Android Phone Fans |
- Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [March 7th]
- Opera Launches Mobile App Store
- Apple and Steve Jobs Are Still Afraid of Android, And They Should Be [Opinion]
- comScore: Android Tops BlackBerry to Become No. 1 Smartphone Platform in the US
- Amazon Appstore DRM Demystified, Not So Bad after All
- With iPad 2 Set for March 11th Launch, Don’t Expect the HTC Thunderbolt this Week [Captain Obvious]
- HTC Setting Expectations Low for Pricey Flyer Tablet
- LG Wants to Develop their Own Mobile Processors to Get a Leg Up in Smartphone Race
- Samsung: Talk of Galaxy Tab 10.1 Overhaul Was Untrue, Tablet Will Ship as Scheduled
- Google Voice Update for Honeycomb In the Works, For Now Tablet Users Left in the Dark
- Google Maps Now Avoids Traffic, Eases Drivers’ Frustration
- Set Your Skull Aflame with this Android-Controlled Shirt
- Kazaa Claims The Internet Is Revolutionary
- Kik Updated to Add Group Chat and Photo Sharing
- HTC DoubleShot for T-Mobile: What Is It? [Rumors]
| Things We Missed, You Shouldn’t [March 7th] Posted: 07 Mar 2011 03:50 PM PST
As of a report from comScore released today, Android has overtaken BlackBerry as the number 1 smartphone operating system in the US. It is also a new week and the HTC Thunderbolt has yet to get an official release date. See what else has been going on below.
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| Opera Launches Mobile App Store Posted: 07 Mar 2011 03:41 PM PST
While recent news has focused on another third party app store from Amazon, Opera Software has quietly announced the launch of their own mobile app store. The Opera Mobile Store is now available in over 200 countries on platforms including Android, BlackBerry, Palm, and Symbian. Partnering with Appia, the Opera app store features over 140,000 free and paid applications for smartphones. Mahi de Silva, EVP of Consumer Mobile at Opera Software said, "the launch of the Opera Mobile Store supports Opera’s core belief in an open, cross-platform mobile Internet experience by providing Opera users with an integrated storefront of mobile applications." The full press release is below.
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| Apple and Steve Jobs Are Still Afraid of Android, And They Should Be [Opinion] Posted: 07 Mar 2011 01:45 PM PST It seems we can’t get through an Apple press conference these days without Steve Jobs or whatever Apple representative is presenting taking a jab at their competitors – namely Android. I remember a time where Apple believed they were in their own bubble. Things were much nicer then. Now, they have a bit of an unbridled passion to diss any and everything Android whenever they get the public opportunity to do so. (More so now that Eric Schmidt has left their board of directors in what seems to have been a clash between two titans.) Jobs must always remind everyone that the Apple App Store has more applications in it than the Android market. (Quality pending, of course.) He must always remind everyone that they were the first to change the smartphone industry while everyone else are just imitators. The War ContinuesHis latest antics have spilled over from the smartphone side of things to tablets. Apple introduced the iPad 2 at their press event last Wednesday just as everyone expected them to. There was one huge difference, though, between this revelation and the one for the original iPad: Google didn’t have a tablet specific operating system.
