Why 2013 was the year of the personal data breach

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img alt="shutterstock 104980358" class="largeImage imgId100221529 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt3.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/12/shutterstock_104980358-100221529-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/security" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">As 2013 winds to a close, it's time to look back at the biggest security events and incidents of the year. Here's hoping there are some lessons to be learned—something to provide a foundation for stronger protection and a safer online and mobile world in 2014 and beyond.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">With each passing year, the world of technology evolves and improves, and that includes building stronger defenses against cybersecurity threats. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are continuously adapting and acquiring new techniques, too, and successfully exploiting emerging technologies in a perpetual game of security leapfrog.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Here's the 2013 security highlight—er, lowlight—reel.</p><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Ransomware</strong></h2> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The concept of ransomware is simple: Attackers encrypt your data or lock you out of your PC or device using malware exploits, and then demand payment in exchange for restoring your access.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The biggest ransomware threat of 2013 was CryptoLocker. A recent report from Dell security researchers suggests that the <a href="http://www.secureworks.com/cyber-threat-intelligence/threats/cryptolocker-ransomware/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">CryptoLocker crooks raked in $30 million </a>in only 100 days. That's $300,000 a day on average from users paying the ransom to get access to their data again.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"2013 saw a significant trend toward ransomware because cyberattackers were able to utilize Tor and Bitcoin to anonymously blackmail people into paying for access to their own data," says Ken Westin, security researcher for Tripwire.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The CryptoLocker ransom is generally $300. If you don't have a recent backup of your data, you don't have many options—either pay the ransom, or lose all of your data and start over from scratch. On the positive side, the criminals do, in fact, follow through on their promise to return your PC or data once you've paid the ransom.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"This trend will accelerate and migrate to mobile devices in 2014," Westin says. "There's an enormous number of consumers to target who are dependent on the data and services in their mobile device. More than half of mobile-device users don't use even the most basic security precautions, making them easy prey for cyberattackers."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, warns that traditional defenses may not offer much protection against CryptoLocker. The attack does not require any special access or privileges, so it's very difficult to prevent using standard computer security tactics. "XKCD had it absolutely right in its April 2013 comic strip," he says. "If all my important data is my user data, the malware does not need to escalate to administrator to wreak havoc."</p> <img alt="user data" height="627" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/user-data-100221528-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><small class="credit" style="font-size:9px;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;display:block;float:left;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/backgroundwhite70.png);color:rgb(51,51,51);padding:1px 3px 2px;background-repeat:initial initial">XKCD</small><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Traditional security measures are no match for CryptoLocker, which needs no special privileges to access your data.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You really have only one way to protect yourself against ransomware threats: You must <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2065126/the-absurdly-simple-guide-to-backing-up-your-pc.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">back up your data</a> on a regular basis. If your system is compromised by ransomware, you can simply restore your own data from the backup rather than paying the extortionists.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Mobile malware</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The overlap between ransomware and mobile security brings us to the next security trend of 2013: mobile malware. The volume of mobile malware has continued to grow exponentially, as cybercriminals try to take advantage of the fertile new territory.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">FortiGuard Labs reported that it logged 50,000 malicious Android samples in January 2013—about 500 per day. As of November, that number had spiked to 1500 new malware samples per day.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The trend is alarming, but such reports also seem a bit "the sky is falling" at this point. Security vendors keep telling us that the volume of mobile malware is growing at a distressing pace, yet we haven't really seen a significant malware attack against mobile devices in the real world.</p> <q style="quotes:none;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/icn-pullquote-pcw.png);color:rgb(172,31,43);font-size:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:85px;display:block;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">FortiGuard Labs reported that it logged 50,000 malicious Android samples in January 2013—about 500 per day. As of November, that number had spiked to 1500 new malware samples per day.