Android Plaza: July 2010

Saturday, July 31, 2010

Is this New Gmail Design[Leaked]?

Google Operating System blog had posted the image of a version of Gmail used by Google employees and the image reveals more than a half dozen changes to the Gmail most of us are using today.

So tell me what do you feel about the new Gmail?

Friday, July 30, 2010

Latest Version of Google Maps displays Real time Snow and Rain.

The latest and updated version of Google’s 3D map application, Google Earth , now displays real-time rain and snow in certain parts of the world.

To see it, you must first enable the clouds layer, and then zoom in to a location where it’s raining or snowing. Google Earth displays rain and snow only in certain parts of North America and Europe; to see where exactly the new feature is available, enable the radar layer.

A Plugin, which lets you know whether Google is spying on you or not!!!

A Browser plugin called Google Alarm both for Mozilla and Chrome hit the Internets this week, which alerts you every time your personal info is sent to Google’s servers.

How does it notify you?

Via notifications, a running tally of dangerous sites and, naturally, a super annoying, vuvuzela-like alarm.

It was developed by Jamie Wilkinson, who also created Know Your Meme and Mag.ma. Google Alarm, which was made during F.A.T.’s F*ck Google Week in Berlin, is supposed to make users aware of how much info they’re sending to the search giant.

In one of the photos which is in circulation across web raise the hope of the Nexus One users. What is it, you might be thinking ? Its the Google's Android OS Gingerbread, the version after "Froyo" which is expected to be released for the coming Christmas is running on NEXUS ONE.

Gingerbread is coming with this committed updates

Support for WebM video playback
Improved copy–paste functionalities

HTC Desire and Nexus One ignores Super AMOLED, instead gets Super LCD Screens

The all new HTC mobile i.e., the Desire and the Nexus One will be coming with the S-LCD Display instead of expecting AMOLED. HTC officially announced it will be swapping AMOLED with Super LCD (SLCD) displays in several of its phones later this summer, including the Desire and Nexus One.

The reason for the change, according to HTC, is the high level of demand for phones with 3.7-inch displays, on top of the low availability of AMOLED screens.

We dont know which one is better but the SLCD-equipped versions of HTC smartphones get an added benefit: better battery life. “The SLCD displays provide consumers with a comparable visual experience to HTC’s current 3.7 inch displays with some additional benefits including battery performance,” said HTC CEO Peter Chou.

Google to provide app for the Government.

Is this a Google try to regain the normalcy relationship with Govt after some tuffs regarding the much hyped privacy issues??

Google Apps for Government is, according to Google, the first cloud computing app suite to receive the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA) certification. This will make it easier for agencies or groups to evaluate and adopt Google Apps.

It aimed at government employees needs more than just certification, which is why Google notes in its blog post that Gmail and Google Calendar data will be segregated into data centers marked exclusively for government users in the continental U.S.

Google updates its Google Maps for Android.

Recently Google has updated its Google Maps 4.4 for Android 1.6 and above, Google has improved the mobile offering of Places. Android owners can now add the Places icon to their home screens and use it to quickly locate nearby venues and their accompanying information-rich business listings.

The new update will help the android users to query nearby places by voice or text, and to find restaurants, coffee, bars, hotels and gas stations ........ to search for places.

Returned results are based on its expanding database of Place Pages. When pulling up a Place Page for a venue, users can glimpse the open hours for the business, easily see the distance and compass direction, and check out prices, parking and restaurant menu links.

BlackBerry users soon gets to experience it when Google updates m.google.com/maps.

Saturday, July 24, 2010

Engadget hands on Adobe Air peer-to-peer video call concept Android app.[VIDEO]

Engadget.com team got chance to try Adobe's Air to Air Video Call concept Android App at Adobe's London office to get a closer look at this demo.

This app was developed by Adobe's Mark Doherty in just 3 days, though the app is not in perfected stage since we can see that video stream froze up on several occasions but this should still help Android developers understand the power of peer-to-peer capabilities in the forthcoming Air 2.5 runtime, which is now "feature-complete" and undergoing extensive testing ahead of launch later this year.

Google search share slips: Report

(Reuters) - Google's dominance in search market is at saturated point? According to the research firm Strategy Analytics (SA), Google's position on the global online search market slipped slightly in the second quarter, as it retreated from the Chinese market, said on Friday.

