Android and Me |
- Rumor: Google working to mix Gingerbread, Honeycomb and Google TV into tasty Ice Cream
- comScore: Verizon iPhone does little to stop the Android juggernaut
- T-Mobile finally releases the myTouch 3G Slide’s Froyo update
- Are Amazon’s mobile products in users’ best interest?
- Sony S1 Honeycomb tablet on the horizon
| Rumor: Google working to mix Gingerbread, Honeycomb and Google TV into tasty Ice Cream Posted: 04 Apr 2011 01:14 PM PDT According to GTVsource and Phandroid, Google is hard at work to merge Google TV and Honeycomb into the Android Open Source Project (AOSP). Google is expected to make an announcement at Google I/O in five weeks. This will of course make it easier to maintain and update the three different products. Having a unified platform will also make Android a much stronger and full-featured OS. Details are scarce, but a handful of ideas come to mind if Google were to merge these three different Android branches. Google could bake Google TV right into Ice Cream, making every new Android phone a potential Google TV box. Many Android phones are already sold with accessories to connect to your TV, why not make Google TV appear when you dock them. Much like Car mode pops up when you connect it to a car dock. Why stop there? Throw Chrome OS in there as well and pop it up when the phone is connected to a laptop dock. Again, the possibilities are endless and I bet Google won’t disappoint us at this year’s Google I/O. What do you guys want out of this freaky three-way Google is planning?
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| comScore: Verizon iPhone does little to stop the Android juggernaut Posted: 04 Apr 2011 12:20 PM PDT comScore’s mobile report for the month of February has been released, and it seems to be good news for our green Android friend. Google’s mobile OS kept its neck-breaking growth through the month of February. Despite the launch of the Verizon iPhone, Android had no problem fighting the iPhone in the Droid’s own backyard — growing almost as much as it did the month before. Let’s take a look at the numbers. Android now sits comfortably ahead of the competition, with a 35% market share. It grew 2% from the 33% share it had in January. With Android showing no signs of slowing down any time soon, I think we could see it reach the 40% mark in the coming months — ending the year with around half the U.S market. Something nobody could’ve predicted just two years ago, when the G1 was announced. Far behind Android, Apple’s iOS kept chugging along through the month of February. Likely due to the Verizon iPhone’s launch, Apple’s market share rose 0.5% — going from 24.7% to 25.2%. However, the iPhone was only available for 19 of the 28 days of February. comScore’s next report should give us a better idea of the Verizon iPhone’s effect on the market. However, even then I doubt it will do much to stop Android’s momentum. With Android on its way to world domination, somebody else had to be losing in a major way. The biggest loser of all was RIM’s Blackberry OS, which lost a whopping 1.5% market share — dropping from 30.4% down to 28.9%. If things don’t turn around quick for RIM, it’ll most likely fall behind the iPhone in a couple of months. Coming in on fourth place, is the once mighty Windows Mobile/Phone. Despite Windows Phone 7′s massive ad campaign and overhaul, Microsoft is having a hard time turning around the platform away from the precipice. WP7′s share shrank from 8% down to 7.7% during February. Nokia and Microsoft might want to hurry up with those WP7 phones or they could find themselves trying to revive a corpse next year. In last place, HP’s WebOS didn’t show any sign of life during February. The little OS that could keeps bleeding market share, going from 3.2% to 2.8%. I’d really hate to see such a beautiful OS like WebOS die, but I fear the platform won’t make it to next year. Be on the lookout for comScore’s March report next month, expect more good news for our favorite mobile OS, steady growth for the iPhone, and very bad news for everybody else. The more I look at the graph above the more I feel like we’re getting ready for a PC-Mac war replica. With Android and iOS gobbling up everybody else. What do you guys think? Will the Verizon iPhone slow down Android? Will Android reach a 90% market share like Windows has? Let us know in the comments.
