gamepad, freeing you from the keyboard. Run!

Until AM
Itching to scratch some vinyl? Download Until AM and turn Chrome into a DJ console. The dashboard lets you load tracks on its virtual turntables from SoundCloud and your Google Drive account. You can also use Until AM offline, adding songs from your PC. Cross-fade from one track into the next, tweak the tempo, change the pitch, and create your own groove. Mix it, beat master!

piZap Photo Editor piZap Photo Editor is your digital fairness cream, teeth whitener and shine shampoo. This photo 'rejuvenator' is a simple, but useful tool that lets you create some awesome Facebook cover photos and Twitter header cover shots. You can upload pictures or import from Picasa, Instagram , Facebook and Flickr. Add stickers, paint over the photo, or create a meme. The edited image can be downloaded or shared directly on your social networks.

Little Alchemy So you're not the great Wizard Merlin, but you can still put your powers to the test with Little Alchemy. You start with the basics of nature - fire, water, air, earth - and you are entrusted with the job of conjuring up to as many as 430 new elements. At first, it's really simple: fire and water give you steam; water and earth creates mud, but as you proceed your true 'metal' will be tested. Take help from the random hints and click on objects to drill down to their original composition. In the end, there's just one question. Can you create gold?

365Scores If you're a 'born spectator', with 365Scores, you can keep tabs on your favourite sport - football, tennis, basketball, volleyball and hockey - while you are at work, or stalking somebody's timeline. It's your go-to app for team standings, news and videos, and also a "Who will win" polling section that displays what fellow users think about your team's chances. You can catch up on highlights and commentary in the video section, dive into a game result for a quick stat check or click on "All Scores" to skim through results.

Read More

iPhone 5S, 5C now free in India on two-year contract

Reliance Communications (RCom) has said consumers can own the 16GB models of iPhone 5S and 5C by paying Rs 2,999 and Rs 2,599 per month, respectively, for 2 years.

The firm said that no down payment is required to purchase Apple's new phones.

"The company has announced two game-changing offers, just Rs 2,599 per month for theiPhone 5c and Rs 2,999 per month for iPhone 5S, both for a duration of 24 months, which include handset cost, unlimited local and STD calls, SMS, national roaming and 3G data," RCom said in a statement.

It added that users will not receive any usage bill for 24 months, as the monthly payments includeusageges.

Customers would be required to pay additionally for international calls and international roaming, RCom said.

RCom has also tied-up with credit card providers for its latest offering.

The company said the offer is part of its efforts to bring more smartphone users to its 3G network, which will increase postpaid customers to its customer base and further cement its position as a data services provider.

Customers can buy the new iPhone 5S and iPhone 5C at any Reliance outlets in the company's 13 3G circles, it said.

Read More

4 ways to better use your smartphone camera

How often do you use your smartphone camera? With every new model that comes out, it seemscamera quality is often a huge selling point. But do you take advantage of those advancements? There are a lot of neat uses for that camera you carry around everywhere regardless of whether it's the latest and greatest or three years old.

Personally, I use my smartphone camera maybe once or twice a year. It's pretty sad and a waste of potential, so I've been interested in figuring out how to make better use of it. If you're in the same boat as me, you may be surprised to find out that your smartphone camera is great for more than just family photos and Instagram filters.

Makeshift scanner

Based on what I've seen, scanners have started disappearinghomes. The only scanners I've seen are the printer-fax-scanner all-in-one machines for home offices which are bulky and eat up space. What if you don't have a scanner and want to scan a document? Nowadays, your phone camera is good enough to do that for free.

With appsCamScanner (Android, our review), Document Scanner (Android), and Genius Scan (iPhone), you can take photos of various documents and images and instantly transform them into PDFs that are ready for office consumption. In most cases, the final document quality is on par or better than home office scanners.

