Android Community |
- One-third of smartphone users launch apps before getting out of bed
- Droid X2 Dummy units arriving at Costco, could launch soon
- HTC Merge finally available for Verizon, but they aren’t selling it
- Samsung Galaxy S II dual-core overclock destroys benchmarks at 1.5 Ghz [video]
- Bank of Montreal debuts new Home ownership app
- OfficeDrop app lets users scan docs to the cloud
- Samsung Galaxy S II source code released: Hacks ahoy!
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 getting Android 2.3.3 update in Italy
- Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review [Google I/O Special Edition]
- Samsung confirms Galaxy S II NFC version for UK in June
- Viewsonic 7x puts Honeycomb on a Tegra 2 7-incher
- Hands-On with Hasbro’s Nexus S Powered Robots at Google I/O
- N.O.V.A 2 for Android finally released for some phones
- Sony Ericsson Cyber-Shot branded Android Phone in the works
- We Have Them! 4G LTE Modems from Google I/O
- Android Market upgrading app size limit to 4GB
- Android Market changes coming soon, Looks like Honeycomb
- Android Market app install numbers are growing insanely fast
| One-third of smartphone users launch apps before getting out of bed Posted: 12 May 2011 10:59 AM PDT When I first get up I go right for the coffee machine, start my blend of bold Allegro Coffee Co. beans in the grinder and get my morning started off right. If I back up a little and think about it, I’m right along with the rest of the people in the world and I’m using smartphone applications before even getting out of bed. I check my twitter and emails, maybe launch my recently updated Music beta by Google for some tunes, and soon hopefully there will be an app that will start my coffee grinding and brew for me. According to a Ericsson survey this is what over one-third of all users do.
For a more in depth look at this survey from the telecom equipment maker Ericsson you can see the full PDF here. The chart above is just one of many they go in depth about. They get pretty deep and are finding out just how addicted we all really are to our smartphones. Android and iOS user reports suggest that over 35% of users are launching and using non-voice applications before even getting out of bed in the morning, a large portion of that is something I’m not really into, and that is Facebook. They go into all sorts of usage statistics, and when you are most likely to use social networking services or apps, and it just goes to show how tied into our phones and apps for daily life we really are. I’ve read people are addicted to the internet, are we all addicted to our android applications? I think I might be. If this story from Google about application installs being over 8x that of last year is any indication of how things are going. It looks like Ericsson’s studies are pretty accurate and we all love our apps. For a more in depth look at all of this feel free to check out the PDF posted above, or hit the source for more. [via DigitalTrends] )
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| Droid X2 Dummy units arriving at Costco, could launch soon Posted: 12 May 2011 10:40 AM PDT Things look to be lining up almost like we all had thought. Earlier in the month we told you about the Droid X2 and a few other devices launching on Verizon on May 12th, that day is today and we are seeing some news regarding the Droid X2, but nothing about it launching or being for sale. It appears to be showing up at places like Costco in the form of dummy models.
The link above showing a May 12th release date may have been correct, but it is possible the delay of the Droid Charge because of 4G LTE issues could be the reason for the delay. Everything may have been moved back, unless we hear some news today it looks like these devices will have to wait to play another day. From the images it looks like Costco has got dummy units in store, and we can only assume others have as well. This is a good sign for the Motorola Droid X2 and those looking to get some of its dual-core Tegra 2 power along with that 4.3″ screen. It is not a 4G LTE phone, but it should be a great device still. Hopefully we will be getting more news, or an official release date soon. [via AndroidCentral] )
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| HTC Merge finally available for Verizon, but they aren’t selling it Posted: 12 May 2011 10:25 AM PDT Reports are coming in that the HTC Merge will finally be hitting Verizon Wireless starting today. We have heard tons about this device over the past 2-4 months, from it hitting the FCC, to getting mentioned by Alltel, yet it never saw a launch. We have heard about this phone as far back as September 2010 if i recall.