</q><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> It's only a matter of time, though, before criminals move beyond the testing and proof-of-concept phase, and actually plant a malicious payload. The attack may not be as pervasive or obvious as old-school PC malware, because attackers have learned that flying under the radar and avoiding detection is a more lucrative strategy.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">FortiGuard says that it has started to see evidence of a threat called AndroRAT, which attackers can deliver as a Trojan horse buried within an otherwise normal app. The RAT, or remote application tool, enables the attacker to send SMS text messages from the infected smartphone, monitor calls and SMS texts, direct the device's browser to a specific URL, or perform a variety of other actions that could serve either to compromise personal information or to siphon funds from the victim.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">We're still waiting for "The Big One," but mobile malware will eventually live up to the hype—probably when users least expect it.</p><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <strong style>Data breaches</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you didn't already follow the established practice of changing your passwords every few months, 2013 probably left you little choice as sites and services forced users to choose new passwords in the wake of data breaches. <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036610/why-changing-your-livingsocial-password-won-t-save-you.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Living Social</a>, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030052/evernote-hack-shows-that-passwords-arent-good-enough.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Evernote</a>, and<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2059002/adobe-security-breach-worse-than-originally-thought.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Adobe</a> all experienced major data breaches in which tens of millions of user accounts were compromised, and passwords were exposed.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"One could argue that 2013 was 'The Year of Stolen Credentials,'" says Dwayne Melancon, CTO of Tripwire. "According to DataLossDB, the top five largest breaches in 2013 affected about 450 million records—that's a lot of instances of '12345,' 'password,' and 'monkey.' The most alarming thing is that many of these stolen passwords were found to have been stored in insecure ways despite plenty of warnings about using strong cryptography."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">To cap things off, we found out that<a href="http://blogs.csoonline.com/data-privacy/2880/attention-target-shoppers-what-you-need-know-about-credit-data-breach" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Target was the victim of cybercrooks</a>. Between Black Friday and December 15, hackers collected credit card details on about 40 million people who had shopped in person at the popular retail chain.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Cyberespionage</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The year kicked off with the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028747/new-report-says-cyberspying-group-linked-to-chinas-army.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mandiant report on APT1</a>, which offered undeniable proof that U.S. agencies and companies were being infiltrated by a group based out of China. But after everyone spent the first half of the year worried about foreign—possibly state-sponsored—attacks out of China, Iran, and Syria, Edward Snowden dropped a bomb that would change the conversation dramatically.</p> <q style="quotes:none;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/icn-pullquote-pcw.png);color:rgb(172,31,43);font-size:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:85px;display:block;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">"What Snowden released essentially proved to the 10th degree that the U.S. government was itself infiltrating its own corporations and has been eroding the privacy of millions for years already." —Andrew Storms, a security researcher with CloudPassage</q><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Snowden—a contractor for the National Security Agency—fled the United States (eventually finding temporary asylum in Russia) and shared with the world details about <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2054393/new-snowden-revelation-nsa-collects-millions-of-email-and-chat-address-books.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">the NSA's spying on just about everything and everyone </a>around the globe. The ripples from the Snowden revelations are still being felt, as U.S. citizens, the U.S. government, and the nation's allies struggle to find a balance between proactive diligence and overt violations of privacy and civil liberties.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"What he released essentially proved to the 10th degree that the U.S. government was itself infiltrating its own corporations and has been eroding the privacy of millions for years already," says Andrew Storms, a security researcher with CloudPassage. "The hundred-pound gorilla in the room wasn't China or Iran, but our own U.S. agency called the NSA."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"Perhaps the only good news from <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2081180/snowden-speech-to-eu-parliament-could-torpedo-us-trade-talks.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">the Snowden leak</a> is that it has forced a lot of companies to take a serious look at which data is important to them and how it's being protected," Melancon says.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Looking ahead to 2014, the looming threats are essentially the same. The threat from mobile malware will continue to grow, and we will continue to strive to protect our personal data—from cybercriminals and from our own governments.</p> </span>

