Android and Me |
- Google Maps updated for mobile browsers, full features galore
- LauncherPro’s developer working on Windows Phone 7 music app for Android (Download)
- Gameloft bringing sandbox-style gaming to Android in the form of 9mm
- Honeycomb has a little bit of Gingerbread buried deep inside
| Google Maps updated for mobile browsers, full features galore Posted: 20 May 2011 02:48 PM PDT Given that more than 40% of Google Maps usage is done via mobile devices, Google has just updated this service to work fully with mobile browsers. Android users may not be very convinced about this update, since the native app does a very good job at being as effective as Google Maps for the web. Google’s intentions, though, are to offer users a consistent full Google Maps experience among multiple platforms (it is also available for iOS, which does not have a native app as efficient as Android’s). Upon visiting maps.google.com on your mobile browser, you will have to opt-in to share your location info with Google. After doing so, the new Google Maps for mobile browsers will be in the palm of your hand, offering features like:
As already mentioned, this may not replace your native app, but having multiple choices is always better for everyone. Go check it out and tell us what you think of it. Who knows… You might end up liking it better!
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| LauncherPro’s developer working on Windows Phone 7 music app for Android (Download) Posted: 20 May 2011 12:01 PM PDT While the platform might not be doing too well with consumers, Windows Phone 7 does have something going for it — and that’s its Metro UI. The OS made a big splash last year when the it was released because of its unique, refreshing, and truly beautiful UI. Metro UI moves beyond the realistic and plasticky look of iOS and Android, throwing all the chrome away and focusing on “typography and content” — and I love it for that. As does Google, the company seems to be heading in that direction with the Honeycomb UI as well. Another Android fan that loves the Metro UI is Federico Carnales, developer of the popular LauncherPro app for Android. He’s currently working on a music app for Android that it’s an exact replica of Windows Phone’s. The app while still in alpha is already snappier than Android’s own music app; and as you can see in the video below, it performs and looks just like its Windows Phone’s counterpart. At this point, we don’t know how Microsoft will take this news. They might take it as a compliment, or sue the pants off Federico. Either way, we applaud Mr. Carnales for taking the time to build this app. Hopefully, he won’t stop with the music app, and will bring the Windows Phone gallery, phone, and messaging apps to Android as well. I’m a big fan of Federico’s LauncherPro, and if the alpha version of his music app is any indication, I’ll be an even bigger fan of “FedeMusic”. If you want to test drive — or even use it on a daily basis — Federico’s music app, you can download it here. The app should hit the Android Market in the near future, and I expect it to become very popular as soon as it does.
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| Gameloft bringing sandbox-style gaming to Android in the form of 9mm Posted: 20 May 2011 09:06 AM PDT Do you feel like shooting people in the face and running over innocent bystanders with your car? Do you want to do it while you wait in line at your local grocery store? Then you’ll be happy to know that Gameloft is working on a game that’ll allow you to do just that. The popular video game studio is getting ready to release a brand new game called 9mm for the Android platform. Any Grand Theft Auto fan will immediately recognize the obvious similarities with the franchise’s San Andreas title. But who cares about that? As long as we get to carjack old ladies and parachute from a skyscraper, the game will be successful. Looking at the trailer, it seems like the game will revolve around gangs, money, drugs, sex and whole lot of shooting — what more can we ask for. Also, it looks like the main character of the game will be a cop, so you’ll probably spend most of the time shooting gang members and not your fellow co-workers. If 9mm manages to be just half as good as the game it’s trying to imitate, it could be one of the most succesful games on the Market. Keep an eye out for this game’s release by following Gameloft on Twitter, or us for that matter. Meanwhile, you can check out the trailer for 9mm below — which is very NSFW by the way.
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| Honeycomb has a little bit of Gingerbread buried deep inside Posted: 20 May 2011 07:51 AM PDT We already know that Google will be mixing Honeycomb, Gingerbread and Google TV into a delicious Ice Cream Sandwich this Christmas. What you might know is that there’s actually a lot of code being shared between these three versions. So much in fact, that you can easily turn your Honeycomb tablet into an over-sized version of your Android phone. That’s exactly what the fine gentlemen at XDA did today. By just changing the LCD density on a Honeycomb device, the OS will recognize the change and reveal the Gingerbread UI. You can easily achieve this by installing an app like LCDDensity for Root, and changing the LCD density to anything higher than 170ppi. After the excitement fades off, you’ll probably want to go back to the much better Honeycomb UI. To do this, simply set the LCD density to 160ppi or below. Maybe it won’t be that hard for Google to merge all these versions together, seeing as Honeycomb is already Gingerbread at heart. Bringing the Honeycomb UI to phones and TVs might be a much more arduous job, though. Now let’s watch Honeycomb turn into Gingerbread right before our eyes.
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