Google's market share fell to 69.7 percent in the June quarter from 71.1 percent in the previous three months.

"Google's search revenue growth continues to slow down as the Western search market reaches maturity and Google struggles to gain share in the fastest-growing Asian markets," said Martin Olausson, analyst at Strategy Analytics.

"As a company, it will become increasingly more important for Google to find significant new revenue streams in order to offset decelerating growth in search," Olausson said.

iOS vs Android OS, stats by Chikita.

Chitika’s Ad network had gathered data by looking at web impressions from mobile devices across Chitika’s network, which includes more than 80,000 publisher sites.

iOS to Android OS comparison, Apple has the lead by a significant margin; iOS traffic accounted for around 55% of mobile OS activity in a recent snapshot, whereas Android devices ran closer to 18% of the total.

To get an idea of OS versions, Chitika captured data on 9,020,135 devices running an iOS and 7,712,820 devices running some version of Android.

Where iPhone owners show a distinct advantage is in the ability to quickly upgrade en masse to the latest distribution of the OS. Almost half (49.9%) of all iPhone owners are now running iOS 4, which was just released one month ago.

India unveils Rs 1,500 (~ $ 34) tablet PC

India unveiled a Rs 1,500 (around $ 30) tablet PC designed specifically for students.

"If more companies decide to manufacture a similar device, prices will come down automatically," Human Resource Development Minister Kapil Sibal said after unveiling the low cost-access-cum computing device here.

The device would be made available to students in 2011.

When the ministry floated the concept of a low cost laptop some years ago, officials said it would cost Rs 500 ($ 10). It will now cost about three times the initial projections.

The ministry expects the prices to drop to Rs 1,000 ($ 20) and reach Rs 500 ($ 10) as innovations are introduced.

Gurgaon-based Olive Telecom announced the launch of a new tablet PC. The Olive Pad is touted as India's first 3G tablet PC.

The tablet also doubles up as a smartphone that allows users to make voice and video calls.

The Olive Pad runs on Google's Android OS and supports 3.5G HSUPA, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and GPS. The 7" touchscreen device comes with dual cameras (a 3 megapixel rear camera and a VGA front camera) and mini-USB port.

e-Book Reader Nook for Android is now available.

Another ebook reader app for the Android is now available at free of cost in Android Market.

The Nook app has eight font styles and five text sizes In addition, you can turn pages in the Nook app by flicking your finger . The Nook’s navigation bar is much simpler than the Kindle’s as well, allowing one to easily scroll through the book via page numbers.

Like the Kindle app, you can save and sync bookmarks across devices, but the Nook app also lets you share e-books with friends via LendMe, which allows folks to lend books to any device that will run the B&N eReader software for up to 14 days .

Google updates Google Voice, Gets Faster Phone Calls

Google has updated for its Android and BlackBerry apps that will speed up phone call connections.

In the Google blog, the Google Voice team pinpointed an issue with dialing out; there could be lag between dialing and connection. This is because the app had to make data requests to the server every time you made a call. This adds an extra step between you and your phone call.

Src: [googlevoiceblog]

GM to integrate Smartphones with Cars from 2011 Models.

General Motors with the help of OnStar had developed an application which let the drivers of most 2011 General Motors vehicles will be able to use a smartphone to carry out functions usually found on a key fob such as remote starting, activating the horn and lights, and remote locking and unlocking of doors.

This application is also available to Chevrolet, Cadillac, Buick and GMC that can be controlled on Apple's iPhone and phones using Google's Android operating system.

This technology was announced by GM 22-July-2010.

Lenovo planning Android tablet PC

Lenovo Group, the world's No 4 PC brand, said it will come out with its own tablet PC, will try to compete with line of companies who will soon come out with there own version of android based tablet rivaling Apple Inc's popular iPad.

Lenovo was developing a tablet PC, known internally as LePad, that would run on Google Inc's Android operating system, Lenovo spokeswoman Wu Hwa said on Wednesday, adding that no launch date had been set and the name of the product may change.

"We want the tablet PC to be compatible with our LePhone smartphone, which is why we're using Android," Wu said.