Why 2013 was the year of the personal data breach

As 2013 winds to a close, it's time to look back at the biggest security events and incidents of the year. Here's hoping there are...

Read more »

Why 2013 was the year of the personal data breach

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img alt="shutterstock 104980358" class="largeImage imgId100221529 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt3.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/12/shutterstock_104980358-100221529-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/security" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">As 2013 winds to a close, it's time to look back at the biggest security events and incidents of the year. Here's hoping there are some lessons to be learned—something to provide a foundation for stronger protection and a safer online and mobile world in 2014 and beyond.</span><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">With each passing year, the world of technology evolves and improves, and that includes building stronger defenses against cybersecurity threats. Unfortunately, cybercriminals are continuously adapting and acquiring new techniques, too, and successfully exploiting emerging technologies in a perpetual game of security leapfrog.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Here's the 2013 security highlight—er, lowlight—reel.</p><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Ransomware</strong></h2> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The concept of ransomware is simple: Attackers encrypt your data or lock you out of your PC or device using malware exploits, and then demand payment in exchange for restoring your access.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The biggest ransomware threat of 2013 was CryptoLocker. A recent report from Dell security researchers suggests that the <a href="http://www.secureworks.com/cyber-threat-intelligence/threats/cryptolocker-ransomware/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">CryptoLocker crooks raked in $30 million </a>in only 100 days. That's $300,000 a day on average from users paying the ransom to get access to their data again.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"2013 saw a significant trend toward ransomware because cyberattackers were able to utilize Tor and Bitcoin to anonymously blackmail people into paying for access to their own data," says Ken Westin, security researcher for Tripwire.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The CryptoLocker ransom is generally $300. If you don't have a recent backup of your data, you don't have many options—either pay the ransom, or lose all of your data and start over from scratch. On the positive side, the criminals do, in fact, follow through on their promise to return your PC or data once you've paid the ransom.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"This trend will accelerate and migrate to mobile devices in 2014," Westin says. "There's an enormous number of consumers to target who are dependent on the data and services in their mobile device. More than half of mobile-device users don't use even the most basic security precautions, making them easy prey for cyberattackers."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Wolfgang Kandek, CTO of Qualys, warns that traditional defenses may not offer much protection against CryptoLocker. The attack does not require any special access or privileges, so it's very difficult to prevent using standard computer security tactics. "XKCD had it absolutely right in its April 2013 comic strip," he says. "If all my important data is my user data, the malware does not need to escalate to administrator to wreak havoc."</p> <img alt="user data" height="627" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/user-data-100221528-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><small class="credit" style="font-size:9px;text-align:center;text-transform:uppercase;display:block;float:left;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/backgroundwhite70.png);color:rgb(51,51,51);padding:1px 3px 2px;background-repeat:initial initial">XKCD</small><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Traditional security measures are no match for CryptoLocker, which needs no special privileges to access your data.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You really have only one way to protect yourself against ransomware threats: You must <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2065126/the-absurdly-simple-guide-to-backing-up-your-pc.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">back up your data</a> on a regular basis. If your system is compromised by ransomware, you can simply restore your own data from the backup rather than paying the extortionists.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Mobile malware</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The overlap between ransomware and mobile security brings us to the next security trend of 2013: mobile malware. The volume of mobile malware has continued to grow exponentially, as cybercriminals try to take advantage of the fertile new territory.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">FortiGuard Labs reported that it logged 50,000 malicious Android samples in January 2013—about 500 per day. As of November, that number had spiked to 1500 new malware samples per day.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The trend is alarming, but such reports also seem a bit "the sky is falling" at this point. Security vendors keep telling us that the volume of mobile malware is growing at a distressing pace, yet we haven't really seen a significant malware attack against mobile devices in the real world.</p> <q style="quotes:none;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/icn-pullquote-pcw.png);color:rgb(172,31,43);font-size:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:85px;display:block;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">FortiGuard Labs reported that it logged 50,000 malicious Android samples in January 2013—about 500 per day. As of November, that number had spiked to 1500 new malware samples per day.