Makeshift webcam or security cam

Nowadays, most laptops and netbooks come with integrated webcams and some monitors even have webcam capabilities. However, if you don't have a webcam, you can buy a passable one these days for less than $20 if you look in the right places - or you can just hook up your smartphone and use its camera instead.

There are a lot of smartphone-as-webcam apps out there, both for Android and iPhone, and the level of setup difficulty varies depending on which app you use. However, on the whole, it's pretty simple. Use your Android as a webcam or use your iPhone as a webcam, then tell us how it went and how youit!

By using your smartphone as a webcam, you could even turn it into a security cam. This can be useful in a number of situations, whether it's to watch for night intruders at home, keep tabs on your children as they sleep, or just as an extra set of eyes for various corridors at work.

Proof and documentation

Many of us probably know that camera photos can be useful as evidence when something goes wrong, but how many of us actually use our smartphones for that purpose? The most common example that I've heard is in the case of a car accident (snap photos of the damage and the offender's license plate), but this could be applied in so many other ways.

For example, if you frequently sell items online, snap photos of the product just before shipping so you have evidence. Not only does this protect you against a buyer's retaliation, it can be used as proof against the shipping company.

If you ever rent something, snap photos of any potentially incriminating marks, dents, and damages, no matter how insignificant they may seem. If you document the state of your rental at the start of your renting agreement, you can protect yourself against those who want to pull a fast one on you. This is applicable for vehicles, apartments, etc.

For more personal examples, you could use smartphone photos to document any disassembly you do. When you take apart an electronic or mechanical device for the first time, these photos could prove invaluable when it's time to put things back together.

And then there's price matching. If you visit a store with a robust price matching policy, you may be able to present photos of a cheaper priceanother store and get them to match.

Memory aid

Photos were originally meant to capture a moment in time as a memory, so why not use your smartphone camera to help you remember mundane details that you might normally forget? Doing so might reduce the amount of inconvenience in your life.

Before you leave on an extended trip, take a photo ofof your luggage and everything inside each bag or case. At the end of your trip, review these photos to make sure you have everything and aren't forgetting anything. Quick and easy, isn't it?

Similarly, if you park in a multi-story parking garage, you could snap a photo of location signs to help you rememberyou parked your car. No matter how good your memory is, there are times when you'll blank and forgetyou parked. Save time and energy with a photo.

"Are you taking any medication?" You'll hear this a lot when filling out medical forms or whenever you go in for a hospital checkup, but sometimes it can be hard to remember everything you're on. Take a picture of your medicine cabinet so you can pull it out whenever you need to know. Who knows, it may even save your life one day.

Conclusion

There is nothing wrong with taking photos of a family event or your latest trip to the beach, but your smartphone can be used for so much more than that. A few creative applications can turn your smartphone cameraan afterthought into a tool that makes your life easier - even the old spare smartphones that seem useless.

Read More

How to get free OS X Mavericks

Apple really outdid itself this time. The words "software sells hardware" never rung more true, and now that OS X Mavericks is free to all, isn't it about time you got on-board? Absolutely. There's a lot to love about OS X Mavericks, and much of the improvements aren't visible until you've actually installed the free upgrade.

If you put off installing Mountain Lion then you'll be even more amazed, so let's take a look at the how and why regarding Apple's 10.9 announcement.

Can I run it?

Before jumping in and gettingexcited about a free upgrade, it's useful to know that your Mac is compatible with OS X Mavericks. As a general rule of thumb,Macs that are compatible with its predecessor OS X 10.8 Mountain Lion can install the upgrade. So, if you're running Mountain Lion you can go ahead and download the upgrade.

If you've held off on paying for Mountain Lion, happy instead with Lion or even Snow Leopard, then you'll need a Mac that fits the following requirements: iMac (mid 2007 or newer)Original MacBook(Late 2008 aluminum and early 2009 or newer)MacBook Pro (late 2007 or newer) MacBook Air (late 2008 or newer)Mac Mini (early 2009 or newer)Mac Pro (early 2008 or newer)If you've got an old Mac but you're not sure exactly how old it is, you can find out by clicking the Apple logo in the top-left corner of your screen, choosing About This Mac and in the window that appears More Info.... The window that appears reveals the model (in bold, at the top) as well as the year of manufacture and your basic hardware specifications too.