From what we are hearing as well as seeing in the picture above, it looks like Verizon doesn’t want anything to do with this phone. We don’t really know why, maybe they don’t want to compete with the their own and ever so popular Motorola Droid lineup. They might be thinking what we are, that this phone is late to the party and not quite up to par. Yes it is made by HTC, who has some of the best hardware around. It runs HTC Sense but it is that slow 800 Mhz CPU and older specifications that might be holding them back. According to sources the phone is being launched today but will not be for sale by Verizon. It is available through 3rd party retailers or providers like Alltel Wireless, but it will work on that Big Red Verizon network if you do decide to pick it up. There is no hardware or software changes from anything you have heard as of late, but for those that want a full QWERTY slider with HTC’s great build quality, this may be a phone for you. [via Droid Life] )
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| Samsung Galaxy S II dual-core overclock destroys benchmarks at 1.5 Ghz [video] Posted: 12 May 2011 09:28 AM PDT It looks like that shiny new and what I’d call extremely thin powerhouse of an android phone you just bought is ready to have some fun. Yes I’m talking about that dual-core Samsung Galaxy S II we have heard plenty about recently. Some of those fancy developers at XDA we are always talking about in the android community have done it again, and already overclocked the SGS II to 1.5 Ghz and that is just the start.
The Galaxy S II is one powerful phone, when we heard it would ship at 1.2 Ghz instead of 1.0 Ghz we knew that was a good sign, but things are looking like 1.5 Ghz and higher will soon be easy to come by, plus the source code has been released so things should start moving along great for dev’s and hackers. Thanks to coolbho3000 at xda he’s already overclocked it to 1.5 Ghz as a starting point, completely stable and is getting over 4000 in quadrant all day long. Stock SGS II gets around 3500. What would news about an exciting overclock and speeds like this be without a proper guide to do this yourself, well we have you covered here and with the source if you have any questions. Obviously this is one of those “at your own risk” type deals, whenever I flash something like a kernel I make sure to have a nandroid backup first just to be safe and recommend you do the following, but you probably knew that. Check out the video and details below: Instructions: Enjoy it! coolbho3000 has mentioned he’s booted at a blaaazing 2.0 Ghz but unstable and that is a work in progress, and his 1.8 Ghz Linpack score is in the top 10. So be patient, and give him time to iron out all the kinks and soon you can be speeding along much faster also. I did want to mention that it is a shame to see that Samsung chose not to use the EXT4 filesystem like they did here on the SGSII on the new Galaxy Tab 10.1. Obviously they are different CPU’s but the I/O scores on the Tab were consistently around 1000 vs 4200. That’s a 4x improvement on the Galaxy S 2! [via XDA Forum] )
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| Bank of Montreal debuts new Home ownership app Posted: 12 May 2011 08:25 AM PDT The Bank of Montreal (BMO) has unveiled a new app that will help people that are thinking about buying a new home decide if it’s the right decision for them. The app is called BMO Marketplace App and has several tools and calculators that are useful for homebuyers. The app is able to create all sorts of calculations for home ownership costs, forecasts mortgage expenses, and creates a homebuyer checklist.
The app also offers buyers access to the BMO online hub that has expert advice from BMO mortgage specialists and guest bloggers. Using the app while home shopping will allow the user to create custom profiles for each home they visit with photos, notes and other items. The value of the homes can be compared based on checklists to help the buyer narrow selections. The app also offers an interactive mortgage calculator to show what costs are when making a buying decision. The charts and profiles can be emailed for assistance by a pro as well. The app sounds pretty cool and even if you aren’t banking with BMO, it would help you make a better buying decision. )
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| OfficeDrop app lets users scan docs to the cloud Posted: 12 May 2011 08:05 AM PDT
The snapped shot with the Android smartphone camera can then be uploaded directly to the cloud for storage. The app is on the Android Market right now and will be coming to the Amazon App Store soon. the app works with Android 2.2 and up and it has many other features too. The app allows for searching of the file text with OCR technology. Files uploaded can be tagged with keywords for sorting and retrieval. The app works on Android, iPad, and on the PC as well. The files sent and received with the app are fully encrypted and the app is free. “Many of OfficeDrop’s small business customers already use their phones to email documents into our system,” said OfficeDrop CEO Prasad Thammineni. “The new Android app makes this process much simpler — snap a photo and get organized all within the app. We’re making it easy to not only scan, but also search, share and edit documents on the go.” )
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| Samsung Galaxy S II source code released: Hacks ahoy! Posted: 12 May 2011 04:24 AM PDT Samsung has released the source code for the Galaxy S II, opening the door for developers to craft more complex apps and modify Samsung’s customized Android 2.3.3 build. The GT-I9100 open-source repo will allow for ROMs that further overclock the GSII’s 1.2GHz processor, among other things.
Samsung has been criticized in the past for its attitude toward updates for its existing Android phones While this isn’t necessarily a sign that the firm is upping its game overall, it’s a welcome release. You’ll need to be a developer to make the most of the download – which you can find here – but users should likely expect the fruits of dev’s efforts in the not too distant future. More on the Galaxy S II in our full review. )
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 getting Android 2.3.3 update in Italy Posted: 12 May 2011 03:09 AM PDT The Samsung Galaxy Tab is a nice little tablet by most standards. The device has a nice screen even if that screen might be too small for some users that are more apt to want the larger 10-inch screen that are on tablets like the iPad and others. One of the biggest complaints of some users about the Tab is the older version of the Android OS that the machine uses. The Tab shipped with Android 2.2 onboard. I am sure that a lot of users were hoping that the Android 3.0 update make it to the Galaxy Tab soon. Before the 3.0 update comes, Samsung has upped the OS to Gingerbread.
As of now in Italy, the Samsung Galaxy Tab is getting the Android 2.3.3 Gingerbread update rolled out. Apparently, users in Italy can download the update via KIES for their Tab and then walk away running 2.3.3. Any readers from Italy be sure and let us know how the update went if you have done it. The ROM landed yesterday for download. The new firmware version is P1000XXJPZ. The firmware should bring some new features that fans of the Tab will enjoy. There isn’t any word on the update landing in other countries, but if it has hit Italy already, it should be coming elsewhere before you know it. [via The Galaxy Tab] )
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| Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Review [Google I/O Special Edition] Posted: 11 May 2011 09:22 PM PDT It’s been what seems like forever since I last held this fantastic piece of industrial design. Back at CTIA 2011, we got to peek behind the scenes at a couple of dummy units from Samsung, one of them the Samsung Galaxy Tab 8.9, the other the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1, essentially the same unit you see here. The differences begin in that the dummy unit had no working machinery inside, a microSD slot where now there’s nothing, and this special edition unit has a white back with a hoard of Androids marching forward etched inside it. This device is what we expect to be nearly the same as what you’ll be purchasing in June, so it’s time to give this fantastical edition a complete once over!
Hardware What you’ve got here is a 10.1″ TFT display on a 10.09 x 6.81 x 0.34 (256.2 x 172.9 x 8.6 mm) chassis. This device is amongst the thinnest tablets in the world, also weighing in at a tiny 20.99 oz (595 g.) Inside you’ll find a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual-core processor and 65536 MB built-in memory. In what we must expect will be a future iteration of this device, there’ll be a microSD card slot with space for 32 GB, as we did see one when we had a peek at a dummy of this device at CTIA 2011 – right now however, there’s no such feature.
The battery in this device is a 7000 mAh – that’s huge. That’s enough to power this device all day long with heavy usage, easy. Thus far this device has not run our of batteries since we opened the box, at which point the device was at about half-full, and it’s been over 24 since then. Well played, Samsung, choosing whichever battery this happens to be. There’s a 3 megapixel camera on the back, a 2 megapixel camera on the front, and of course you know that this device has a special edition white backing with Android army in tow.
There’s a sweet metal rim rounded all around the outside of the glass display, a hard plastic back, and all metal buttons for power and volume. This device is the thinnest and lightest Android tablet at this point in history by FAR and is set to contend directly with the current king of tablets: iPad and iPad 2 with a size and weight that just as low or lower – better and better!
You’ll find that the stereo speaker system is more than adequate for all your movie watching, Music Beta listening, and gaming needs.
And it feels good to hold. It’s thin but tough, light but doesn’t feel flimsy. Samsung wisely applied the metal rim to this amalgamation, as it makes for a piece of tech where you know you made the right decision in buying it. And how does it compare to the iPad 2? You’ll have to head over to SlashGear to find that one out.
Software What you’ll find in here is a very small collection of apps, only a couple added in by Samsung, and a version of Android 3.1 Honeycomb that’s ever-so-slightly different from what you’ve seen on the Motorola XOOM and LG G-Slate and Acer Iconia Tab A500. While when this device is eventually released it’ll have Samsung’s TouchWiz UX working on top of it, right now there’s just a few fancy modifications to Android 3.0 Honeycomb.
This device is running on a 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 dual core processor, so you’ll have access to all of the exclusive games they’ve got available via Tegra Zone. This means Pinball HD, the jet-ski game Riptide GP, and Galaxy on Fire 2. Gotta play em all!
There’s an app called Samsung Apps that contains a collection of what appear to be apps but do not open when activated. This app appears to be something in progress on this device, or at least I believe so. The other option is that this is an anime-bear-based extension of Samsung’s device family. You never know, I suppose.
Music Hub is a music store run by 7Digital. It appears to be very well constructed and has an excellent user interface with lots of possibilities for discovering new content. Why or how this app came to be on a device being released at a time when Google is pushing their Music Beta ecosystem for music in the cloud, I cannot say. Perhaps as their favorite competitor for iTunes, but we’re still counting on Google to take the reigns entirely some day or another coming up soon. Movie rentals first, I suppose. Same goes for Amazon MP3, which is also present on the device right out of the box. Certainly not intended to fill your Amazon cloud.
If you were one of the lucky few to get an invite to Music Beta thus far, you’ll be hoping for an instantly-populated library. That wont necessarily happen. Yours truly had to wait about 10 minutes or so after updating to the newest version of Music before my cloud-based collection appeared for playing. You’ll note my surprise at finding the tracks there in the video below. Once they do appear though – glorious! For a full guide of this music environment head over to our walkthrough post.
At this point I’d like to show you a video with some Hands-On time with the unit, complete with words on both the hardware and the software. You’ll hear yours truly run you through what we’re seeing here and note why it matters to YOU, the person who’ll be purchasing the street edition in June. Camera The camera has not been the strong point of any tablet we’ve seen on any platform thus far, and the Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 is no exception. With a 3.2 megapixel camera on the back and a 2 megapixel camera on the front, you wont be winning any contests for sharpness here. On the other hand, if you’re just wanting the camera to take photos some houses or pics of your baby to upload to Facebook, you’ll be in fine shape.
NOTE: While we’ve heard previously that this device would be toting a 5 megapixel camera on the back, this version of the tablet only works up to 3.2 megapixels. Will the final standard version of the tablet have the full 5 megapixels? We shall see. Now go forth and take a peek below at some examples of media you’ll be collecting, all highest quality, front and back:
There’s a whole new camera interface on this device, the one you saw briefly earlier in this review – have a look at the options you’ll be working with, most of them having appeared in Honeycomb before, but now sitting in different areas and, if you ask me, easier to access:
Performance I’d like to impress upon you the fact that for most people at this point, tablets and handsets of the Android variety appear to be moving at lightening speed, faster than they’d ever really need them to move. That said, this tablet really works just as well and as fast or faster than any Android tablet that’s come out before. It’s got a 1Ghz dual-core processor in it, at this point that being up there with the best, and it’s basically a vanilla version of Android 3.0 Honeycomb. Some may argue that the keyboard and a couple other items make this into an impure version of Honeycomb, therefor not vanilla, but it’s quick all the same. Have a peek below at a few benchmarks so that you might compare this tablet to others with all sorts of numbers. Each of these benchmark tests were run directly out of the box – aka I opened the box, took the tablet out, went into the Android Market, downloaded the benchmark apps, and fired them up. See how well this Tab takes tests here and now:
Battery This device has a 7000 mAh battery. That size is enough to power a high-end laptop. That’s enough battery life to make sure this device essentially never dies. This is a very positive thing that’s been happening with tablets – all that extra real-estate can make way for bigger more awesome additions like fat batteries with basically no drawback. Tablets that never need to be charged! That’s what’s going on here. At the very least 24 hours of heavy, heavy action. Wrap-Up This is the greatest Android tablet thus far. It’s got everything Google’s tablet-based mobile OS Android 3.0 Honeycomb has to offer, and it’s sitting pretty in a package that’s set to go toe-to-toe with the iPad 2. I said it when I first held the dummy model back at CTIA 2011, and I’ll say it again, this tablet is so comfortable to hold, Apple had better majorly reconsider their industrial design team’s direction – this is the future. Samsung’s Galaxy Tab 10.1 is at once thin, light, and powerful enough to make owners of the best selling tablet in the world think twice before upgrading to another Apple product. That said, the only tablet to realistically hold a lamp up to the beauty of the casing here in the Android world is Motorola’s XOOM tablet. Say what you will about its thickness and weight, the XOOM looks nice and feels substantial.
But then there’s the Tab 10.1 again. It feels every bit as worth the cash you payed for it as the XOOM, and you wont feel like you’re carrying an additional text book in your backpack when you’re carrying it. Heck, put it in your purse, you wont even notice that it’s there. I should say here again though that this device doesn’t feel light and thin in the same way a flimsy device feels light and thin – it’s got metal reinforcement and not a single material on it that feels like Samsung didn’t put in the cash. The one thing I’m hesitant to comment on is the user interface. This is because it’s certainly not finalized. This special edition of the tablet was put out before Samsung was ready to reveal their official TouchWiz UX 4.0 – the one you see above demoed at CTIA. There are a few welcome additions to the basic Honeycomb setup, but in the end it’s the same system you’re getting with every other Honeycomb tablet thus far. Not a bad thing, but because TouchWiz for tablets is coming, it just can’t come here fast enough.
This special edition was free to all 5,000 attendees of Google I/O 2011. If you want your own, you’ll have to head to eBay and you’ll more than likely be spending upwards of $1000 or more. Is this tablet worth that amount? No way. No tablet is. That’s completely against the idea here. Tablets are supposed to be inexpensive. Should you purchase one of these tablets? Unless you can get one for the price the standard edition will be costing, I’d say no. The back panel with all the Androids is cool, but it’s not $1K cool. Does this special Google I/O edition of the Galaxy Tab 10.1 show us that the standard edition will be a winner or a dud? I think it’s clear that this device is basically going to be the biggest winner in the Android tablet game yet. Just so long as it comes with an SD card reader, TouchWiz UX 4.0 for tablets, and a bow wrapped around it to the tune of $450. Sound like a pretty enough package for you?                                   )
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| Samsung confirms Galaxy S II NFC version for UK in June Posted: 11 May 2011 05:00 PM PDT Samsung is apparently preparing to bring the NFC-enabled version of the Galaxy S II to the UK next month, having initially launched the Android 2.3 Gingerbread smartphone in its non-NFC form. The decision was apparently confirmed by two Samsung support staff, who told one would-be GSII customer that “the NFC [model] would be launched in the UK by June.”
However, they also confirmed that Samsung has no plans to launch the 32GB version of the GSII in the UK, despite the higher-capacity model being available in other regions. Instead, the UK will be stuck with the 16GB model only, though of course that can be expanded using up to 32GB microSD cards. It’s unclear if the NFC decision means that there will be two versions of the Galaxy S II co-existing in the UK market – some NFC-enabled, others not – or if the updated model will replace the original. That could frustrate early-adopters, however, who will see those coming later to the GSII game picking up a handset eventually capable of wireless payments and other talents. [via Mobot] )
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| Viewsonic 7x puts Honeycomb on a Tegra 2 7-incher Posted: 11 May 2011 04:35 PM PDT Viewsonic’s Android tablets attempts haven’t quite hit the mark yet, but the company is readying a new Android Honeycomb model that could well change all that. The Viewsonic 7x is, Pocket-lint has heard, headed to Computex 2011 at the tail-end of this month, with a 7-inch touchscreen as the name suggests.
Like other Honeycomb tablets we’ve seen, it’ll pack NVIDIA’s 1GHz dual-core Tegra 2 processor, twin cameras – front and back, though no word on how many megapixels yet – and integrated HSPA+ WWAN. There’s also the somewhat mysterious “greater support on the connectivity front” which we’re assuming means WiFi, Bluetooth and USB along with the HDMI port, at the very least. DLNA and a distinctive patterned back panel round out the key specs of this 380g slate, which is expected to hit retail in June 2011. No word on pricing at this stage. )
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| Hands-On with Hasbro’s Nexus S Powered Robots at Google I/O Posted: 11 May 2011 02:51 PM PDT Our team was lucky enough to stumble into some cute little robots while roaming around at Google I/O today. What we have here is a little hands-on video of Hasbro’s Robot Toys that are being powered by a Google Nexus S. These robots are walking around at will, no talking yet though. Hasbro and Google have been working hard to get these little guys working together so we got a little hands-on time until one has a little “accident”.
What they have done is built a body-like dock that is self powered with its own battery that connects to the Nexus S via bluetooth. They have integrated servo’s for movement and motion. What makes this unique is they are not just reacting to a few commands to walk around. They are observing the environment using the front facing camera and different phone sensors and the touchscreen. Then actually connect to Google’s new facial and object recognition platform via the Google Cloud and this is how they react to surroundings and walk towards or away from objects. Pretty neat idea. You can shake them to make them dizzy, or rub the touchscreen to make them happy. For now Hasbro stuck to simple Male and Female robots but we expect more to come. They can even take a photo using the front facing camera if needed, recognize something they don’t like and they will try to run away but might not get very far if they aren’t as fast as the robot in our hands-on. Poor guy just didn’t have the legs to finish the race, Plop! For now these are only prototypes and are a work in progress, in case you didn’t notice by the video or my comments above. Check out the video below and make sure you watch to the end. )
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| N.O.V.A 2 for Android finally released for some phones Posted: 11 May 2011 02:09 PM PDT It looks like we have more Gameloft related news for you today. I’m pretty excited to tell you that Gameloft has finally released N.O.V.A 2 the follow up to the first game that was extremely popular on Android and iOS. Sadly it is only sort of available. What do I mean by that? I tried to get it for my Nexus One, My G2x, and my Motorola Xoom and it is not out for any of them. It isn’t available for the EVO, or the Droid 2, yet the Droid X (same hardware as Droid 2) can get NOVA 2. It really is confusing and I don’t like it.
Obviously looking at the banner it is available for the Xperia Play where available, but the fact that they’ve released it but only on so few devices just doesn’t make sense. You can get it now by going to Gameloft’s website, or the WAP Site on your mobile device. It is not available in the Android Market just like most Gameloft games are not. I tried for the MyTouch 4G and it was available, but not for a new phone like the Incredible 2, both sporting newer generation Qualcomm Snapdragon CPU’s. So what limits or bars are being enforced for downloads I still don’t fully know. I didn’t expect it to be available for my Xoom or the G2x as they are possibly building a Tegra THD version, but for those that have a newer Android device and would like to get the latest and greatest from Gameloft it is now available but like mentioned, only from the Gameloft site. They did however release Modern Combat 2 to the Android Market today, get that news here. Still releasing some games to the market, and most only on their own site. Part of the reason behind this is to control who downloads their games, and for what device. It could also be the 50MB app size limit enforced by the Android Market. Announced today that is increasing to 4GB, and dev’s can blacklist incompatible devices so hopefully these issues with Gameloft games will soon be a thing of the past. For now check out the video and press release below: )
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| Sony Ericsson Cyber-Shot branded Android Phone in the works Posted: 11 May 2011 01:05 PM PDT Sony has long been known for having great cameras. The Cyber-Shot is a very popular line and I remember loving my 2.0MP Cyber-Shot k750i cellphone back in the day. It was my first phone with a “good camera” back then. Times have changed and Sony Ericsson looks to be getting back into the camera roots with a Cyber-Shot branded android smartphone. Although the pictures below look to be taken by Mr. Blurrycam himself and his old 1.3MP camera, and clearly not a Cyber-shot, they are interesting either way.
From that image leaked you can sort of make out the “Cyber-shot” branding above the buttons, but like mentioned it is a blurry photo indeed. Looking at the three button layout some might say it could be a Windows Phone 7 device, but another photo below clearly shows the android friendly home, menu, and back buttons. Not to mention they are laid out similarly to recently released Xperia products from Sony Ericsson.
For now this is all we have regarding this Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot sporting smartphone. Weather they will label it as having a Carl Zeiss lens, or Xenon flash is still unknown, but most likely they will. The image above shows the android layout as well as the camera branding a little more clearly for your viewing pleasure. We will report back on this as we hear more. [via Xperia Blog] )
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| We Have Them! 4G LTE Modems from Google I/O Posted: 11 May 2011 12:59 PM PDT Yesterday at Google I/O, everyone was handed a blue card which was good for a free Verizon Mobile Hotspot and a SIM card, and gave three months of complimentary service from Verizon. At the time, conference goers were told that they could pick up the gear Wednesday afternoon. This morning at the keynote, Vic Gundotra let us all know that the blue card went with a 4G LTE mobile hotspot. So, here we are on Wednesday afternoon, and guess what?
We’ll let you know our speeds when we try this out shortly. Will there be some kind of competitive unboxing coming up? You’ll just have to wait and see. Speaking of unboxing, did you catch Vic Gundotra’s exclusive unboxing of the Galaxy 10.1 yesterday?
So far, the gear given away at Google I/O includes a Samsung 10.1 inch Galaxy tab, a Samsung mobile hotspot, and a Samsung Chromebook (which we’ll get in June). See all of our mega Google I/O coverage here. Look for more details about all of this coming very soon. )
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| Android Market upgrading app size limit to 4GB Posted: 11 May 2011 12:48 PM PDT Along with many other things as of late, Google just tipped everyone off about another great change coming to the Android Marketplace. The change I’m talking about today is application size. Currently applications in the market are limited to 50MB. In general this is a pretty large size for most apps and has worked great for a long time, but with the ever changing technology and games getting bigger and better along with hardware such as the Tegra 2 dual-core chip, games and applications have also increased in size.
the 50MB limit we have now was fine until we started getting more intense games and graphic enhancements. Today Google announced they are increasing this to 4GB, a huge increase in app size limit. This will eliminate almost all secondary installs. Like when you download Gun Bro’s but then start the app only to find out you need to download an additional 150mb of data to the SD card. This issue will be gone once the 4GB limit is included. This is just one of many changes coming to the Android Market, another thing Google mentioned today was the option for developers to “exclude” or blacklist devices from installing their particular app. So when a developer doesn’t support a certain device yet, or an older phone they can simply blacklist that model so users wont install it only to have issues later that blow up his email account. These are great things to come for both users, and developers. )
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| Android Market changes coming soon, Looks like Honeycomb Posted: 11 May 2011 12:16 PM PDT As Google I/O keeps rolling along and we keep watching the sessions live, we are getting more and more exciting news as the day goes on. Almost to much to take all in. You can watch it all live here, or just keep checking out AndroidCommunity.com for all the latest news. Today they talked about the Android Market a bit, and about the changes we can all expect to see soon. We just saw a brand new Android Market running on a Nexus S that looked strikingly similar to Honeycomb’s Android Market, could it be Ice Cream Sandwich or just an updated market app?
From looking at the image above you can see what I mean, with the bar on top and the little share symbol on the right next to the dedicated search button. Even the market icon on the top left looks exactly like Honeycomb. This is called the “Context Menu” in Honeycomb and you can click that top left market icon to take you back to the homepage of the market if needed. It is all very smooth and makes things very easy for on-screen actions. See my image below to compare it with the Xoom and Honeycomb.
Could that Nexus S used at Google I/O on stage be running on a version of Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android that is coming soon? See more details on that here. Or is it simply just the updated market apk that we will probably be seeing across many devices in the coming weeks or months? For now we don’t know, as they didn’t talk on it specifically. I personally really enjoy the look and feel of the Android Market on 3.0 Honeycomb and can’t wait for Android 2.3 and 3.1 to be mashed together into one beautiful “Sandwich” that we will all call Ice Cream Sandwich, or ICS, or Android 2.4 Stay tuned for more! )
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| Android Market app install numbers are growing insanely fast Posted: 11 May 2011 11:26 AM PDT Looks like Android just keeps getting bigger and bigger, not to mention better with every release and will surely be very exciting once Ice Cream Sandwich launches. According to new numbers from the live sessions at Google I/O Android Market application installations has seen an extremely rapid growth of installs.
From the image shown above, clearly Android has taken off to new heights over the past year or so. Just in 2010 application installations from the market was over 8 times as many as 2008 and 2009 combined. That is huge growth, and we have been seeing plenty of reports about this lately. From the charts above, shown at Google I/O this morning, Android has clearly not slowed down one bit in the application installs category. It looks like they are more than full speed ahead. Android Market application installs in 2011 has almost passed all of 2010 in just Q1 of 2011 alone. Showing that things are moving along just fine to say the least. By the end of Q2 2011 installs will have completely passed all of 2010, and by the end of 2011 things will surely be off the chart. With Android 3.1 tablets starting to take off, and all the exciting phones on the way this summer in the U.S. and from multiple carriers across the world 2011 will be another huge year. I can’t even begin to imagine where we will be, and how amazing hardware will look by December. With the ever growing and changing market things will surely be exciting. Stay tuned for more from Google I/O. )
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If you are an on the go pro that needs to keep track of anything from receipts to business cards a new app is available that will upload whatever you need to track and save to the cloud. The app will also be a great way to upload things for students and anyone else that you want to save. The app is called OfficeDrop and it is sort of like a cloud-based filing cabinet. All the user needs to do to scan and upload something is snap a photo of it with the camera.
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