Chrome for Android Beta: 3 Drawbacks

Google recently launched Chrome for Android Beta, a version of the search giant's popular desktop browser for Android smartphones and tablets running Android 4.0, Ice Cream Sandwich. The new mobile browser includes many features that make Chrome so popular on the PC including speed, simple design, bookmark and open tabs sync, and autocomplete suggestions. But Google's mobile Chrome isn't all good news, there are also a few letdowns for people who love Adobe Flash, Chrome extensions or are part of the 99 percent.

No Flash, ever

Even though Android supports the mobile version of Flash Player, Chrome for Android did not ship with Adobe's plug-in unlike its desktop counterpart. Shortly after the new mobile browser was released, Adobe said it would not be supporting Chrome for Android. Adobe in November announced it would no longer be developing Flash Player for mobile devices at all and would instead focus on pushing HTML 5 standards for mobile browsers.

No extensions, at least not yet

Just like Mozilla Firefox, desktop Chrome offers tons of extensions you can add to your browser for extra functionality such as password managers, Facebook notifications, and ad blockers. However, extensions aren't making the jump to Chrome for Android Beta right now. But there are reports that Google is looking at how to bring extensions to Chrome for Android. Mozilla currently offers add-ons for mobile Firefox.

Android 4.0 only

Chrome for Android is currently only available for Android 4.0. That effectively means you can only get it if you own a Galaxy Nexus, Nexus S, Motorola Xoom or Asus Transformer Prime. Ice Cream Sandwich updates to Gingerbread and Honeycomb devices are slated for rollout later this year. Check out Computerworld's constantly updated ICS upgrade guide for information about getting ICS on your Android device.

Chrome for Android is available for free from the Android Market.

New Android Game Release: My Country Sports Edition Out Now

Sports fans rejoice! Game Insight has announced that its popular city building game My Country is officially getting in shape with the Sports Edition update. It's now available on Android Market as Freemium game. Here is more info:






The phenomenal success enjoyed by My Country, developed and released by Game Insight for Android, inspired its developers to release an expansion, My Country: Sports Edition. Sports Edition is a sweeping update in which the game known and loved by millions becomes even brighter, more fun and, most of all, sporty! With a host of new features, My Country: Sports Season offers dozens of buildings, stadiums, swimming pools, tennis courts and much more. Players will build and develop a sports empire.

In My Country: Sports Edition, you are invited to visit and explore a new neighbor city, the Sports Village. New sports facilities, athletic quests, trophies and exclusive statues will surely score bonus points with every My Country fan!

My Country: Sports Edition is optimized for download over 3G, with a file size of less than 20 MB. It allows both new and seasoned My Country players access to a whole new world of city-building excitement. Not a single feature of the original My Country is lost in the update; quite the contrary since every My Country player who updates to the Sports Edition will receive a special bonus!

To download My Country Sports Edition for Android visit:
https://market.android.com/details?id=com.gameinsight.mycountry.sport

Android App for Viewing 2D or 3D CAD Designs

Computer-Aided Design (CAD) applications have already invaded the mobile platform. Although most of such programs’ mobile versions may not be as sophisticated as the desktop ones, the main point here is that more and more productivity applications are now brought into the mobile platform. This would mean that mobile devices like tablets and smartphones are getting more useful, productivity-wise.
One of the companies who ventured into a CAD app is IMSI Design. The company is known as one of the leading providers of CAD software applications. It has an array of products that are specifically tailored for computer-aided design. One such CAD product from IMSI is the TurboViewer app for Android.

Pros

TurboViewer is capable of rendering not just 2D designs but also 3D designs. This is a feature that is unique to TurboViewer.  Other mobile CAD apps don’t have such feature.
The user interface of the app is simple and straightforward. You will not be bombarded with so many menus that might be confusing at times. All you see is a clean and tidy user interface without clutter.


The app may take a few seconds to render a design depending on how big the file is, but once it is already up on the screen, you can easily rotate or zoom in and out of the drawing. The animations on this app are very fluid.
The app is free, too–so, that should be one of the biggest perks here. You can upgrade to a premium version, though, to gain access to more features.


And, last but not the least, the makers of the app just very recently released a software development kit (SDK) for the app. This will mean that the app will be improved. Better versions of the app will surely come out once developers can get hold of this SDK.

Cons

This might not really be a big disadvantage of the app, but it’s worth mentioning. The app can only recognize the directory it has created during the installation process. The app doesn’t have a way to browse for files saved in other directories.
The features in the app are very decent and good. But, they are very limited. You don’t have that many on the menu to choose from.
The free version of TurboViewer is ad-supported, and the ads can be a bit annoying at times. This will go away though if you get the premium version. If you want to stick with the free one, you have to get used to those advertisements.
The app will eat up around 43 MB of storage space when installed on a device. This might not be that much, but for a viewer app, this is a bit big.

Conclusion

TurboViewer is a good app. This might even be the first free app that offers 3D viewing capability–something which makes it stand out from the rest. The cons we listed above, as you can see, are really minor ones, and can easily be overshadowed by the great features this app has.
Looking at the bigger picture, tablets and smartphones are said to be the future of mobile computing. It is even predicted that mobile devices will someday replace laptops and netbooks. And, with the developments we are seeing nowadays, this may not be a far future. These devices are becoming more powerful nowadays. Someday soon we’ll be seeing a full-fledged CAD app running on our mobile devices.
If you want to try this amazing mobile CAD app from IMSI Design, download TurboViewer free from the Android Market.