The Mac in question must also be running OS X 10.6.8 Snow Leopard or later. If you have an earlier version of OS X but are also running a Mac listed as compatible on the list above, you can still buy a copy of Snow LeopardApple for $19.99.In order to install the new operating system your Mac must have at least 2GB of RAM and 8GB of free hard drive space, in addition to the space you'll need for the 5.29GB installer file.

Sodo I get it?

The new upgrade must be downloadedthe Mac App Store, hence the reliance on having an up-to-date copy of OS X Snow Leopard installed. When you're ready to download, click here and open the link in the Mac App Store. You are also bound to find the upgrade at the top of the screen on the Featured tab for many months yet, as people adopt the new software.

You'll need to input your Apple ID password, as ever, to authorise the download. Once the download is complete you'll find the installer in your Applications folder, under the name OS X Mavericks Installer. Run it, follow the instructions and you'll be running brand-spanking-new software in no time.

What's so great about it?

OS X Mavericks isn't exactly loaded with brand new features, but that's what many Mac users have come to expectyearly updates. It also doesn't pack a brand new look and feel, a la iOS 7. What it does contain are a handful of new features, number of long-awaited tweaks to existing elements, and a lot of under the hood work.

One of the most important changes is to Finder, the somewhat antiquated file browser. At long last Apple has introduced Finder tabs, negating the need to have 10 Finder windows open; keeping everything neat and organised. Multiple-monitor support has been bolstered, an area many have felt that Apple has neglected since the introduction of full-screen apps.

For the first time the Mac gets its own version of iOS favourites iBooks and Maps. iBooks allows you to keep your reading materials synced between your Apple devices thanks to the magic of iCloud. You can also use it to read stuff too, if you want. Maps takes full advantage of the power of your Mac with 3D flyovers and the ability to plan a route then send directions to your iOS device straightthe desktop.

I've not yet extensively tested performance, but initial findings and user reviews suggest that the work Apple has performed under the hood improves the OS X user experience considerably. My mid-2012 Retina MacBook Pro feels slightly quicker and more responsive, and this seems to be mirrored across the board among many Mac users. These benefits might be even more pronounced on less-able and older machines, as Apple's 10.8.3 and 10.8.4 updates to OS X Mountain Lion quelled many of my initial woes relating to performance.

One of the most understated benefits of OS X Mavericks is that it is an upgrade you're probably going to want, particularly if you've put off upgrading last time round. Those of you still running Lion or Snow Leopard will gain featuresiMessage compatibility through the new Messages app, proper notifications with Notification Centre support, AirPlay mirroring and iCloud integration. There really hasn't been a better time to own a Mac.

The future is free

This is the first time Apple has delivered a free OS X upgrade to Mac owners, and it's quite indicative of a pattern many have noticed for a number of years now. The lines between iOS and OS X continue to blur, as OS X undergoes somewhat of an "iOSification" with featurestheMac App Store and Gatekeeper yielding mixed results among die-hard power users. Don't panic: Apple are fully aware that computers are computers, and it's very unlikely that they'll cripple their premium desktop hardware with mobile software.

The flip-side is that as a Mac owner, it's likely that the next few versions of OS X (and quite possibly its successor, whatever that may be) will also follow this model. Apple has adopted this stance with iOS, delivering free updates to a healthy back-catalogue of devices since iOS existed; and it would be difficult for the company to back-out of this policy without treading on toes now.

Linux users may be fast to point out that their operating systems have been freealong, but this is somewhat of a moot point. Mac OS X is a tailored experience for a relatively small set of computers. Going free is a way for Apple to sell even more hardware, and it's a policy that is bound to have Microsoft feeling a little vulnerable since they still primarily rely on licensing for their income. Instead, Cupertino has leveraged their ability to maintain healthy profits on desirable computers and app sales, a tactic which is clearly working.

