Posts tagged android
Android 1.6-powered LG Loop Arrives At Rogers
Aug 24th
Does Rogers need another low-end, old-software Android device? Like I need a hole in the head. Which isn’t very much (though, reading press releases sometimes…). Perhaps what they need to do is take the devices they already sell, like the Samsung Galaxy Spica, HTC Magic+, Motorola QUENCH et al, and UPGRADE THEM INSTEAD.
Uhem. On a lighter note, Rogers has released the very attractive-looking LG Loop for a low $29.99 on a three-year term, and $249.99 outright. What you get is a brushed aluminum frame with a 3″ 320x480px screen, GPS, WiFi, 3MP camera, and Android 1.6.
Would I recommend the equally-cheap Acer Liquid e over this device? In a heartbeat. But will you listen to me?
(via IntoMobile)
Texting World Record Broken with Samsung Galaxy S
Aug 23rd
These days, the topic of keyboards on mobile devices is a hot one. Some prefer the Cadillac ride of a BlackBerry keyboard, while others prefer the on screen touch goodness that is found in the iPhone 4.
One recently crowned world record holder though, prefers the keyboard found on the Samsung Galaxy S which makes use of SWYPE. 25.94 seconds is all the time it took Melissa Thompson of Salford, England, to capture the Guinness World Record for fastest typing on a mobile phone. After being invited by Samsung to compete for the record, Melissa’s winning sentence as determined by Guinness was the following:
“The razor-toothed piranhas of the genera Serrasalmus and Pygocentrus are the most ferocious freshwater fish in the world. In reality they seldom attack a human.”
Oddly enough Melissa claims, since moving in with her boyfriend, her texting speed capabilities have actually decreased since she no longer sends as many daily messages. In any event, the previous record holder held a time of 35.54 seconds for the exact same sentence. Looks like Mellisa’s texting skills are doing just fine. How fast can you type?
[via Mashable]
Wondering what the next version of Android will be called?
Aug 19th
It is a known fact for Android users that with each upgraded version, comes a new codename in form of a dessert.
History has seen the following names accompany each version as released:
C is for Cupcake (v1.5)
D is for Donut (v1.6)
E is for Éclair (v2.1)
F is for Froyo (v2.2)
G is for Gingerbread (v3.0)
Leaving the letter H questionable, with no apparent codename.
Low and behold, BGR has been tipped off that though it is still a ways away (3.0 hasn’t even been released yet) H will stand for “Honeycomb”. No other information is known on this new Android OS, but it makes me wonder what could be used for I? I put $20 on “Ice Cream”, any takers 
[via Mobile Crunch, Source BGR]
*Hat-tip to MobileCrunch on the picture, couldn’t pass it up
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T-Mobile Launches G2 Teaser Site, Set to be Carrier’s First HSPA+ Phone
Aug 18th
T-Mobile just posted up the teaser site for their first HSPA+ phone, the G2. Previous leaks of T-Mobile’s roadmap lead us to think that it will be a HTC Android device launching sometime in September. While the people at Engaget seem to think the smokey silhouette above looks like the myTouch HD that has been leaked previously, I think it better resembles another leak, the HTC Blaze. Whatever it is, it’s coming soon and should bring a hot piece of hardware to T-Mobile. While you wait, check out the G2′s teaser site and feel free to sign up for updates if you’re into that sort of thing. Otherwise, we’ll keep you posted.
Flash 10.1 Final Hits Nexus One, Coming Soon for Droid
Aug 16th
The Nexus One received an updated version of Adobe’s Flash 10.1 plugin this afternoon, cementing and making official the biggest advantage Google and its Android platform has over the iOS ecosystem. While most of the features were already in place, the final version improves the quality and reliability of video streams and games.
This momentous occasion also falls at the same time as Froyo is being distributed amongst most high-end Android smartphones, such as the Motorola Droid, Droid X, EVO 4G, and soon, the Galaxy S variants, though that won’t happen ’till September.
It’s good that Adobe had a good test subject in the Nexus One: the distribution group was small enough that they could catch any bugs before releasing the major upgrade, and the Nexus One is considered a developers’ or enthusiasts’ phone, so generally those owners were people who wanted to try the latest and greatest beta software.
Congratulations, Adobe and Google! Check out the build in the Android Marketplace.
PS. The Droid version should be available soon, according to Adobe CEO, Shantanu Narayen. It will distributed as a second update to the version of Froyo being released now, in the coming weeks.
(via IntoMobile)
PayPal and Android: Was it bound to happen?
Aug 16th
To date the only way to buy an app in the Android market place was through Google Checkout.
The average reader may be saying, “So what’s the big deal? Doesn’t Google run everything online!?” The answer is no. Most people don’t have a Google Checkout account, opting to use the far more popular PayPal, and as a direct result avoid purchasing certain apps.
A few days ago, Bloomberg reported that Android market might be changing their payment methods, which will hopefully open up the market to purchasers who refuse to use their credit cards online.
In my opinion this should have happened from day one. With the amount of online fraud, many are hesitant to put their personal information on the Internet, even if it is in the hands of the Google juggernaut. By enabling PayPal, customers can deposit money into their account and make purchases confidently and securely.
Do you agree with this change? Let me know in the comments!
[via Mobile Crunch]
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This Week In Android 8/8-8/14
Aug 15th
This week’s big Android news mostly revolved around the launch of the Motorola Droid 2 on Verizon, but that’s certainly not all that is going on in the world of Android. Google also announced their new voice commands feature for phones with Android 2.2 as well as officially launching the service Chrome to Phone. There’s a whole lot more to read up on after the break.