At the presentation, Steve Jobs plastered the logo of all their competitors who have either already released tablets or have revealed plans to do so all over that nice big slate behind him. Motorola’s logo shined through right up there with Honeycomb’s and Samsung’s. They weren’t the only ones who were called copycats, though. RIM and HP were also called out. They singled Android and Google out because they were the only big competitor with a tablet shipping with their own operating system so far. They showed the number of apps in the Apps Store compared to the Honeycomb-specific Android market count: 65,000 compared to 100. It’s a harsh reality and it does well to take us back to the days where the T-Mobile G1 the HTC Dream and the Android Dev Phone 1 (same devices, if you didn’t know) were the only Android-based products on the market. The best thing about that, though, is that we’ve seen the saying “history tends to repeat itself” proven true time and time again. Why can’t we expect what happened with smartphones to be the same for tablets? Just as with phones, Google’s looking to create an ecosystem driven by developers – as is Apple. The difference will be competition. Competition will always be healthyNot only will OEMs have to compete with Apple, but they’ll have to compete with each other. Major manufacturers will see at least three of their competitors with Honeycomb tablets in Q2, if not more. We’re not even counting tablets that may run other operating systems such as Blackberry OS and webOS. That competition will drive costs down and will spur innovation. The iPad 2′s $499.99 base price is attractive and the moment one manufacturer matches that, the rest will fall in line. (Samsung may soon initiate that wave as they look to rethink their pricing strategy for the new line of Galaxy Tabs.) Carriers will look to set themselves apart with different offerings as I’m sure they don’t want to be carrying the same iPad 2 as the next guy. The cycle will always continue. Apple knows this. They probably know it better than anyone, I bet. While they’re projected to ship 10-12 million iPad 2 units in Q2 this year, it might end up just like the iPhone has: fast start, but will soon see someone – Google and Android, we hope – catching up and surpassing them. And once that happens, it’s going to be hard for them to take their spot back. History tends to repeat itselfAndroid tablets are expected to dominate the market by 2014, and while that’s three years from now, you have to guess that that time will go by fast: we’ve only just recently surpassed the two year mark since the first Android device was introduced. It seems like just yesterday I was buying my G1 without knowing how far Android would come, and now it’s one of the biggest names in smartphones. Steve Jobs has a very good reason to be afraid, I’d say. Sure, their business model differs greatly from Google where they rely on huge profit margin and the amount of money they scrape from App Store sales. (And you better believe they make a ton from that.) But I’m a firm believer that mind share is just as important as market share and revenue, and Apple seems to be slipping in two out of those three. Folks should be wise not to forget that the first Android tablet with Honeycomb has only been out for two weeks. Just like with the iPhone, the iPad has had a one year head start. In the end, how fast you start really doesn’t matter. It’s how you end that’ll define everything. It’ll be an interesting few years, to say the least.
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| comScore: Android Tops BlackBerry to Become No. 1 Smartphone Platform in the US Posted: 07 Mar 2011 01:28 PM PST Move over Apple. Move over RIM. There’s a new sheriff in town and they call him Android. According to comScore’s latest data, Google’s smartphone OS has overtaken the long-reigning BlackBerry for the title of number one smartphone platform in the United States. Holding 31.2 percent of smartphone market share, Android narrowly edged out BlackBerry, which holds on with 30.4 percent. Both sit ahead of Apple’s iOS, which rests at 24.7 percent.
Taking a look at trending data shows the future looks grim for BlackBerry and RIM with a share that has continually declined over the past year. Apple has lost some ground, but remains fairly steady, while Android has seen its figures sky rocket from below 10 percent of total share a year ago. It is important to note that this data only runs through January 2011, so the figures for February and March may look a bit different considering the iPhone’s availability spread to Verizon last month. The effect the end of iPhone exclusivity had on the smartphone market is not yet fully known, but we expect some interesting numbers. [via CNN]
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| Amazon Appstore DRM Demystified, Not So Bad after All Posted: 07 Mar 2011 01:05 PM PST
Last week word that Amazon’s DRM policy for their soon-to-be-launched Appstore might be a bit strict had some worried, but today the retail giant has taken some time to clarify the copy protection measures in place for their Android app releases. First things first, developers must opt in to Amazon’s DRM protection upon uploading their applications to the Appstore. Apps won’t carry protection features that require they check with Amazon’s servers before launching without the developers consent. Speaking of checking in with Amazon’s servers, even if an app chooses to use the Appstore’s DRM protection, it won’t require a handset have a constant data connection to work. The first time the app is launched it will query Amazon and download a token to the phone. The token allows the app to still be recognized as legitimate even when an internet connection is no where to be found. These policies sound a lot more in line with the way Google currently handles copy protection in the Android Market, and should therefor already be familiar with developers. The Amazon Appstore is said to be launching later this month. [via AndroidCentral]
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| With iPad 2 Set for March 11th Launch, Don’t Expect the HTC Thunderbolt this Week [Captain Obvious] Posted: 07 Mar 2011 12:22 PM PST February 14th, February 24th, March 3rd, March 4th, and March 10th. What do all of these dates have in common? At one point or another, they were rumored as the release date for the HTC Thunderbolt for Verizon. Four out of five of the dates listed have come and gone with no 4G LTE handset to be seen. You can scratch the fifth off the list as well, for obvious reasons. What obvious reasons? The release of the iPad 2 slated for March 11th. Would Verizon really release both Apple’s newest tablet and their first 4G LTE handset on back to back days? Not impossible, but extremely unlikely.