Read More

How Amazon is trying to lure Indians online

Free shipping on a Rs 100 book. Delivery times guaranteed to the minute.

These are some of the incentives the world's biggest online retailer Amazon.com is using to entice Indians to shop on the web, a sectorgrowth has been stifled by payment problems, low internet usage and a challenging logistics environment.

Amazon's investors are counting on its international business and expansion to help drive growth and support its $165 billion market value, one of the highest among US firms.

India is Amazon's third emerging market investment after Brazil and China, and one vice president and country manager Amit Agarwal said would take time to pay off.

Most Indians do not own a credit card, and less than half the 152 million internet users have shopped online. Then there are the bad roads, the snarled bureaucracy and the petty bribery that greases business.

The potential, however, is vast.

Online retail sales in India are forecast to grow more than a hundred-fold to $76 billion by 2021just $600 million at the end of 2012, retail consultants Technopak said. E-tail sales in China, by comparison, are expected to grow to $650 billion by 2020around $200 billion in 2012, consultants McKinsey predict.

"A lot of invention is required to capture the potential of this market and our focus is to build this," said Agarwal, who returned to India to head Amazon's business after 14 years with the company in the United States.

"We are going through a lot of trial-and-error to fix problems on the ground," he told Reuters at Amazon's India office in the technology hub of Bangalore.

Convicing Indians to click
Indians, on average, spend between $24 and $35 per online transaction, a figure dwarfed by the $150-$160 spent by US shoppers online per transaction, according to dataUS based analysts comScore and Retail Decisions.

Agarwal spent two years advising Amazon's founder Jeff Bezos at the company's Seattle headquarters, and believes Amazon's long-term strategy will work in Indiait did in the United States,the company ran up losses for years.

"Right now we are focused on giving customers great service and making sure they shop more," he added, sitting behind a large desk that he brought back with himSeattle.

Amazon's biggest local rival is Flipkart, set up by two ex-Amazon employees in 2007 and which has yet to turn a profit.

Since July, Flipkart has raised $360 millioninvestors that include South Africa's Naspers. It said it aims to have $1 billion in sales by 2015.

Agarwal would not give any forecasts or figures, but said Amazon's investments in India have a 7- to 10-year horizon.

He said Amazon was building its own logistics network, which it can leverage when the rules change and it can sell directly to consumers. Indian regulations now prevent international e-tailersmaking direct sales.

Made for India
Amazon's initial entry into India was through the 2012 launch of Junglee.com, a price comparison site that gave it insight on what consumers want to buy and are willing to pay.

Amazon's India website, set up in June, is currently a market place for other vendors, in line with regulations.

Amazon is working with these local vendors to ensure goods are packaged properly to speed up delivery, Agarwal said. It is also training local couriers to make good on its promised delivery times in Mumbai, New Delhi, Kolkata and Chennai.

"We receive itemssellers inkinds of situations. Most of them are not packed properly, stickered properly and that increases the delivery time," Agarwal said.

"Even if you go to really large sellers they don't know how to describe their item because they have never had to have a digital catalogue."

An unstable internet banking system means online payments often fail, frustrating buyers and leading to abandoned purchases. Agarwal said Amazon uses a made-for-India system that keeps orders active and allows the customer to try again. The option of cash on delivery is also offered.

To avoid shipments getting stuck at toll booths or held up by police demanding bribes, Amazon getsthe permissions and documents required, as well as extra permits, just in case.

"We are not cutting corners. It is taking a longer time to build things but compliance is important and that takes care of blockages on the road to a large extent," Agarwal added.

Read More

Google+ adds location widget for tracking of contacts

Google+ has recently added a location widget to its new 4.2 version that makes tracing friends and relatives quick and convenient.