Google Buys 20 Years’ Worth of Wind Farm Energy

Google has signed a contract with an Iowa wind farm to purchase clean energy at a set rate for the next 20 years.

This tells the Google’s strong environmental stance; with specific regard to energy consumption and wind-generated energy, the company has been championing PowerMeter and has invested $38 million in wind farms this year alone.

On the official Google blog, Google’s SVP Operations Urs Hoelzle wrote, “On July 30 we will begin purchasing the clean energy from 114 megawatts of wind generation at the NextEra Energy Resources Story County II facility in Iowa at a predetermined rate for 20 years… This power is enough to supply several data centers.”

Online Reports shows that the mysterious Droid 2 might launch as soon as August 12.

Just last week, we saw that the original Droid had been listed as an end-of-life device by Verizon, meaning that no more Droids will be shipping from Motorola and support for the device will slowly taper off.

Therefore sources are saying the Droid 2 will be launching on August 12.

What we know about the Droid 2 based on previously leaked photos and video:

It will retain the original Droid’s excellent physical keyboard, although the keyboard buttons will apparently be slightly more raised.
That ledge between the screen and keyboard layers of hardware is gone, so you’ll have a nice, smooth device in your pocket or purse.
The device will feature a Wi-Fi tethering app, just like the Droid X and EVO 4G.
You’ll also have a 750MHz OMAP processor, a 5MP camera and an updated version of Motoblur.

70,000 + apps in Android Market (Official): Google

Google has confirmed today that the Android Market has hit 70,000 apps available, well on its way to 100,000 before the end of the year.

Google's Senior VP of Product Management Jonathan Rosenberg confirmed the number during the search giant's Q2 earnings call this week.

Furthermore, Android search grew by 300 percent in the first half of 2010, with strong growth expected to continue in the second half. Overall revenue jumped by 24 percent year-on-year and profit increased by 19 percent, as well.

AndroLib, the Android data collection service recently said over 1 billion apps have been downloaded from the Android Market.

Mobile Ads Money helps to run Android: Google

Google CFO Patrick Pichette said the Android operating system is not material in answer to a financial analyst's question about how the company sees its investment in the platform paying dividends.

"Android is not material to the company," Pichette said on the second quarter earnings call July 16, noting that Google had no hand in the launch of some key Android products, such as the creation of the Motorola Droid X, which went on sale from Verizon Wireless July 15 and has already sold out.

"Android is not a huge resource investment, but it's a formidable return in that what you have is the entire ecosystem exploding."

Cyanogen Mod 6 caught running on Sprint HTC EVO 4G with Android 2.2 Froyo.

Its hacked News :) Here is Video posted show HTC EVO 4G having CyanogenMod 6 running Froyo 2.2

CyanogenMod 6 on the EVO has the Sense UI – as nice as it looks. Sense provides many nice features and optimizations. CM 6 will give HTC EVO users a taste of Android 2.2 Froyo, without HTC’s custom Sense skin. The new ROM will bring Froyo to the EVO almost half a year before HTC predicts it will be able to officially updates its devices to Froyo 2.2 around Christmas time, as HTC has recently said.

One of the coolest things that you’ll see in the video below, at about 25 seconds in, the person giving the demo stops touching the device, but still navigates through it. That’s because he paired mouse to the device, and a cursor appeared. Now, the next step is to get the HDMI port to display the entire user interface to a screen, and then you’ve got a real computer on your hands. This is a cool project that will become available at some point, hopefully.

Opera Mini 5.1 Web Browser app for Android is now available.

The Opera Mini 5.1 browser for Android phones is out of beta and is now available as a general release.

You can download it in the Android Market, or directly from Opera. If you’ve beta on your Android phone, you can upgrade to the final release within the app.

The newest version of Opera’s browser adds a pinch-to-zoom feature, but it’s not as eye candy as what you’d expect if you’re used to iOS apps. A pinch only zooms you into a specific content well and out to the full page.

1 Billion Download Landmark for Android Market.(UNOFFICIAL)

Data presented by AndriodLib, the number of downloads from the Android Marketplace has crossed 1 billion - almost two years after the launch of the store.

While the number is yet to be officially revealed by Google, there are already opinions saying AndroidLib maybe off by a nice margin.