If the logic of the whole thing is a bit too hard to grasp, perhaps this leaked graphic obtained by DroidLife will make things easier to comprehend. The iPad 2 clearly comes before the Thunderbolt. So go ahead and close your eyes and point to some other day on the calendar. Whatever day you land on is about just as good a guess as any for when we will see the Thunderbolt.
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| HTC Setting Expectations Low for Pricey Flyer Tablet Posted: 07 Mar 2011 12:05 PM PST
The sometimes-questionable Digitimes has a new report claiming HTC is setting fairly low expectations for their upcoming Android tablet, the HTC Flyer. The company has been ordering up the Android Gingerbread tablet to the tune of one million units by August, a fairly conservative number parsing out to about 170,000 slates per month. The tablet is rumored to sell for right around $600, a price that could make all the difference in whether or not the HTC Flyer gains much traction. It is launching with a smaller screen size in a sea of upcoming Honeycomb tablets, not to mention the newly announced iPad 2 from Apple. Whether or not the initial order has a lowball figure because HTC expects low sales isn’t clear, but it can’t be a good sign. [via Electronista]
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| LG Wants to Develop their Own Mobile Processors to Get a Leg Up in Smartphone Race Posted: 07 Mar 2011 11:50 AM PST
Currently only two handset manufacturers also develop their own smartphone CPUs. One is Apple. The other is Samsung. Soon, however, LG hopes to count its name among them. Word out of their Seoul-based headquarters is that the company is in the very early stages of research and development on their own line of mobile processors as the company continues to struggle to make a name for itself in the smartphone industry. The hope is that by controlling the supply chain, LG might not only reap extra profits by keeping the cost of parts lower, but also speed up the development and manufacturing process for upcoming handsets. As seen with Samsung, this can be a blessing and a curse. Samsung also makes the AMOLED displays used in most of their high-end handsets, and manufacturing problems have been a constant problem in keeping those displays in stock. The story is LG has teamed up with semiconductor maker MtekVision, though the exact details have not been confirmed by anyone inside the company. [via TaipeiTimes]
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| Samsung: Talk of Galaxy Tab 10.1 Overhaul Was Untrue, Tablet Will Ship as Scheduled Posted: 07 Mar 2011 11:33 AM PST
Shortly after the announcement of Apple’s iPad 2, word got out that the device and its pricing had Samsung rethinking the Galaxy Tab 10.1. Reports out of Yohap News Agency said the Korean manufacturer wanted to improve components of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 they felt were inadequate and better evaluate how to price their next Android slate. Now Samsung is denying that report, saying the tablet will ship as expected and without delay. We are expecting to see the Galaxy Tab 10.1 land in Europe by means of Vodafone later this month, though a US release strategy has not been revealed. We suspect Samsung will still do some maneuvering within their tablet lineup as their Tab-focused CTIA press event draws near. [via BGR]
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| Google Voice Update for Honeycomb In the Works, For Now Tablet Users Left in the Dark Posted: 07 Mar 2011 11:22 AM PST
Because the Motorola XOOM doesn’t send and receive calls in the traditional sense, it might not be too surprising that a version of Google Voice enabled for Honeycomb devices was not available from the get-go. But for those who want the same sort of access to their voicemail offered on their Android smartphones and desktop computers, there have been quite a few left disappointed by Voice not working properly on the tablet. In a Google support thread, it was confirmed that Voice is not compatible with Honeycomb at the moment, but a Honeycomb version was promised for the future. That version is currently in the works. We suppose we could contrive some sort of conspiracy keeping a service that enables some phone-like features off of a 3G tablet being sold by a wireless carrier, but we’ll save that for those of you in the comments. Anyone feeling the hurt of no Google Voice on their XOOM? [via TalkAndroid]
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| Google Maps Now Avoids Traffic, Eases Drivers’ Frustration Posted: 07 Mar 2011 10:50 AM PST How many times have you punched an address into Google Maps Navigation only to be met with standstill traffic once you hit the highway? Whether it is too many times to count or one frustrating occasion, you’ve probably cursed the navigation software for leading you so blindly into a driver’s worst nightmare. Not anymore.