This widget is a lot faster than navigating through the Google+ app, which involved a fussy, long process before you could find the person whose location you want to see, Cnetreports.

According to the report, users can now useHome Screens of their mobiles to get to the appconveniently and directly tap on the map for the person they want to locate.

Read More

Updated: Android 5.0 release date, news and rumors

Android 5.0 news and rumors

Google's showing no signs of slowing its pace of Android development, with Android 4.0 appearing on the Galaxy Nexus late in 2011, followed by the Android 4.1 Jelly Bean release that arrived powering the super Nexus 7 in July of 2012.
Two more flavors of Jelly Bean were to follow: Android 4.2 was released on 13 November 2012, and then Android 4.3 arrived on 24 July 2013.
Then on 31 October 2013, Google officially revealed its next minor update, Android 4.4 KitKat, which now clears the road for Android 5.

Cut to the chase
What is it? The next major upgrade for Android, to follow onAndroid 4.4
When is it out? We're thinking mid-2014
What will it cost? Nothing, it'll be a free upgrade

The dessert-themed code name that we assume will begin with L is anyone's guess at this stage. Android 5.0 Lemon Cheesecake or Android 5.0 Lemon Meringue Pie, anyone?
As we wait on official news of that name, as well as the Android 5.0 release date and features, we can start to pull together the latest rumorsaround the web.

Android 5.0 release date

Until Android 4.4 was announced we had expected the Android 5.0 release date to be some time in October 2013. We instead saw Android 4.4 KitKat launch on 31 October and in the face of that point release, we think it's now likely that we'll see Android 5.0 shown in mid-2014, quite possibly at Google IO, Google's annual two-day developer conference in San Francisco.
That's a year onwhen we had originally expected to see Android 5.0, which was at Google IO 2013, which took placeMay 15 to May 17 2013. Given that Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at 2012's IO conference, it seemed reasonable to expect to see Android 5.0 at the 2013 event.
But on 13 May 2013, we got our confirmation that there would be no serving of Android 5 at Google IOSundar Pichai, Google's new head of Android. Pichai told Wired that 2013's IO is "not a time when we have much in the way of launches of new products or a new operating system". Boo! "Both on Android and Chrome, we're going to focus this IO onthe kinds of things we're doing for developers so that they can write better things," he added.

Android 5.0 phones

Rumors of a new Nexus handset started trickling in during the third quarter of 2012, as we reported on 1 October 2012. There was talk that this phone would be sporting Android 5.0 but the handset, which turned out to be the Google Nexus 4, arrived running Android Jelly Bean.
While the Nexus 4 didn't appear with Android 5.0, speculation that we reported on 21 January 2013 suggested that the Motorola X was the Android 5.0-toting handset that would be revealed at Google IO. The Moto X wasn't on show at IO and instead appeared in August 2013, running Android 4.2.2.
We also heard whispers that a new Nexus phone - the Google Nexus 5 - might be blessed with Android 5.0 but when Google officially announced the new handset, it was confirmed that it would arrive sporting Android 4.4 KitKat.

And if rumors that we covered on 30 May were correct, then HTC would have brought us an Android 5.0-powered 'phablet' in the form of the HTC T6. But that device launched in October 2103 as the Android 4.3-powered HTC One Max.

Android 5.0 tablets

The original Nexus 7 tablet was unveiled at Google IO 2012, so we thought it possible that we'd see a refreshed Nexus 7 2 at Google IO 2013. The speculation earlier in the year was that Google would team up with Asus for this, as it did with the original Nexus 7. We expected an upgraded display on the new Nexus 7 tablet, while Digitimes reported that the 2nd generation Nexus 7 would have 3G service and range in price$149 to $199.
The new Nexus 7 was a no-show at IO, but the Asus-built device was later launched by Google on 24 July 2013, albeit running Android 4.3 rather than 5.

