Use Your Android Phone to Cure Cancer

Smartphone manufacturer HTC has announced “Power to Give,” a new initiative that harnesses the collective processing power of the company’s smartphones to solve epic scientific challenges. Power to Give (PTG), an Android smartphone app currently in beta, works a bit like Folding@Home, Play to Cure and other similar projects. Once installed on your HTC phone, research institutions of your choice will automatically begin using its computing power during downtime to help analyze important data. The app only works when your phone is connected to WiFi and a power source. It never eats up battery power or your data allowance, and it won’t interfere with your normal use of the phone. HTC is currently highlighting four specific PTG projects: Computing for Clean Water, Help Fight Cancer, Say No to Schistosoma and Nutritious Rice for the World. Other popular projects like SETI@Home are also available. You can divide your phone’s efforts as you choose. For now, the Power to Give app is only compatible with the HTC One family, HTC Butterfly and HTC Butterfly S running Android 4.3 or above. The company hopes to release a version compatible with all Android phones later this year. HTC owners can download Power to Give on Google Play. This article was written by Fox Van Allen and originally appeared on Techlicious. More from Techlicious: Glove App Determines Which Wireless Carrier is Best For You 10 Apps & Sites that Will Save You Money Major Security Flaw Discovered in Asus Routers, Too HTC Offering Limited Free Screen Replacements Techlicious 2014 Best of Toy Fair Awards