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How to Run Windows Apps on Android

Tuesday, August 12, 2014

Here’s how to run Windows apps on Android so that you have the best of both worlds at your fingertips: an Android device that’s powerful and mobile enough to be useful anywhere and the flexibility to get work done with the powerful apps that only Windows can offer.

First, you’ll need your Android device powered on. You’ll also need access to the Google Play Store. The Google Play Store is the marketplace where Android devices download apps from.

Pick up your Android device and unlock it by putting in your passcode or entering your lock pattern.

Once inside, find the app drawer and navigate to the Play Store. On the HTC One M7 this is done by tapping the button in the middle of the bottom shortcut bar. This is going to be particular to whatever version of Android your device is running and the maker of that device. Either way, you should be able to reach the Play Store from your device’s list of installed applications. Access to the Google Play Store is almost universal.

Inside the Google Play Store you’ll be greeted by a showcase of apps. You’ll want to tap the search iconin the top right corner of your screen. It looks like a magnifying glass. Search for Parallels Access.

Select Parallels Access from the list of apps.

Tap Install.

Tap Accept to give Parallels Access permission to do things on your device. Then wait for it to finish downloading and installing on your device. This can take a long time if you have a slower internet connection.

Tap Open.

Now tap Register.

Now put in a username, email address and password that you’re comfortable with. You can also login with your Facebook Account as well, though if your Facebook Account is ever compromised you could give someone access to your data.

Parallels Access will have sent a registration email to the address you provided so that you can set up Parallels on your Windows device. Go to your computer and open the email. The email will have the subject Welcome to Parallels Access.

Click on the button in the email labeled Download Parallels Access Agent.

Type in the username and password that you just used to setup your Android device.

Once inside click or tap on the Downloads link in the navigation bar.

Click or tap on the Windows icon to download the access client to your Windows device. Tap or Click Runto begin installing the app. Your device will need to download the app before it begins installing. Again, depending on your internet connection this could take a bit.

Tap or click on Ok.

Tap or click on Next.

Click on the Agree then click Install.

Tap or click on Finish.

Parallels Access can overwrite your computer sleep settings so that it’s accessible whenever you need to access it from your Android device. Click on Allow Access to give Parallels permission to do so. Parallels Access will still work without enabling this setting, you’ll just need to make sure your device is always wake when you need to access it.

Click or tap on Yes to enable background updating for Parallels Access.

Now back to your Android device. Once you’ve logged in successfully you’ll notice that the name of your PC is now displayed on your device.

Tap on the name of your PC to connect to your device. Before it’ll let you connect, Parallels Access will show a very long video guiding you through the setup process. Don’t try to skip it. Take the time to learn about the features that Parallels Access has.

Zoom is a simple as pinching and zooming like you would on a picture. Double clicking on anything is as simple as tapping on that item twice. Tapping on the windows the two overlaid squares allows you to open apps you already have open. You can launch more apps by tapping on the App Launcher rocket ship.

Press the back button and open the menu to add more apps to your quick launch menu.

To be clear, accessing your Windows device directly through your Android device requires both devices to have an internet connection or be connected to a wired or wireless network. For the best performance, you’ll want to be on the same network as your Windows PC, but that’s not actually required. By setting this up you’ve agreed to a 14 day free trial on all of your devices. When that free trial is up you’ll need to purchase either the 1-year $19.99 subscription or the two-year $29.99 subscription.

Also See :- Convert exe files to android apps [apk files]

Source :- gottabemobile.