Samsung's Android 5.0 upgrades

Although Samsung is yet to officially confirm its Android 5.0 schedule, a SamMobile source is claiming to know which phones and tablets will be getting the upgrade. According to the source, the devices set to receive the upgrade are the Galaxy S4, Galaxy S3, Galaxy Note 2, Galaxy Note 8.0 and Galaxy Note 10.1. Do note that this claim was made before Google announced Android 4.4, so if it was ever correct, it's probably a lot less correct now.

Android 5.0 features

For 24 hours, it seemed as though the first kinda, sorta confirmed feature for Android 5.0 was a Google Now widget, which briefly appeared in a screenshot on the company's support forum before being taken down. As it was so hurriedly pulled, many people assumed it was slated for the big five-o and accidentally revealed early.
As it happened, the following day, on 13 February 2013, the Google Now widget rolled out to Jelly Bean.
On 28 February 2013, we learnedAndroid Central that Google is working with the Linux 3.8 kernel, which gave rise to the notion that this kernel might power Android 5. One improvement that the 3.8 kernel brings is lowered RAM usage, which would mean a snappier phone with better multitasking.
On 13 June 2013, VR-Zone also claimed that Android 5.0 will be optimised to run on devices with as little as 512MB of RAM.
We're now expecting that Linux 3.8 kernel to show up in Android 4.4, given that Google's stated aim with KitKat is "to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody".
Android Geeks reported that Google Babble would debut on Android 5.0. Babble was the code name for Google's cross-platform service and app with the aim of unifying its various chat services which include Talk, Hangout, Voice, Messenger, Chat for Google Drive and Chat on Google+.
A screenshot that we were senta Google employee on 8 April confirmed that not only was this unified chat service on the way, but that it was called Google Babel not Babble. The service was to come with a bunch of new emoticons and Google+ built-in so you can jumpBabel chat to hangout. A leaked Google memo on 10 April provided a few more juicy details including talk of a new UI and synced conversations between mobile and desktop.

On 10 May, we discovered that Babel would launch as Google Hangouts, and on 15 May we saw it come to life for devices running Android 2.3 and up. So much for it debuting on Android 5.
Following an 18 April tear-down of the Google Glass app MyGlass by Android Police, it looked as though there may be an iOS Games Center-like service coming to Android 5.0.
Android Police found references in the code to functionality that doesn't exist in Glass, which suggested that developers accidentally shipped the full suite of Google Play Services with the Android application package.
The files in the package contained references to real-time and turn-based multiplayer, in-game chat, achievements, leaderboards, invitations and game lobbies.
As expected, we found out more about Google Play Games at Google I/O, but it's not an Android 5.0 feature afteras it has been made available already.

Android 5.0 interface

While this is pure speculation, we're wondering whether Android 5.0 might bring with it a brighter interface, moving awaythe Holo Dark theme that came with Android 4.0.
Google Now brought with it a clearer look with cleaner fonts, and screenshots of Google Play 4.0 show Google's app market taking on similar design cues. Is this a hint at a brighter, airier look for Key Lime Pie?

On 6 August 2013, we learned that Google had applied to patent a rather cool piece of functionality whereby an Android user would be able to launch different apps by drawing different patterns on the lock screen.
If this feature makes it into Android 5, we could be able to launch the camera app by drawing one pattern and Twitter by drawing another.

Our Android 5.0 wishlist

While we wait on more Android 5 features to be revealed and scour the web for more Android 5.0 news, TechRadar writer Gary Cutlack has been thinking about what we want to see in Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Hopefully the new mobile OS will feature some of these things...

1. Performance Profiles

It's bit of a fuss managing your mobile before bed time. Switching off the sound, turning off data, activating airplane mode and so on, so what Android 5.0 really needs is a simple way of managing performance, and therefore power use, automatically.
We've been given a taste of this with Blocking Mode in Samsung's Jelly Bean update on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Note 2 but we'dto see the functionality expanded.
Somethinga Gaming mode for max power delivery, an Overnight low-power state for slumbering on minimal power and maybe a Reading mode for no bothersome data connections and a super-low backlight.
Some hardware makers put their own little automated tools in, such as the excellent Smart Actions found within Motorola's RAZR interface, but it'd be great to see Google give us a simple way to manage states.
Another little power strip style widget for phone performance profiles would be an easy way to do it.