Starting today, Google Maps Navigation will automatically choose the least congested route for you to follow, keeping you in motion and maybe even helping to cut down on traffic in general. Using current and historical traffic data, Maps will decide the route best suited for travel at any given time. Now Google isn’t guaranteeing the route with the least amount of traffic will necessarily be the quickest always, but given traffic conditions it should be the quickest available at that specific point in time. The feature is now available on Google Maps in North American and Europe. [via Google]
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| Set Your Skull Aflame with this Android-Controlled Shirt Posted: 07 Mar 2011 10:36 AM PST No, not your actual skull, dummy. The skulls on your shirt. Thanks to Android and Arduino the level of pulsing red light coming from the flaming eyes of the skulls emblazoned on this Ghost Rider-esque garb will ebb and flow in reaction to your smartphone’s accelerometer. But even if it is a pretty cool example of Android technology in use, wearing this would make you a total dork. Don’t do it. [via AndroidPolice]
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| Kazaa Claims The Internet Is Revolutionary Posted: 07 Mar 2011 10:12 AM PST Kazaa issued a press release today that made me wonder if an amish person is running their company. In defiance of Apple’s policy to keep 30% of revenue generated by subscriptions and media purchases through the App Store, Kazaa announced today that:
In related news, when I flush my toilet… my toilet flushes. I’m really not sure what Kazaa is all amped about. Perhaps this is unique to some degree in terms of what streaming music offerings are out there on the market now, but that’s because there aren’t any users who would rather visit the mobile site over downloading the mobile app. Put it in the context of HTML 5 and yeah – perhaps there is an upcoming revolution worthy of discussing. But the ability for your phone to connect to a website, allow you to login, and play audio? Color me unimpressed. Maybe I’m missing something. Maybe I’m overlooking something. If so, by all means correct me in the comments. I do appreciate Kazaa’s efforts but to try and package them up as an exciting innovation just makes the whole thing sound foolish. In any case, a note to all our Android-toting Kazaa customers: visit Kazaa.com on your phone and discover the revolution Al Gore invented in 1999 as it FINALLY reaches mobile phones more than a decade later. [Via TechCrunch]
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| Kik Updated to Add Group Chat and Photo Sharing Posted: 07 Mar 2011 10:02 AM PST
Kik has just updated their Android application to add two highly sought-after features: group chat and photo sharing. These are two features that make up a great deal of Blackberry Messenger’s backbone. (And I’m only comparing the two because Kik wants nothing more than to be its platform-agnostic replacement.) It might be a step or two behind new competitors that have recently joined the market, but they’re trying. You can find the new version of Kik in the Android market now.
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| HTC DoubleShot for T-Mobile: What Is It? [Rumors] Posted: 07 Mar 2011 09:49 AM PST
Another rumored phone for you T-Mobile folks. We still haven’t gotten confirmation that a supposed HTC Pyramid exists, and now rumors are starting to swirl about a supposed HTC DoubleShot. We’re not sure why HTC insists on naming (or at least code-naming) their products after coffee sizes, but it makes us think: is it more than just a phone? What makes this shot double? Could we be looking at their version of the HTC Flyer? A tablet is roughly double the size of a phone, right? TmoNews mentions that their source says it’s a phone, but even they weren’t extremely confident in that. We’ll be on the lookout, of course.
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subscribers to its Kazaa digital music subscription service are already entitled and can access the Kazaa music service on the iPad, iPhone and on Android compatible mobile devices by simply navigating to www.kazaa.com, without the requirement of downloading and installing a dedicated application. This exciting innovation allows Kazaa subscribers to immediately stream music via a broad range of wireless devices
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