Now, for some official stats. According to Google, as many as 160,000 Android devices get activated daily. The number of apps on the Android Market is inching towards the 100,000 mark. In July itself, the Android Market has added 11,000 new apps bringing the total number of applications to almost 93,000. This growth is particularly astonishing since we had reported just over three months ago that the Android Market then had about 30,000 applications.

Who is leading? Apple or Android ? : Survey.

Mobile advertising firm Millennial Media has just released its Mobile Mix report for June 2010, highlighting some of the latest trends in the world of mobile and connected devices.

Apple remains the leader amongst both smartphones and connected devices. Millennial’s report finds that Apple actually made a 4% month-over-month gain in terms of device manufacturer marketshare in the U.S., giving Apple nearly 30% of all impressions.

Don’t Hack or Mod the Droid X

In an article, mashable has warned it users not it hack or mod their Droid X as its difficult to do so.

The device is difficult to hack due to an encrypted bootloader. If you then change or compromise the bootloader, kernels or ROM of the device, it will become completely unusable. The only solution is to take it in to a Verizon store, where you will likely be charged for a fix since you voided the warranty.

The security features focus around a technology called “eFuse,” which is designed to verify you are using the versions of your bootloader, kernels and ROM. If this check fails, the bootloader is permanently corrupted, making your Droid X useless.

You can find a more detailed explanation of how this technology works on the My Droid World forums, but it boils down to this: Motorola doesn’t want you hacking your phone, even though you purchased the device and it’s legally yours.

HP's Android Based Tablet migh be Ripped.

After the iPad launched many of the PC maker announced that will also release tablet powered by apple's rival Google's Android OS. HP’s anticipated Android-flavored tablet may not been seen in 2010 but we might expect in the nearer future.to be more specifically, it is “delayed and won’t ship before the end of the year as planned.”

The news is not surprising so far. Although Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer showed off an HP tablet prototype running Windows 7 earlier this year, a more recent tablet-related announcement from Ballmer didn’t include HP in the list of hardware partners. That omission may have tacitly confirmed earlier rumors that the HP Slate project had been shelved.

The company confirmed it has tablets based on webOS in the works.

Google Spent Whopping $100 Million Defending YouTube Against Viacom

Google CFO Patrick Pichette made an startling revelation during a conference call discussing Google’s second quarter earnings today: It “invested” $100 million defending YouTube against Viacom’s $1 billion lawsuit.

In 2007, Viacom sued Google for $1 billion in damages over 160,000 unauthorized clips uploaded to YouTube , acquired by the search company in 2006. Since then, Google and Viacom have sparred in and out of court. Google (Google) maintained that it is and was protected by the DMCA (Digital Millenium Copyright Act).

Now it is said that google had ended with $30 Billion in the Bank.

Virgin Going Green with e-Magazine ?

Virgin and publishing company Seven Squared are planning to launch a new consumer magazine that will be available exclusively as an app for iPad, iPhone and eventually Android devices, according to AdAge.

The magazine, titled Maverick, will reportedly focus on the entrepreneurial space, highlighting “new creative, business, travel and technology ideas” to an “upscale international audience,” a la Fast Company and WIRED. Consultancy AI will oversee the magazine’s creative duties.

Maverick is tentatively scheduled to launch in October — if Holly Branson, the 28-year old daughter of Virgin’s Founder and Chairman Sir Richard Branson, can persuade enough premium advertisers to sign up by then. According to an executive “close to the matter,” response has been so positive that the title may very well be able to choose which brands it will sign for the first round of advertising contracts.

Google Launches Google Fiber to Show it's effort to build High Speed Networks.

Google has launched a new website to centralize its efforts to build an ultra high-speed fiber optic Internet network, better known as Google Fiber.

Earlier this year, Google announced its plan to build a high-speed network, delivering connection speeds 100 times faster than typical U.S. connections. The announcement produced a frenzy of interest: 600+ communities applied to become ground zero for Google’s experimental high-speed network. Topeka, Kansas even changed its name to Google, Kansas in order to win the contract.

The search giant is once again moving forward with its fiber network plans. It announced the launch of Google Fiber for Communities, a simple and straightforward homepage for the project, complete with videos, an FAQ, suggestions for how to take action, and a full list of the communities that have requested more information on Google Fiber.