</q><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> It's only a matter of time, though, before criminals move beyond the testing and proof-of-concept phase, and actually plant a malicious payload. The attack may not be as pervasive or obvious as old-school PC malware, because attackers have learned that flying under the radar and avoiding detection is a more lucrative strategy.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">FortiGuard says that it has started to see evidence of a threat called AndroRAT, which attackers can deliver as a Trojan horse buried within an otherwise normal app. The RAT, or remote application tool, enables the attacker to send SMS text messages from the infected smartphone, monitor calls and SMS texts, direct the device's browser to a specific URL, or perform a variety of other actions that could serve either to compromise personal information or to siphon funds from the victim.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">We're still waiting for "The Big One," but mobile malware will eventually live up to the hype—probably when users least expect it.</p><h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> <strong style>Data breaches</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">If you didn't already follow the established practice of changing your passwords every few months, 2013 probably left you little choice as sites and services forced users to choose new passwords in the wake of data breaches. <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2036610/why-changing-your-livingsocial-password-won-t-save-you.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Living Social</a>, <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2030052/evernote-hack-shows-that-passwords-arent-good-enough.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Evernote</a>, and<a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2059002/adobe-security-breach-worse-than-originally-thought.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Adobe</a> all experienced major data breaches in which tens of millions of user accounts were compromised, and passwords were exposed.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"One could argue that 2013 was 'The Year of Stolen Credentials,'" says Dwayne Melancon, CTO of Tripwire. "According to DataLossDB, the top five largest breaches in 2013 affected about 450 million records—that's a lot of instances of '12345,' 'password,' and 'monkey.' The most alarming thing is that many of these stolen passwords were found to have been stored in insecure ways despite plenty of warnings about using strong cryptography."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">To cap things off, we found out that<a href="http://blogs.csoonline.com/data-privacy/2880/attention-target-shoppers-what-you-need-know-about-credit-data-breach" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Target was the victim of cybercrooks</a>. Between Black Friday and December 15, hackers collected credit card details on about 40 million people who had shopped in person at the popular retail chain.</p> <h2 style="font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"><strong style>Cyberespionage</strong></h2><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The year kicked off with the <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2028747/new-report-says-cyberspying-group-linked-to-chinas-army.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Mandiant report on APT1</a>, which offered undeniable proof that U.S. agencies and companies were being infiltrated by a group based out of China. But after everyone spent the first half of the year worried about foreign—possibly state-sponsored—attacks out of China, Iran, and Syria, Edward Snowden dropped a bomb that would change the conversation dramatically.</p> <q style="quotes:none;background-image:url(http://csmb.staticworld.net/images/furniture/techhive/icn-pullquote-pcw.png);color:rgb(172,31,43);font-size:24px;padding-top:5px;padding-bottom:10px;padding-left:85px;display:block;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;background-repeat:no-repeat no-repeat">"What Snowden released essentially proved to the 10th degree that the U.S. government was itself infiltrating its own corporations and has been eroding the privacy of millions for years already." —Andrew Storms, a security researcher with CloudPassage</q><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Snowden—a contractor for the National Security Agency—fled the United States (eventually finding temporary asylum in Russia) and shared with the world details about <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2054393/new-snowden-revelation-nsa-collects-millions-of-email-and-chat-address-books.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">the NSA's spying on just about everything and everyone </a>around the globe. The ripples from the Snowden revelations are still being felt, as U.S. citizens, the U.S. government, and the nation's allies struggle to find a balance between proactive diligence and overt violations of privacy and civil liberties.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"What he released essentially proved to the 10th degree that the U.S. government was itself infiltrating its own corporations and has been eroding the privacy of millions for years already," says Andrew Storms, a security researcher with CloudPassage. "The hundred-pound gorilla in the room wasn't China or Iran, but our own U.S. agency called the NSA."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">"Perhaps the only good news from <a href="http://www.pcworld.com/article/2081180/snowden-speech-to-eu-parliament-could-torpedo-us-trade-talks.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">the Snowden leak</a> is that it has forced a lot of companies to take a serious look at which data is important to them and how it's being protected," Melancon says.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Looking ahead to 2014, the looming threats are essentially the same. The threat from mobile malware will continue to grow, and we will continue to strive to protect our personal data—from cybercriminals and from our own governments.</p> </span>