2. Better multiple device support

Google already does quite a good job of supporting serious Android nerds who own several phones and tablets, but there are some holes in its coverage that are rather frustrating.
Take the Videos app which manages your film downloads through the Play Store. Start watching a film on one Android device and you're limited to resuming your film session on that same unit, making it impossible to switchphone to tablet mid-film.
You can switch between phone and web site players to resume watching, but surely Google ought to understand its fans often have a couple of phones and tabs on the go and fix this for Android Key Lime Pie?

3. Enhanced social network support

Android doesn't really do much for social network users out of the box, with most of the fancy social widgets and features comingthe hardware makers through their own custom skins.
Sony integrates Facebook brilliantly in its phones, and even LG makes a great social network aggregator widget that incorporates Facebook and Twitter - so why are there no cool aggregator apps as part of the standard Android setup?
Yes, Google does a great job of pushing Google+, but, no offence, there are many other more widely used networks that ought to be a little better "baked in" to Android.

4. Line-drawing keyboard options

Another areathe manufacturers have taken a big leap ahead of Google is in integrating clever alternate text entry options in their keyboards. HTC and Sony both offer their own takes on the Swype style of line-drawing text input, which is a nice option to have for getting your words onto a telephone. Get it into Android 5.0 and give us the choice.
UPDATE: Google heard us and this feature appeared in Android 4.2.

5. A video chat app

How odd is it that Google's put a front-facing camera on the Nexus 7 and most hardware manufacturers do the same on their phones and tablets, yet most ship without any form of common video chat app?
You have to download Skype and hope it works, or find some other downloadable app solution. Why isn't there a Google Live See My Face Chat app of some sort as part of Android? Is it because we're too ugly? Is that what you're saying, Google?

6. Multi-in the contacts

The Android contacts section is pretty useful, but it could be managed a little better. What if you have the idea of emailing or texting a handful of your friends? The way that's currently done is by emailing one, then adding the rest individually. Some sort of checkbox system that let users scroll through names and create a mailing list on the fly through the contacts listing in Android Key Lime Pie would make this much easier.

7. Cross-device SMS sync

If you're a constant SIM swapper with more than one phone on the go, chances are you've lost track of your text messages at some point. Google stores these on the phone rather than the SIM card, so it'd be nice if our texts could be either backed up to the SIM, the SD card, or beamed up to the magical invisible cloud of data, for easy and consistent access across multiple devices.

8. A "Never Update" option

This would annoy developers so is unlikely to happen, but it'd be nice if we could refuse app updates permanently in Android 5.0, just in case we'd rather stick with a current version of a tool than be forced to upgrade.
Sure, you can set apps to manual update and then just ignore the update prompt forever, but it'd be nice to know we can keep a favoured version of an app without accidentally updating it. Some of us are still using the beta Times app, for example, which has given free access for a year.

9. App preview/freebie codes

Something Apple's been doing for ages and ages is using a promo code system to distribute free or review versions of apps. It even makes doing little competitions to drum up publicity for apps much easier, so why's there no similar scheme for Android?
It might encourage developers to stop going down the ad-covered/freemium route if they couldge for an app but still give it away to friends and fans through a promo code system.

10. Final whinges and requests...

It's be nice to be able to sort the Settings screen by alphabetical order, too, or by most commonly used or personal preference, as Android's so packed with a huge list of options these days it's a big old list to scroll through and pick out what you need.
Plus could we have a percentage count for the battery in the Notifications bar for Android 5.0? Just so we know a bit more info than the vague emptying battery icon.

Read More