Nexus One might soon be having FM.

Ever Wondered why Nexus one is not having FM while the HTC Desire have even though they are running on same Broadcom chip.

xda-developers', who's released a custom N1 kernel that theoretically brings life to the FM receptor. It's available to download, but as for when you'll get a chance to really use this yourself, that's entirely up to the custom ROM developers updating their respective wares.

Src: [androidpolice]

Kickstarter will help Android Phone to take off to Space.

Danny Pier, a 25 year-old self-proclaimed computer nerd who turned to Kickstarter to raise funds to get an Android smartphone into space. The project is named as 'Astdroid'

Upto now over $2,000 have been pledged to help send the first Android phone to space.

Pier believes that he can outfit a weather ballon with an HTC Evo, and use its camera, transmitter, computing power and GPS technology to track the phone’s journey into space.

Motorola's is betting big on Google's Android OS. After the much hyped Droid and simple looking Qwerty based Blackberry lookalike Charm is out, here is good news for those who like to get a new smartphone based on android OS and it might not be as costly as the current range of android based phones.

This phone is supposedly to be named WX445. It is said to be an entry level Android device for the masses.

The phone’s design looks quite similar to the Nokia C7 that was leaked earlier. The phone will be released with at least Android 2.1 pre-loaded as shown in the picture. It will not have a flash for the camera.

MediaTek to roll out low cost android based smartphone chipset.

All in the favor of Open Source?? Ever where we see people and companies talking about Google's android. Recently Taiwanese chipset developer MediaTek had announced that they will start rolling out low-cost chipsets designed for handsets that use Google's Android mobile software in the third quarter of this year, promising to drive down the cost of such handsets in China.

MediaTek one of the leading chipmakers for mobile phone chips in China has an edge on making low-cost chips and partnerships with dozens of small mobile phone makers throughout the nation. This development of a chipset specifically for Android could unleash hundreds of new smartphone designs in China.

MediaTek has worked with Chinese handset makers for years, providing the chips and other hardware, while the handset makers focus on the external design of the phones and handset sales.

Live Wallpaper for android, lets you see inside Circuit board.

Wonder how the the circuit board looks like inside the cell phone? There is no need to unscrew you mobile phones. The is live Wallpaper that lets you peek inside it. You can download it for $1.

Via : pocketnow

App from Google helps to find open parking space.

Google Labs has just released a new Android app which will be helping car owner users find and share parking. The app, called Open Spot, gives users the ability to update a map when they are leaving their parking spots with others who are looking for parking.

The app is easy to use, it loads up a Google map near your current location and displays open parking spots within a 1.5km/0.9 mile radius of where you are. Spots are color coded based on how “fresh” they are. Spots are marked for twenty minutes and after that time, they disappear off the map.

Larry Page: Jobs is rewriting history

Briefing Thursday at the Allen & Co's Sun Valley conference, Google (GOOG) co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin told reporters that Steve Jobs had changed Android's history to suit Apple's (AAPL) interests. He contended that Google had been working on Android long before the iPhone was introduced.

Page said,

"We had been working on Android a very long time, with the notion of producing phones that are Internet enabled and have good browsers and all that because that did not exist in the marketplace. I think that characterization of us entering after [the iPhone was introduced] is not really reasonable."

According to a former Apple employee, the day that the Apple-Google relationship started to crumble was the introduction of the T-Mobile G1. According to him, Steve Jobs and Apple Mobile Software VP Scott Forstall had only seen Android prototypes that looked like Blackberries. The new form factor was 'way too similar to the iPhone for Jobs' tastes'.

These seems to be handy. Common presentation guy this device will be handy for you. Coming this July Samsung's i8520 Galaxy Beam smartphone, an Android powered device with a built-in projector, is all set for debut.

Android eating up Apple's, Rim's, Microsoft's and Palm's Market share.

ComScore’s MobiLens service, comes out with its new findings and its all good news for Google. Google's Android mobile operating system has managed to grab addition share of the mobile OS market at the expense of other leading providers of platforms for smartphones. As of May 2010, Google Android was installed onto 13% of all smartphones in use in the U.S.