Motorola’s Sanjay Jha Says MOTOBLUR Will Not Stick Around
Verizon finally announces a release date for the Motorola Droid 2
Video: Sneak Peak of TweetDeck for Android
Telus updates Milestone, but isn’t 2.2 yet
So many decisions, so little time
Google pumps out updates to Gesture Search and Voice Search for Android
Motorola Droid 2 R2-D2 Edition Launching September 30th!
Nokia maintains handset market share lead, HTC cracks top ten
Nokia maintains handset market share lead, HTC cracks top ten
Aug 14th
| Company | 2Q10
Units |
2Q10 Market Share (%) | 2Q09
Units |
2Q09 Market Share (%) |
| Nokia | 111,473.8 | 34.2 | 105,413.4 | 36.8 |
| Samsung | 65,328.2 | 20.1 | 55,430.1 | 19.3 |
| LG | 29,366.7 | 9.0 | 30,497.0 | 10.7 |
| Research In Motion | 11,228.8 | 3.4 | 7,678.9 | 2.7 |
| Sony Ericsson | 11,008.5 | 3.4 | 13,574.3 | 4.7 |
| Motorola | 9,109.4 | 2.8 | 15,947.8 | 5.6 |
| Apple | 8,743.0 | 2.7 | 5,434.7 | 1.9 |
| HTC | 5,908.8 | 1.8 | 2,471.0 | 0.9 |
| ZTE | 5,545.8 | 1.7 | 3,697.9 | 1.3 |
| G’Five | 5,208.6 | 1.6 | NA | NA |
| Others | 62,635.2 | 19.30 | 45,977.2 | 16.1 |
| Total | 325,556.8 | 100.0 | 286,122.3 | 100.0 |
Nokia sold 111 million phones in the second quarter of 2010 to maintain its lead on top of the mobile phone market, at 34% market share. Based on rumours we hear in North America about Nokia’s inevitable demise, this comes as quite a shock to me, and, I’m sure, to a few of you.
RIM kept its 4th place hold on the market with 11 million handsets, and only 3.4%, but enough to keep it ahead of Apple, who sold 8.7 million iPhones last quarter for a 2.7% market share.
HTC is the big surprise here, with a 139% year-over-year increase in handsets. This is mainly due to Android’s huge proliferation in the United States, and HTC’s increased brand recognition worldwide as a favourable and reliable company.
Android, as we mentioned previously, is the number one platform in America, overtaking RIM in the last quarter. Worldwide, it still trails Symbian by a lot, and BlackBerry by a small amount, but has overtaken iOS to take third place at 10% worldwide marketshare.
Two years ago, few would have predicted that Android would become as successful and ubiquitous as it has in such a short amount of time. But here we are, two years later, and it’s a thriving brand, product, and platform.
Worldwide Smartphone Sales to End Users by Operating System in 2Q10 (Thousands of Units)
| Company | 2Q10
Units |
2Q10 Market Share (%) | 2Q09
Units |
2Q09 Market Share (%) |
| Symbian | 25,386.8 | 41.2 | 20,880.8 | 51.0 |
| Research In Motion | 11,228.8 | 18.2 | 7,782.2 | 19.0 |
| Android | 10,606.1 | 17.2 | 755.9 | 1.8 |
| iOS | 8,743.0 | 14.2 | 5,325.0 | 13.0 |
| Microsoft Windows Mobile | 3,096.4 | 5.0 | 3,829.7 | 9.3 |
| Linux | 1,503.1 | 2.4 | 1,901.1 | 4.6 |
| Other OSs | 1,084.8 | 1.8 | 497.1 | 1.2 |
| Total | 61,649.1 | 100.0 | 40,971.8 | 100.0 |
(via Gartner Research)
Google pumps out updates to Gesture Search and Voice Search for Android
Aug 12th
[Click here for mobile friendly viewing]
Google seems to be on a roll with first-party apps these days. Not one day after they update Gesture Search to include an intuitive new way of activating the app, the company releases Voice Actions to complement the already-comprehensive voice control of the device. These updates are only available for Froyo, but we know that the OS is being pumped out to many devices as we speak. And according to Google, it will be available already on the Droid 2.
Though the app isn’t yet available in the Canadian Marketplace, I will update when I play around with it. But as it stands, this is another way Google is trying to separate itself from the iOS crowd by allowing interaction with the device anywhere the API can be activated, regardless of what app is currently being used.
Check out the available commands available with Voice Actions:
- send text to [contact] [message]
- listen to [artist/song/album]
- call [business]
- call [contact]
- send email to [contact] [message]
- go to [website]
- note to self [note]
- navigate to [location/business name]
- directions to [location/business name]
- map of [location]
While you’re at it, take a look at the updated Gesture Search functionality, which lets you rotate your phone in a clockwise or counter-clockwise direction in order to activate the gesture search app. Brilliant.
An Android Flip, Really?
Aug 11th
It seems as though when Motorola gets on a roll with pumping out hardware they cover all angles.
A flip phone running Android was bound to happen sooner or later by Motorola or someone else.
Say hello to the XT806, looking eerily similar to being a successor to the popular linux based Motorola A1200 (Ming) handset. Though many details are still unknown including which Android OS it will run, what is known is that the processor will be 600MHz TI OMAP3430 chip screen, it will have a 3.6-inch 854 x 480 LCD touch screen, and will rock a 5 megapixel camera and have the ability to record video at 720p.
Nothing about this device has been set in stone, but considering it is being made as a CDMA device for China Telecom, so it could eventually hit Verizon, but I doubt it will hit Canada even when it is released.
[Via Android Headlines]
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