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| T-Mobile finally releases the myTouch 3G Slide’s Froyo update Posted: 04 Apr 2011 12:05 PM PDT T-Mobile's myTouch 3G Slide owners can finally breathe a sigh of relief. T-Mobile and HTC have put the finally touches on the handset's Froyo update and have made it available to the public. The Android 2.2.1 update introduces a handful of new features to the myTouch 3G Slide and should also improve the handset's stability and performance. Unlike most other Android updates, myTouch 3G Slide owners will not be receiving an OTA notification to download the update. Instead, users will need to download and install the Android 2.2.1 build via a PC. Below is a list of some of the new features and enhancements that come along with the Froyo update for the myTouch 3G Slide. For instructions on how to install the update on your handset, we suggest heading over to HTC's myTouch 3G Slide product page and follow their detailed step-by-step guide. myTouch 3G Slide Froyo Enhancements
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| Are Amazon’s mobile products in users’ best interest? Posted: 04 Apr 2011 08:44 AM PDT Over the last two weeks, Amazon has launched two different products geared at providing service to Android users who were experiencing what they considered to be a lack in functionality. There’s the Amazon App Store, which has provided users with the ability to shop for apps. This is a particularly unique concept, in that users can choose to search for the cheapest price for their apps, not to mention enjoy the “free app of the day”. Additionally, the Amazon Cloud Player, being both the evolution of the Amazon music store and the preventative competition to products that have been rumored to be in development by Google and Apple, has been in the wild for about a week. These two products have brought both frowns and smiles to the faces of many users since their respective release dates, I can’t help but feel that these products have not been designed in the best interest of the user. Let’s look at the App Store. I, for one, fully support the concept, and happily check the app every day for the next free app. However, I can’t help but shake that nagging feeling that it’s unsafe to recommend to friends and family who may be less tech savvy. Installing the App Store requires you to leave the ability to install apps from unknown sources checked. Since this is the primary way that Android devices have been infected with malware in the past, I’m generally opposed to telling the average user to leave it unchecked, and Amazon’s instructions do not include “uncheck that box”. Granted, this isn’t explicitly Amazon’s fault, but it’s not exactly fair to expect Google to add the Amazon App Store to the Android Market. While I was ready to criticize the initial installation process of the App Store as complicated, it pales in comparison to setting up and actually using the Cloud Drive. It’s not enough to simply install the app, buy some songs and go. No, that would be simple, elegant, and intuitive. Instead, you need to go to your computer, login to the Cloud Drive, download an uploader (a phrase that nauseated me just to say out loud), and THEN you will be able to access music from Amazon’s cloud. A friend of mine could not have said it better when he uttered “What is this, iTunes?” after going through the experience. With each of these services it feels like the services were designed with a terrific function in mind, but very little concern for the user experience. After the installation or setup procedures, these services are actually really useful. 5 GB of cloud music and storage for free? Who wouldn’t want that? Free apps every day? Awesome, right? I think these services, while not completely ready for human consumption, will serve a very indirect yet necessary function. Amazon’s rapid increase in popularity will send a very clear message to Google to make sure that their core products and services remain competitive. Amazon’s services are cool, albeit a little quirky, but now I am truly curious to see how Google responds with their own Music and Market products. Step it up, Google, your fans are waiting.
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| Sony S1 Honeycomb tablet on the horizon Posted: 04 Apr 2011 07:46 AM PDT Sony has definitely not been the Android manufacturer of choice for most of us, but their promise to get on top of the game this year has everyone hoping. It is undeniable that Sony has been one of the biggest contributors to technology, and with everyone jumping in on the tablet war, they simply cannot be missing in action. The Japanese Nikkei newspaper reported that Sony’s tablet (codenamed the S1) will be released by the end of the summer, and has cited Howard Stringer, Sony’s Chief Executive Officer. Such reliable sources are not always right when it comes to time frames and release dates, but this is definitely much more than just a rumor now. The report only states that the tablet will be running Android 3.0 Honeycomb, but past rumors also mention that it will have a 9.4-inch screen, with a resolution of 1280×800 pixels. Something that must be mentioned is the form factor, which is meant to remind the user of a folded back book or magazine. Though a creative idea, such feature seems like something unnecessary, unless they have some kind of functionality planned for it (other than it creating a melancholic feeling). Maybe providing a better viewing angle when placing it on a flat surface? For now, we can only sit tight and wait for more details on this, stay tuned for more updates, and please do let us know your opinions.
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