For the 3 month average period ending in May, 234 million Americans age 13 and older used mobile devices. Device manufacturer Samsung ranked as the top OEM with 22.4% of U.S. mobile subscribers, up one point from the preceding three month period. LG ranked second with 21.5% share, followed by Motorola (21.2% share), RIM (8.7% share, up 0.5%) and Nokia (8.1% share).

Hacked Version of Android v2.2 codenamed FROYO was downloaded by many.

If Bit.ly stats are to believed, as many as 40,000 people have downloaded hacked versions of the latest Android update to check out whats new in the latest version of the operating system.

The only phone to officially get Android 2.2, codenamed "Froyo" update, is the Nexus One, designed by the Google itself but didn't matched to its hype. The Droid, Evo, and other more high end devices have been released with older version of android OS and awaiting their turn.

Hackers, a week ago got hands on the first unofficial Android 2.2 ROM started getting spread around the Internets.

Updated Android Development Kit is now available.

Yeepiee it finally here, Google has updated its Android software development kit (SDK) to match the latest version of Android 2.2.

While the SDK for Android 2.2 was released last month. The latest update couples the SDK to the latest Android 2.2 build, FRF91.

Google is urging all developers to update to the latest version using the SDK manager to maintain feature parity.

Android 2.2 has brand new and awaited new features including wired and wireless tethering and most loved, support for Adobe's Flash software.

Click on the pic to enlarge

Here are the pic of the Motorola's Latest android based mobile named charm. Know more about the charm.

Thursday, July 8, 2010

Fring's Video calling 3G apps for android, iPhone and Nokia are ready.

Popular mobile VoIP and chat client Fring has released its updated mobile app to add support for 2-way video calling for the iPhone 4. The new iPhone has FaceTime, but the Fring app has two big advantages over Apple’s video calling feature: 3G support and compatibility across multiple platforms.

Fring launched video calls on iPhone last year, giving iPhone 3GS users a simple way to make calls, although 2-way video calling wasn’t possible because the 3GS didn’t have a front-facing camera.

Developers are prefering Android over Apple's iOS in long run

A recent survey by Appcelerator showed out some interesting info on the available mobile platforms.
Apple’s iOS nearly beat out every other platform in perceived security, reliability, best devices to build on, and level of interest for developing on, but there are some place where Google beat out Apple.

As you can see, Google Android has been perceived by developers as the platform with the most capabilities for an OS, the most “open” and, the best “long term outlook.”

Got bored of using Windows Mobile OS? what to try some thing new? How about running the android OS in your Windows mobile OS? For some of the phone it is possible without breaking the contract, i mean booting android OS without erasing Windows Mobile.

This hack oooo i mean this booting will require a compatible phone, a non-SDHC microSD card, and some patience and off-course control over excitement .

Here is guide brought to by How-To Geek.

Google revamps YouTube for Mobile Devices[VIDEO/SCREENSHOTS].

Google has announced that it has updated Youtube for mobile so that there would be seamless stream on video.

In its blog it stated that "YouTube consumption on mobile devices has also grown considerably: playbacks were up 160% in 2009 over the previous year. And we’re excited to announce that YouTube Mobile now receives more than 100 million video playbacks a day. This is roughly the number of daily playbacks that YouTube.com was streaming when we joined forces with Google in 2006."

It also brought of the report stating that Mobile devices will overtake Desktops for the accessing of internet.

Updated Android 2.2 helps to browse Internet fast (with flash) compared to iPhone 4.

It is seen that Android 2.2 updates includes speed and browser (with Flash!) that will help the nexus one users to browse internet faster than the latest apple's iPhone 4.

Though iPad runs the third generation of Apple's iOS but the latest iPhone 4, recently released , runs an updated version of the mobile OS. Google's (GOOG) Android 2.2 is now starting to roll out to high end Android devices.

Both Apple (AAPL) and Google use their own implementations of the Open Source Webkit browsing engine.

Comparison of two leading Smartphone OS's browsers in speed-wise?

In a post entitled 'Android 2.2 demolishes iOS4 in JavaScript benchmarks', Ars Technica says it isn't even close. Android's browser runs circles around Mobile Safari Javascript rendering. That is probably the most important metric (among others) in determining how fast web pages render.

Borders launches eBook reader apps for Android and Blackberry.