The Week's Best Android, iPhone, iPad, and Windows Phone Apps

Sunday, August 3, 2014

Everybody knows the feeling of despair you get when you finally finish a TV series, but it's so much worse when your streaming service of choice doesn't have the whole lot. Then again, I suppose it's a great starting point to go off and watch it elsewhere. Sure Netflix might only have one season out of three, but that's one season you wouldn't have watched otherwise. Speaking of which, here are some apps you might not have known about:

iPhone Apps

Dreamstime Photography Companion: We all know that stock photos exist, but where do they come from? Well in the case of Dreamstime they come from contributing photographers. You simply upload your images to the app and it gets added to the marketplace, if any of your photos get used you get paid real money. It probably won't make you millions, but it's an easy way to monetise your photography. [Free]

Climendo: Plenty of news outlets come with their own weather forecasts, but how do you decide which one to use and, more importantly, which one do you believe? Climendo takes five of the most popular weather services (different from country to country) and shows them side-by-side to give you the best idea of what's to come. [£0.69]

Wiper Messenger: Private communication is all the rage, but can you delete logs from the other person's device? With Wiper, that's more than possible. With free worldwide texting and calls, it's one of the more private ways to communicate with people across the world for zero cost. [Free]

Soundwave: An app that lets you chat and share music with your friends. By capturing the music you play from places like Spotify and YouTube it makes sure you'll never lose music again, and makes it easier to share it with your friends. The new version has private groups to make sharing easier, and personalised recommendations. [Free]

Fantasy Football: The World Cup may be over but we have less than a month until the Premier League kicks off, so you might be thinking about your fantasy league for the next year. This offering from Yahoo is ideal with unlimited weekly transfers, private leagues, and cross-device synchronisation. [Free]

iPad Apps

Flightradar 24 Free: Chances are you've heard of this one, FlightRadar lets you view millions of plans in transit in real time, and can identify any planes that fly overhead. This is an updated version which brings in a whole host of functions from the premium version absolutely free of charge. Now you can search for planes, identify overhead planes, and view pictures of them all for zero cost. [Free]

Togethera: Finding an accessible private space to share photos online is easier said than done. The default for many websites seems to be sharing semi-publicly, and you don't want random strangers. Togethera is such a space, and it's simple enough for even the most tech-illiterate grandparents to use with no problems. [Free]

Passible Password Manager: Passwords are a pain the remember, especially since each one has to be alphanumeric, with a capital letter, a special character, three hieroglyphics, and must be an anagram of the word salmon. Password manager will store your passwords for easy access to your apps, as well as your credit card info for your easy checkouts. [Free -- with subscription]

Pause: Pause is a quarterly music magazine with includes reviews, features, and interviews. The latest issues have just been released, a guide to 2014 festivals, and the best of Q2 2014. [Free]

Guardians of the Galaxy - The Universal Weapon: The trend these days is to release a video game tie-ins on mobile devices, but they tend to be over-the-top freemium games loaded with in-app purchases. Not so with this one. You take control of the eponymous Guardians in their quest to prevent the Universal Weapon falling into the hands of the villainous Ronan the Accuser over 25 different levels. [£2.99]

Android Apps

Pullshot: Screenshots and photos are very distinct, and some phones don't distinguish between the two in your photo gallery. If that's the case, then Pullshot is there to help out. What it does is simple, it identifies your screenshots and organises them together for you automatically. From there you can further organise them into folders. [Free -- with in-app purchases]

Kabx: Pretty much all taxi apps that work in this country are restricted to the Greater London area, which is irritating since roughly 87 per cent of the British population lives elsewhere. Fortunately Kabx is no longer one of those apps since it now works in Manchester. Book you taxi within seconds, organise how you're going to pay within the app, and with 2,000 drivers available you shouldn't have to wait more than five minutes if you're within the M60. [Free]

QCast: QCast is a way of creating and controlling shared playlists on a Chromecast stick. Anyone who can connect to the Chromecast in question can add a song to a shared queue, and anyone can downvote songs they don't want to hear. Songs can be removed by the host, the person who queued them, or if the majority of people downvote it. You will need a Google Play Music All Access Subscription to host though. [Free -- with subscription]

Notific: Lockscreen notifications are great, but not all apps support them. Enter Notific which will let you create a lockscreen notification for any app you deem important. As an example, by day-to-day phone doesn't support lockscreen notifications for Gmail, but with Notific it can do. Normally the app would light up your display whenever you get a notification, but it's clever enough to realise when it's in your pocket and won't light up until you pick it up -- saving you that precious battery. [£0.57]

Short Paste: If you want to cut down a link you usually have to copy it into a link generator on the web, but if you're on your phone/tablet that might not be as easy as it sounds. As always, there's an app for that and Short Paste is simple and designed to work on a mobile device, so that you can copy the long link in and choose from one of many different kinds of shortened URLs. [Free]

Windows Phone Apps

Clipr: The thing about backgrounds on any device is that the icons can get in the way of an otherwise amazing picture. Now the thing that separates the Windows Phone home screen from other devices are the tiles, and Clipr utilises those tiles to ensure you get the best background. It utilises the tile space, which means that they won't be getting in the way of your pictures; they are your pictures, after all. [Free]

Chrome Mini: As far as I can tell there is, like many popular apps, no official Chrome Browser for Windows Phone; if you want the Chrome experience you have to go third party. Chrome Mini is such an app, dedicated to bringing you the basic feel of Google Chrome. It also claims to be the fastest browser available for Windows Phone, but I'll leave that for you to decide. [Free]

Climatology: Sick and tired of your own home climate? Why not look into the different climates that exist across the world? Whether it's just for your own amusement, or if you're looking to go on holiday and don't want to get trapped by the wet season, this is something to look into. [Free]

App Locker Pro: Sure you can lock your phone, but it isn't as foolproof as some people would hope. That's why you download an app like App Locker, which adds an extra layer of security to your important apps. Bear in mind that this isn't a case of you choosing which apps to lock, instead the app has a preset list and you can choose which ones you want protecting. Sure it's limited, but it's better than nothing. [Free]

Spending Tracker: If you're anything like me, you just love to spend money on frivolous crap that you don't need. "It's looks so awesome" you might say, but how do you know if you can afford it? Spending Tracker is a financial app that logs how much you've spent, where you've spent it, and how much of your budget you have left. So whether you enjoy eating out, drinking out, or browsing eBay, you'll know exactly how much you can spend without missing this month's rent. [Free]

Source : gizmodo

How to install Android on Your Windows Mobile Phone

Monday, July 21, 2014

Interested in Android but think you need to buy a new phone to try it out? Actually, your Windows Mobile phone may already have the capability of running Android. Today we show you how and the type of phone you’ll need.

Installing Android

To run Android you will need a microSD card that is not SDHC (typically a card less than 2GB) and a supported Windows Mobile phone (see below). You can check your microSD card compatibility by looking at the card to see if it shows the “HC” label.

The microSD card will need to be formatted in FAT32. Plug the microSD card into the computer and right click on it and choose format.

Note: Formatting a microSD drive will erase everything on that drive. Make sure you have any important files backed up before you format it.

Now that the microSD card is formatted, the first step to installing Android is finding the right Android port for your phone (see below). You will need to find the port that works on your phone as well as the version of Android you want to run. Versions start at 1.0 but typically you will find ports for version 1.6 or 2.1.

Once you have found the right port for your phone and Android version you want to use, extract the files to a folder using 7-zip.

After the files have extracted there should be a folder called “andboot”. Go into the andboot folder and there will be another folder called “startup config” or “startup”. Open this folder and you will need to find the right startup.txt file for your phone. Inside each folder will be a single “startup.txt” file. Copy the file for your phone model to the root of the andboot folder. This file will tell Android what type of hardware you have, how big your screen is, how much RAM your phone has etc. so it is very important to choose the right file. If you are confused on what these phone names are please read below on finding your phone model.

Once you have moved the correct startup.txt file to the andboot folder, copy the entire andboot folder to the root of your newly formatted microSD card.

Plug the microSD card back in the phone and open the file browser on your phone and browse to the memory card. Make sure the phone is plugged into power before the next few steps because on some phones running on battery may cause the phone to hang.