Why 2013 was the year of the personal data breach

As 2013 winds to a close, it's time to look back at the biggest security events and incidents of the year. Here's hoping there are...

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Transfer files between Android and Windows devices

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img alt="Tether on Android" class="largeImage imgId100155235 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/12/tetherandroid_primary-100155235-large.jpeg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/windows" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><em style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.75em">Andrew Cheng asked for advice on the best ways to transfer files between his Android phone and his Windows PC.</em><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The obvious way is to physically connect the phone to the PC, then drag and drop. But the obvious way isn't necessarily the best--or the most convenient.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">But let's start with that obvious way: Use a Micro USB cable, such as the one that almost certainly came with your Android device, to connect that device to your PC. The first time you do this, you may have to wait a bit while Windows sets up some drivers.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">After that, the device will behave like an external drive. You can open it in Windows Explorer (File Explorer in Windows 8) <span style="line-height:1.75em">and drag and drop files.</span></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">But as I said, there are more convenient ways, and they don't require a cable.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive all support Android. You can send files, via each service's Android app, from the cloud to your device or from your device to the cloud. And everything you have stored in the cloud with one of these services automatically gets on your PC.</p> <img alt="1226 dropbox" height="164" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/1226-dropbox-100160151-medium.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <span style="line-height:1.75em">Let's consider Dropbox. In Android, Dropbox doesn't automatically sync all of the files in its appointed folder as it does in Windows. But you can download files from the Dropbox app to your phone or tablet's local storage. And you can upload files to Dropbox via an <em style>Upload here </em>option on the app's pull-down menu.</span></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><span style="line-height:1.75em">Dropbox also provides an automatic way to send your photos to your PC. You can set this up in the Android Dropbox app:</span></p><ol style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 40px"> <li style="line-height:1.45em">Tap the menu icon in the upper-right corner.</li><li style="line-height:1.45em">Tap <em style>Settings.</em></li><li style="line-height:1.45em">Tap <em style>Turn on Camera Upload.</em></li> <li style="line-height:1.45em">In order to avoid hitting your mobile data cap, you'll probably want to leave the <em style>Wi-Fi only</em>option on.</li></ol><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Once this is set up, every time you snap a picture with your phone, it will automatically transfer to the Camera Upload folder inside your PC's Dropbox folder.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You can also transfer your local music collection without a cable, using your local Wi-Fi network. In other words, it only works when you're at home.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> I recommend the free program<a href="http://www.doubletwist.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">doubleTwist</a>. On your PC, it's a media sync tool that works with either a cable connection or Wi-Fi. The Android app is an excellent music player in its own right--as well as the other end of the syncing tool.</p> <img alt="1226 doubletwist" height="381" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/1226-doubletwist-100160150-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> With these tools, you'll seldom need the cable for anything but recharging.</p></span>

Transfer files between Android and Windows devices

Andrew Cheng asked for advice on the best ways to transfer files between his Android phone and his Windows PC. The obvious way is to phy...

Read more »

Transfer files between Android and Windows devices

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img alt="Tether on Android" class="largeImage imgId100155235 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/12/tetherandroid_primary-100155235-large.jpeg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/windows" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);float:left;font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><em style="color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;line-height:1.75em">Andrew Cheng asked for advice on the best ways to transfer files between his Android phone and his Windows PC.</em><br> </a></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The obvious way is to physically connect the phone to the PC, then drag and drop. But the obvious way isn't necessarily the best--or the most convenient.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">But let's start with that obvious way: Use a Micro USB cable, such as the one that almost certainly came with your Android device, to connect that device to your PC. The first time you do this, you may have to wait a bit while Windows sets up some drivers.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">After that, the device will behave like an external drive. You can open it in Windows Explorer (File Explorer in Windows 8) <span style="line-height:1.75em">and drag and drop files.</span></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">But as I said, there are more convenient ways, and they don't require a cable.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Cloud storage services such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive all support Android. You can send files, via each service's Android app, from the cloud to your device or from your device to the cloud. And everything you have stored in the cloud with one of these services automatically gets on your PC.</p> <img alt="1226 dropbox" height="164" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/1226-dropbox-100160151-medium.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="300"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <span style="line-height:1.75em">Let's consider Dropbox. In Android, Dropbox doesn't automatically sync all of the files in its appointed folder as it does in Windows. But you can download files from the Dropbox app to your phone or tablet's local storage. And you can upload files to Dropbox via an <em style>Upload here </em>option on the app's pull-down menu.</span></p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><span style="line-height:1.75em">Dropbox also provides an automatic way to send your photos to your PC. You can set this up in the Android Dropbox app:</span></p><ol style="margin:1em 0px;padding:0px 0px 0px 40px"> <li style="line-height:1.45em">Tap the menu icon in the upper-right corner.</li><li style="line-height:1.45em">Tap <em style>Settings.</em></li><li style="line-height:1.45em">Tap <em style>Turn on Camera Upload.</em></li> <li style="line-height:1.45em">In order to avoid hitting your mobile data cap, you'll probably want to leave the <em style>Wi-Fi only</em>option on.</li></ol><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Once this is set up, every time you snap a picture with your phone, it will automatically transfer to the Camera Upload folder inside your PC's Dropbox folder.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">You can also transfer your local music collection without a cable, using your local Wi-Fi network. In other words, it only works when you're at home.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> I recommend the free program<a href="http://www.doubletwist.com/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">doubleTwist</a>. On your PC, it's a media sync tool that works with either a cable connection or Wi-Fi. The Android app is an excellent music player in its own right--as well as the other end of the syncing tool.</p> <img alt="1226 doubletwist" height="381" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/1226-doubletwist-100160150-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> With these tools, you'll seldom need the cable for anything but recharging.</p></span>

Transfer files between Android and Windows devices

Andrew Cheng asked for advice on the best ways to transfer files between his Android phone and his Windows PC. The obvious way is to phy...

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My Digital Life

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My Digital Life

My Digital Life Left 4 Dead 2 Free Download on Steam Posted: 25 Dec 2013 08:59 PM PST Left 4 Dead...

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My Digital Life

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My Digital Life

My Digital Life Left 4 Dead 2 Free Download on Steam Posted: 25 Dec 2013 08:59 PM PST Left 4 Dead...

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Taiwan antitrust agency fines Apple for iPhone pricing

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="galleryImage imgId100056473 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/10/iphones5cands-100056473-gallery.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/legal" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;display:inline!important"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">Apple has been fined NT$20 million (US$663,332) by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for interfering with the pricing of the iPhone by three mobile carriers, according to reports.</span></a></div> <span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The antitrust agency found Apple's unit in charge of Taiwan sales violated article 18 of the Taiwan's Fair Trade Act by asking operators Chunghwa Telecom, Far Eastone Telecommunications and Taiwan Mobile to submit pricing plans for approval by Apple, which had also recommended changes in the prices.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Apple's agreements with the operators are said to have stipulated, for example, that subsidies these companies offer for buying iPhones with contracts cannot be lower than those of their competitors.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The Fair Trade Commission had not issued a statement on the order on its English website, though a <a href="http://www.ftc.gov.tw/internet/main/doc/docDetail.aspx?uid=126&docid=13316" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Chinese version</a> was available.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Article 18 of the Fair Trade Act <a href="http://www.ftc.gov.tw/internet/english/doc/docDetail.aspx?uid=644&docid=12106" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">states</a>that "Where an enterprise supplies goods to its trading counterpart for resale to a third party or such third party makes further resale, the trading counterpart and the third party shall be allowed to decide their sale prices freely; any agreement contrary to this provision shall be void."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Apple could face an additional fine of up to NT$50 million if it fails to comply with the Fair Trade Commission's ruling that the company should immediately stop the practice of trying to control iPhone prices, according to the <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/12/26/2003579813" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">reports</a>. Apple can appeal the ruling.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The iPhone maker could not be immediately reached for comment.</p></span>

Taiwan antitrust agency fines Apple for iPhone pricing

Apple has been fined NT$20 million (US$663,332) by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for interfering with the pricing of the iPhone by three ...

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Taiwan antitrust agency fines Apple for iPhone pricing

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img class="galleryImage imgId100056473 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt0.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/10/iphones5cands-100056473-gallery.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.pcworld.com/category/legal" style="color:rgb(172,31,43);font-family:facitweb,sans-serif;font-size:16px;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px;display:inline!important"><span style="line-height:1.7em;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:15px">Apple has been fined NT$20 million (US$663,332) by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for interfering with the pricing of the iPhone by three mobile carriers, according to reports.</span></a></div> <span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The antitrust agency found Apple's unit in charge of Taiwan sales violated article 18 of the Taiwan's Fair Trade Act by asking operators Chunghwa Telecom, Far Eastone Telecommunications and Taiwan Mobile to submit pricing plans for approval by Apple, which had also recommended changes in the prices.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Apple's agreements with the operators are said to have stipulated, for example, that subsidies these companies offer for buying iPhones with contracts cannot be lower than those of their competitors.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The Fair Trade Commission had not issued a statement on the order on its English website, though a <a href="http://www.ftc.gov.tw/internet/main/doc/docDetail.aspx?uid=126&docid=13316" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Chinese version</a> was available.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Article 18 of the Fair Trade Act <a href="http://www.ftc.gov.tw/internet/english/doc/docDetail.aspx?uid=644&docid=12106" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">states</a>that "Where an enterprise supplies goods to its trading counterpart for resale to a third party or such third party makes further resale, the trading counterpart and the third party shall be allowed to decide their sale prices freely; any agreement contrary to this provision shall be void."</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Apple could face an additional fine of up to NT$50 million if it fails to comply with the Fair Trade Commission's ruling that the company should immediately stop the practice of trying to control iPhone prices, according to the <a href="http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2013/12/26/2003579813" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">reports</a>. Apple can appeal the ruling.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The iPhone maker could not be immediately reached for comment.</p></span>

Taiwan antitrust agency fines Apple for iPhone pricing

Apple has been fined NT$20 million (US$663,332) by the Taiwan Fair Trade Commission for interfering with the pricing of the iPhone by three ...

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11 must-have apps for your new Android phone

<div class="imageContainer580xX" style="width:320px;height:auto;clear:both;margin:auto;color:rgb(34,34,34);font-family:'Helvetica Neue',Arial,sans-serif;font-size:14px;line-height:19px"><img alt="th phoneapps primary" class="largeImage imgId100221536 " itemprop="image" src="http://zapt3.staticworld.net/images/article/2013/12/th_phoneapps_primary-100221536-large.jpg" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: 320px; max-width: 100%;"></div> <div class="department" style="margin:0px 0px 10px;overflow:hidden"><a class="topCatLink" href="http://www.techhive.com/category/android" style="color:rgb(215,114,39);float:left;font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;font-weight:700;text-transform:uppercase;margin-right:5px"><br> </a></div><div id="article-meta-target" style></div><span itemprop="articleBody description text" style><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Welcome to your shiny new Android phone! I know that new phones can feel a little overwhelming at first, but you should feel comfortable in no time. Naturally, your Android phone came bundled with many of Google's own applications, like Google Maps and Google Keep, but to really trick out your new smartphone, you should head to the Google Play store for some killer apps. These 11 are must-haves for any Android phone—most are free and none is over $7.</p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em">Dropbox</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/dropbox_android-100220726-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="dropbox android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/dropbox_android-100220726-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Cloud services are all the rage, but Dropbox is especially helpful in the way it pairs with your mobile device. A Dropbox account lets you sync files and folders between your mobile device and PC or Mac, seamlessly. You get 2GB free, and can buy extra space or earn it through referring friends. The best part of the app, however, is its automatic camera upload abilities, which backs up all of your photos and videos to the cloud so you'll always have a copy stowed away somewhere safe.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.dropbox.android" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> AirDroid</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/airdroid_android-100210563-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="airdroid android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/airdroid_android-100210563-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> You don't have to use a cable to transfer media from your computer to your phone, or even dig your phone out of your bag to send text messages. Instead, you can use AirDroid to control your smartphone from your computer's Web browser.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">AirDroid lets you easily move things on and off your device. You can send a text message from your desktop, peruse call logs, and drag-and-drop pictures, music, and ringtones. There's even the ability to locate and lock your Android phone should you lose it, though this feature is already natively built-in to most devices with Android 4.2.2 and up via the Android Device Manager. If you're feeling silly, you can even set up your Android phone as a spy camera with the Camera mode.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.sand.airdroid" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> Astro File Manager</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/astrofilemanager_android-100220725-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="astrofilemanager android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/astrofilemanager_android-100220725-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Navigating the files on your Android devices can be a bit of a pain. Although AirDroid can help facilitate getting those files on and off of the device, sometimes finding files and media on your phone can be a chore.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> With Astro File Manager, you can organize, view, and find almost any file contained on your Android device. You can also use the app to browse through various cloud-based accounts, including Dropbox, Google Drive, Box, and SkyDrive, and even move files between them. The app works with your SD card (if your phone has one) and can open almost any archived ZIP files and email attachments too. The paid version removes ads. </p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>:free</p><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em">Google Voice</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/googlevoice_android-100220727-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="googlevoice android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/googlevoice_android-100220727-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> We've <a href="http://www.techhive.com/article/2029995/use-a-google-voice-phone-number-to-keep-your-personal-number-private.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">said it before</a> and we'll say it again: anyone with an Android device should have a Google Voice number, at least as backup. The service is mostly free, though limited in some of its offerings—there's no way to send photos through text messages, for instance—but it makes up for it in things it <em style>can</em> do.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Google Voice assigns you a phone number, in addition to the one already associated with your phone through your carrier, so that you can send free texts, make cheap phone calls to your friends and family overseas, or even use it as the default voicemail system to take full advantage of its transcription abilities.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.apps.googlevoice" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> Google Keyboard</h2><img alt="googlekeyboard android" height="358" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/googlekeyboard_android-100210559-large.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="580"><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Unless your phone is emblazoned with the word "Nexus," it's likely you're dealing with a seriously skinned version of Android—and a virtual keyboard that's forced on you by the manufacturer. If you just can't stand it, try on the official Google Keyboard for size.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Google Keyboard is the default keyboard application that Google supplies in stock version of Android. It's mostly bare-bones, though it features gesture typing, voice typing, and dictionaries for 26 languages. There's even emoji support, though only in Android 4.4 KitKat. Alternatively, if you're looking for keyboard apps that are a little more feature filled, we've got a <a href="http://www.techhive.com/article/2052142/the-keys-are-alright-6-android-keyboard-apps-to-try.html" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">list of those</a>for you, too.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.google.android.inputmethod.latin" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> VSCO Cam</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/vscocam_android-100220730-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="vscocam android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/vscocam_android-100220730-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> You're not sure if your phone came with enough vintage photo filters, you say? Luckily for you, iOS favorite VSCO Cam just recently hit the Google Play store.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">The free application features the usual arsenal of photo-editing tools, but you'll mostly get a kick out of its faux-realist vintage filters. You can choose the strength of each individual filter and then tweak it further even after you've applied it. Want to make the photo look even more weathered? Add a fade or drop the color saturation just a little bit. Once you're finished, you can share the photo across different social networks, like Google+, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and even VSCO's own VSCO Grid photo-sharing network.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.vsco.cam" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> Podkicker</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/podkickerpro_android-100220728-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="podkickerpro android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/podkickerpro_android-100220728-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> There is no need for a bloated, busy podcast app, which is why Podkicker is so highly recommended. You can download podcasts for offline listening and then delete them after you're finished, or engage car mode so that you're not distracted trying to navigate the menus to get to the episode you want to play. The paid version gets you even more features and removes all advertisements.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em">Then go subscribe to <a href="http://www.techhive.com/column/clockwise/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Clockwise</a>, our very own tech podcast.</p><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> <strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=ait.podka" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a> or <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.podkicker" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">$3</a></p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em">TuneIn Radio</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/2013-12-19-05.35.29-100211138-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="TuneIn_Android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/2013-12-19-05.35.29-100211138-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Whether you like to listen to a broadcast of your favorite team up to bat, or you just miss some of the radio stations from back home, TuneIn offers free access to more than 10,000 radio stations from around the world. If you're a fan of live radio shows, you can send yourself a reminder to "tune in" when it's on. Or if you miss the days of clock radios, you can even set your phone to wake you up to the radio. The paid version lets you record live radio shows and play them back later.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=tunein.player" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a>, or <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=radiotime.player" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">$7</a></p> <h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em">Yelp</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/yelp_android-100210565-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="yelp android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/yelp_android-100210565-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Looking for a place to get a bite to eat? Or perhaps you're in the mood for some roller disco? Whatever you're hungering for, Yelp is the de facto service for checking out crowd-sourced reviews. Can't decide what you want to do at all? Just hit the Nearby button to see what's in the area. The best part of Yelp on your mobile phone is that it provides an easy-access button to get directions to where you're going.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.yelp.android" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><br style><br style><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> ESPN SportsCenter</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/sportscenter_android-100210566-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="sportscenter android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/sportscenter_android-100210566-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> Hey, sports buff. You don't have to lose track of your team just because they're not in season. ESPN SportsCenter can keep you connected with personalized news for your favorite teams, live scores, video highlights, and personalized alerts. And if you couldn't make it to the game, you can even follow along with the buzz on Twitter.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.espn.score_center" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p><br style><h2 style="font-family:ff-enzo-web,sans-serif;margin-top:1em;margin-bottom:0.25em"> Pocket</h2><a class="zoom" href="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/pocket_android-100210564-orig.png" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)"><img alt="pocket android" height="249" src="http://images.techhive.com/images/article/2013/12/pocket_android-100210564-small.png" style="box-sizing: border-box; border-width: 0px; vertical-align: middle; width: auto; height: auto; max-width: 100%; float: left;" width="140"></a><p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"> The Web is a treasure trove of awesome content (hey, you're reading some right now!), but it's impossible to read every interesting thing you find the moment you find it. With a free <a href="http://getpocket.com/add/" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Pocket account</a>, you can save articles, videos, and pictures from any of your computers' web browsers to the cloud. Then pull them up on your Android phone later when you've got some time to read.</p> <p style="line-height:1.7em;margin:0px 0px 0.7em"><strong style>Price</strong>: <a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.ideashower.readitlater.pro" style="color:rgb(37,167,215)">Free</a></p></span>

11 must-have apps for your new Android phone

Welcome to your shiny new Android phone! I know that new phones can feel a little overwhelming at first, but you should feel comfortable...

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