It seem that many are interested in reading book in their flashy phone. Recently with the success of iBook Store, many developer are joined the raced.

Borders on Wednesday opened its new eBook Store, which allows users to purchase books directly from Borders.com and download them to their e-reader of choice.

The company also unveiled new apps for the BlackBerry and Android , which will complement its desktop, iPhone, and iPad apps.

HTC Sale and Revenue on boost with android OS.

HTC results are out and it had observed net income jumping 33 percent and its total revenues increasing by 58.45 percent year over year.

HTC says its net income jumped 33 percent for the second quarter, and total revenue exceeded 58 percent year over year. The company says sales of the Evo 4G should enable it to maintain its momentum in the second half of 2010.

Strong Android device sales have enabled smartphone manufacturer HTC to log another successful quarter, solidifying its standing as a major contender in the mobile device market.

Motorola latest android phone looks similar to Blackberry due to it's Qwerty keypad named as charm. Though you might not be getting all the advanced features like high megapixel cameras, HD recording or video chat, yet its quite charming as it name.

Set for release this summer on T-Mobile yet pricing is not disclosed.

Charm is said to come with android 2.1 having good features like 3-megapixel camera, Wi-Fi, a revamped version of Motorola's social-networking-friendly Motoblur service, a Flash-ready Web browser and a 2.8-inch touch display and full qwerty keypad.

It is rumored to priced around $ 200 with common 2 years contract.

Moto's Droid is the most popular Android Device.

Motorola Droid ranks top on being the most popular Android device followed by HTC Hero.

The results on basis of 12.7 million Android phones as of May 31 corroborate the same.

MyTouch 3G Slide and HTC EVO 4G that were launched in early June and thus was not included in the poll.

Droid that was released in last November enjoys a 22 percent market share, with the Hero rounding up a 16 percent.

The top 5 list includes the HTC Magic, Dream (G1) and Droid Eris, each with 8-10 percent share. Google's Nexus One could gain only 2 percent share.

Soon in the recent months it was stated that HTC EVO 4G posted of extremely high sales in its first month and presently Motorola and HTC occupy a 83 percent of the hardware market share .

The study was published by mobile advertising giant AdMob.

Cheap Android Phone by HTC to be soon out.

In the UK, the HTC Desire sells for an affordable 55 Pounds(British) which is an easy alternative to the iPhone 4. There’s no official word on how much the HTC Desire will cost in the US, or what carrier it will be on. However, HTC confirmed via social networking site Twitter that the handset will come to various carriers in August of 2010.

The price and what networks the phones will be available on hasn’t been announced.

The Desire will run on Android OS 2.1, although an update to the 2.2 Froyo is rumored to be released soon for this phone. 1 Ghz processor, a camera, and is all around a good, dependable, and affordable phone.

HTC has had a lot of big releases this year.

HTC isn’t the only company which manufactures Droid cell phones. Motorola also makes the popular Droid and the Droid X which will be released soon.

There will likely be several other Droid phones released in the coming months. However, the August release of the HTC Desire will likely bring an affordable Android phone to various markets.

Adobe showcases Flash 10.1 in Android 2.2 'Froyo'

Adobe begins demonstrating its own efforts to port Flash 10.1 to the newly released Android 2.2 “Froyo”.

Now Android 2.2 “Froyo” is publicly available and device makers like Motorola are pushing it out to handsets, Adobe has started showing off Flash 10.1 for the platform.

Adobe senior technical evangelist Ted Patrick has demonstrated Flash Player 10.1 for Android on the Motorola Droid X.

With this software installed Android devices can surf the Web and watch embedded Flash videos like those on YouTube.

Patrick said full-screen games are supported with Android’s Flash and it uses the device’s screen information to provide a better experience.

Monday, July 5, 2010

LG's Optimus One and Optimus Chic Phones Will Come With Froyo.

Two Android phones from LG, the Optimus One, and Optimus Chic has been announced. LG informed us "Optimus" means "best" in Latin.

The Optimus One is the leader of the pack, which already includes the Optimus GT540 phone. Specs haven't been confirmed for either the Optimus One or Optimus Chic, but both of them running Android 2.2 Froyo when they go on sale. A third Optimus phone, the Optimus Z, has shown up on LG's corporate Flickr account, with LG's Korean corporate name "CYON" branded on it.