Open the andboot folder and run haret.exe. If the right startup.txt file is in the root of the andboot folder you should be able to click “Run” and you will get a quick loading screen while haret turns off Windows Mobile and starts up Android.

You should get some scrolling text and probably a nice Android logo while the phone boots up the first time.

Note: The first boot is going to take a considerably longer time than subsequent boots. and you may need to calibrate your screen during the boot process so make sure you keep an eye on it.

Once the basic Linux settings are done your new “Android” phone will boot to a welcome screen so you can walk through the rest of the settings like setting up your email account.

Tip: If you are running Android on a phone that does not have an active data plan but does have wifi, you can get around the startup screen by tapping on the welcome screen in this order: top left corner, top right corner, bottom right corner, bottom left corner then tap the Android logo. You can then enable wifi and join a network and set up your gmail account manually.

It is usually recommended that you leave your phone alone while it syncs your information for at least 10 minutes. Once the initial syncing is done the phone should start running faster and you can play around with installing apps. If you don’t wait for the phone to fully sync you may have problems with apps crashing prematurely and a force close dialog popping up.

Change any settings and install any apps you want, they will be saved to your memory card and ready on next boot. All phones that run Android from the microSD card will automatically boot Windows Mobile when the phone restarts. To run Android again, just open the file browser and run haret.exe again.

Android Ports

There are a few different Android ports for Windows Mobile devices and each one supports a different family of device; each family of device has a varying amount of hardware support. Most phones will support the touch screen, hardware buttons, cell phone radio, and data connection, but some ports may not support bluetooth, GPS, or power management. This is not a complete list of Android ports available, but it should cover the most popular Windows Mobile phones.

Almost all Android development on Windows Mobile phones started with the development on theHTC Touch (also known as the HTC Vogue and the Verizon xv6900). The HTC Touch has 100% of the hardware features working and even some features that were not available in official Windows Mobile ROMs. One of the main differences between Android for the Touch and Android for every other phone is the Touch allows for Android to be flashed to the phone’s ROM (NAND memory). This was a big break through for Android development and has increased battery life and speed greatly. Running Android on the Touch can be done following the steps above but it is recommended to run Android by flashing the phones NAND memory. To learn how to do that, start at the Android Touch FAQ thread at XDA-Developers.

Android ports for the HTC Touch can also be used on the following phones with varying success.

HTC Nike (Neon)
HTC Polaris (Touch Cruise)
HTC Kaiser (TyTN II)
HTC Titan (Mogul, xv6800)

Note: HTC phones all have proper names that come from HTC and in many cases each carrier will give the phone its own branding and rename the phone to something else. For example, the HTC Titan was called the Mogul on Sprint and the xv6800 on Verizon. To find the Android port for your phone, start by finding the proper HTC name of your device. Start on HTC’s site to discover your device’s official name.

XDAndroid supports the most popular touch screen HTC Windows Mobile phones and if you bought a touch screen HTC Windows Mobile phone within the past year, most likely this port will support your phone. XDAndroid runs directly from the phones microSD memory card on the following phones:

Touch Pro (Fuze, RAPH, RAPH800, RAPH500)
Touch Diamond (DIAMOND, DIAM500)
Touch HD (BLACKSTONE)
GSM Touch Pro2 (TILT2,RHODIUM, RHOD400, RHOD500)
GSM Touch Diamond2 (TOPAZ)

Andromnia is an Android port for Samsung devices. Currently this port is in the pre-alpha stages and things like the headset speaker does not work. But if you want to test it out it supports the following phones:

Samsung i900 (GSM, supported worldwide)
Samsung i910 (CDMA, used by Verizon in the US)
Samsung i780 (Mirage)
Samsung i907 (AT&T Epix)

Wing Linux isn’t as quickly developed as XDAndroid but should get the job done if your phone isn’t supported by any other port. Wing Linux supports the following phones to varying degrees: