Enlarge (credit: Aurich Lawson) We often, and quite rightly, complain about the way device makers customize the “stock” build of Android to suit their own needs. Customizing software is not inherently bad, but Samsung, LG, and others are usually doing it to push their apps and services. These companies frequently make unnecessary aesthetic changes for the sake of being different. You don’t have to put up with the look and feel of Android on your phone, though. You can customize things to better suit your own style and usage patterns—all it takes it a little legwork. The more time you want to spend on it, the more extensive the customization can be. It all starts with the right tools. Wallpapers This is a very basic step, but it’s an important one. You want the wallpaper on your phone to match the style you’re going for with the rest of your customizations. In fact, you can take inspiration from wallpapers to inform the decisions you make regarding icons and widgets. OEMs usually only include a handful of device wallpapers that are, to be frank, lacking. Some of the wallpaper apps on Android aren’t much better, and they often have spammy ads all over. Read 35 remaining paragraphs | Comments
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A beginner’s guide to total Android customization
An anonymous reader quotes a report from Tom’s Hardware: Qualcomm and its Qualcomm Datacenter Technologies subsidiary announced today that the company has already begun sampling its first 10nm server processor. The Centriq 2400 is the second generation of Qualcomm server SOCs, but it is the first in its new family of 10nm FinFET processors. The Centriq 2400 features up to 48 custom Qualcomm ARMv8-compliant Falkor cores and comes a little over a year after Qualcomm began developing its first-generation Centriq processors. Qualcomm’s introduction of a 10nm server chip while Intel is still refining its 14nm process appears to be a clear shot across Intel’s bow–due not only to the smaller process, but also its sudden lead in core count. Intel’s latest 14nm E7 Broadwell processors top out at 24 cores. Qualcomm isn’t releasing more information, such as clock speeds or performance specifications, which would help to quantify the benefit of its increased core count. The server market commands the highest margins, which is certainly attractive for the mobile-centric Qualcomm, which found its success in the relatively low-margin smartphone segment. However, Intel has a commanding lead in the data center with more than a 99% share of the world’s server sockets, and penetrating the segment requires considerable time, investment, and ecosystem development. Qualcomm unveiled at least a small portion of its development efforts by demonstrating Apache Spark and Hadoop on Linux and Java running on the Centriq 2400 processor. The company also notes that Falkor is SBSA compliant, which means that it is compatible with any software that runs on an ARMv8-compliant server platform. Read more of this story at Slashdot. 