Android-Powered Tablet by LG, Comming soon.

LG has announced plans to launch a tablet computer powered by Google’s Android operating system.

According to The Wall Street Journal, the device will launch in the fourth quarter of this year, though no other details were immediately available.

Just last week saw the introduction of the Cisco Cius, which runs on Android , with other recent headlines suggesting we’ll soon see tablets from HP (running on webOS) and RIM, in addition to Windows7-powered tablets (LG showed one off last month).

Back in May, Google was said to be bringing a tablet to market with Verizon Wireless, though there is no official announcement has yet.

First Android Based CDMA Handset In India by Reliance Comm

RELIANCE COMMUNICATION have made an announcement recently that they will soon launch an android based handset named Samsung Galaxy i899, in Indian market.

Samsung Galaxy i899 features a 3.2 inch touch screen display, 3.2 megapixel camera with LED flash, GPS, Wi-Fi and Bluetooth and inbulit 230 MB internal memory which can be extended up to 32GB by installing a MicroSD card.

Google's Android to expand in India and China

Google plans to foray its Android mobile software in India and China and creating wasys for developers to make more money from applications.

To attract programmers to its Android operating system, Google may offer tools that help them sell subscriptions, virtual goods and other items from within applications on mobile phones, Andy Rubin, vice president for engineering at Google, said during an interview.

Google plans to launch its android phones through Huawei and LG in parts of Asia and Europe.

The total mobile ad market will grow to $13.5 billion in 2013, from less than $1 billion last year, according to the research firm Gartner.

Comparison of iOS v/s Android Developers.

AppStoreHQ put together a comprehensive report detailing just how many developers have apps for both platforms.

AppStoreHQ scoured its developer directory and cross-checked developers for the Android Market (Android Market) against developers for Apple’s App Store. The data shows that hundreds of developers — big and small — aren’t betting on just one platform and are targeting both iOS and Android (Android) users.

According to AppStoreHQ’s research, 1412 developers in its database have published apps for both iOS and for Android. That ends up breaking down to 15% of Android developers and 3% of iOS developers.

Here are a few stats for some of the larger publishers:

Capcom Mobile – 4 apps for Android, 27 apps for iOS
Gameloft – 12 apps for Android, 136 apps for iOS
Amazon.com – 2 apps for Android, 2 apps for iOS

Check out this spreadsheet that lists the 100 most-talked about cross platform mobile developers, at least, according to AppStoreHQ’s AppRank.

Thursday, July 1, 2010

History of Android.

Initially developed by Android Inc., a firm later purchased by Google, and lately by the Open Handset Alliance.

Open Handset Alliance, a consortium of several companies which include Texas Instruments, Broadcom Corporation, Google, HTC, Intel, LG, Marvell Technology Group, Motorola, Nvidia, Qualcomm, Samsung Electronics, Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile.

On 9 December 2008, it was announced that 14 new members would be joining the Android project, including PacketVideo, ARM Holdings, Atheros Communications, Asustek Computer Inc, Garmin Ltd, Softbank, Sony Ericsson, Toshiba Corp, and Vodafone Group Plc.

What is Android ?

Android is Google's operating system for mobile devices.

It was initially developed by Android Inc., a firm later purchased by Google, and lately by the Open Handset Alliance.

Programmed in C (core), C++ (some third party libraries), Java (UI)

How does it Works ?

Android operating system software stack consists of Java applications running on a Java based object oriented application framework on top of Java core libraries running on a Dalvik virtual machine featuring JIT compilation. Libraries written in C include the surface manager, OpenCore media framework, SQLite relational database management system, OpenGL ES 2.0 3D graphics API, WebKit layout engine, SGL graphics engine, SSL, and Bionic libc.

The Android operating system consists of 12 million lines of code including 3 million lines of XML, 2.8 million lines of C, and 2.1 million lines of Java.

Other Info:

Initial release               : 21 October 2008
Supported platforms    : ARM, MIPS, Power Architecture, x86
Kernel type      : Monolithic (modified Linux kernel)
License                        : Apache 2.0 and GPLv2

Courtesy: wikipedia

Android Plaza

Saturday, July 31, 2010

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How does it Works ?

Other Info: