Android

Android - News, Features, and Slideshows

News

  • One year on, Android's not quite there yet

    After it has spent nearly a year on the market, analysts are reluctant to declare Android a success, but they say the platform could turn a corner in the next few months when many more phones are expected to go on sale.

  • Developers complain about Android sales

    The Android Market probably produces less than US$5 million a month, despite a recent report that issued that estimate, one successful application developer says.

  • New capability for Android

    Google has boosted its Android mobile device software platform by offering developers a kit that enables them to call native code from Android applications.

  • Flash now available to Android device vendors

    Embedded software maker Bsquare confirmed last week it has ported Adobe Systems' Flash mobile player to ARM-based smartphones and smartbooks running Google's Android operating system.

  • Android an alternative to Windows in netbooks: Gartner

    Google's Android mobile phone software worked well on mini-laptops at the Computex Taipei 2009 electronics show and, backed by the strong Google brand, the mobile OS may be headed for prime time, two Gartner analysts say.

  • iPhone 3.0 betaphiles upset the Apple cart

    At least I have an excuse. Running pre-release operating systems and firmware in production settings is part of my job description. I accept that "beta" items are exempt from expectations of day-to-day stability, backward compatibility, performance and feature completeness. When I took the iPhone 3.0 OS as my one and only system software for the device, I was fully prepared that existing apps would break, some software on App Store would prove incompatible, the device would freeze up, and in any imaginable way on any given day, the beta firmware would show itself as less than firm.
    That's the point of a beta. It's the price that admins and developers pay for the privilege of knowing what's coming next. In the case of the iPhone, that's essential knowledge. iPhone 3.0 is a platform overhaul: new OS, new APIs, new SDK, new tools and new rules for App Store approval. Apple is dramatically changing the game. In the next three months, every iPhone owner will have a brand-new phone.
    I take the frustrations of pre-release software in my stride and keep the glitches to myself. Most people do not. That's why handset manufacturers limit the distribution of pre-release system software. By nature, beta OSes and firmware destabilise the platform. For that reason, Apple wraps the iPhone beta in a barbed-wire NDA and issues the stern mandate that iPhone devices registered for development must be used only for development. Apple makes this rule while being aware that it is impractical and unenforceable.
    App Store is jammed with titles from sole proprietorships, while you and I both know that the luxury of an extra, activated iPhone 3G is one that the typical iPhone developer cannot afford. In general, if you're using iPhone 3.0, it's likely all you've got.

  • Google preps next version of Android

    Developers will now be able to take a look at the SDK (Software Development Kit) for the next version of the Android platform, Google announced on Monday on its developer blog.

  • Report: HP may offer Android in netbooks

    Hewlett-Packard is considering offering an operating system platform developed by Google in its netbooks at the expense of Microsoft's Windows OS, according to a recent report.

  • Google OS will be on netbooks by year's end

    It's not news that Microsoft will get Windows 7 out as fast as possible this year. Vista has been a complete dog, so Microsoft will rush to deliver what is essentially a cleaned-up, lightweight version. What is news is that Google will have its own contender, Android, in the desktop operating system market.

  • Unlocked Android phone: Pricey outside the US

    Just in time for the end-of-year shopping season, Google is offering an unlocked Android phone, targeted at developers but available to anyone. While the phone might be attractive to consumers and developers alike in the US, its price in other countries is putting off even developers.

  • How will Android compare to the iPhone?

    Google's Android is an open-source operating system meant to give smart phone manufacturers a powerful platform on which to base their phones. It's even been touted as a challenger to Apple's iPhone OS.

  • Android is about advertising, not the enterprise

    Even though three companies hosted the launch event and the software is backed by a consortium, the introduction of the first Android phone made it very clear that Android is about one company: Google.

  • Android apps might not feature Bluetooth

    While developers have been hard at work building Android applications that can use GPS (Global Positioning System), Wi-Fi and cameras, they just discovered they likely won't be able to offer applications that use one common mobile phone feature: Bluetooth.

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