Android Development Talk

Android leading smartphone OS, Samsung represents 40% of Android-based devices

Neeha — Fri, 18 May 2012 11:07:34 +0000

Gartner has released its latest report and we are seeing big numbers here. Samsung is flying high for the first quarter of 2012. 40 percent of Android based smartphones sold globally are all Samsung. Even better is that other vendors were not able to cross 10 percent.

Users worldwide are preferring smartphone as the sales of smartphone increased by 45 percent year over year, with 144 million smartphones being shipped during the first quarter of 2012. Samsung’s in the lead with estimate of 86.6 million and Nokia following closely behind with 83.2 million units of sales.

In the smartphone OS market, Android is clearly in the lead with 56.1% of market share in the first quarter and iOS is in second place with 22.9%. Mr. Anshul Gupta, principal research analyst at Gartner says “At the high end, hardware features coupled with applications and services are helping differentiation, but this is restricted to major players with intellectual property assets. However, in the mid to low-end segment, price is increasingly becoming the sole differentiator. This will only worsen with the entry of new players and the dominance of Chinese manufacturers, leading to increased competition, low profitability and scattered market share.”

Android Applications and Games downloads crosses 15 billion in Google Play

Neeha — Tue, 08 May 2012 12:17:20 +0000

Good news for Android app developers. Google has reported that Google Play has had more then 15 billion games and app downloaded after two and a half years of its launch.

Google’s spokesperson reported to TechCrunch that it had hit the milestone a few weeks back though no public announcement was made for this. The last report of downloads which was made public was when Google Play was the Android Market, which was 5 months back.

So in that span of 5 months, downloads have jumped from 10 billion to 15 billion which is quite an exponential jump. Though Google Play has quite a lot of catching up to do compared to the Apple’s App Store, the fast-growing rate could certainly prove to be competition to the App Store especially with over 250 million Android device activations since last January.

Android smartphone Comparison: HTC One S Vs Samsung Galaxy S II

Neeha — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 06:19:20 +0000

With the release of HTC One S, there are many Android users who have been interested to know the features of the HTC One S and how different and advantageous it is compared to the popular Android Device, Samsung Galaxy SII. Well, here is a comprehensive comparison of the HTC One S and Samsung Galaxt S II.

Blackberry Playbook would no longer support for Sideloading of Android Applications

Neeha — Tue, 10 Apr 2012 10:43:18 +0000

Sideloading was a feature introduced by RIM for Blackberry Playbook users to enjoy Android Apps. Android app developers could also draw in more users for their applications. Blackberry had Android developers send in applications in February, but now RIM has announced that the next version of the Blackberry OS would not support Sideloading.

This action has been taken upon due to piracy issues. “Piracy is a huge problem for Android devs,” said RIM Vice President of Developer Relations via Twitter, “and we don’t want to duplicate the chaotic cesspool of Android Market.” The release date for the new version of the Blackberry OS has not been mentioned yet. AllthingsD has reported that the upcoming version would disable the feature of supporting Android application. But Android developers, there is still hope as RIM is working on a solutions for developers to upload their applications on to Blackberry Playbook.

ComScore Report: Android OS captures 50% US smartphone users

Neeha — Mon, 09 Apr 2012 09:16:23 +0000

Google’s Android OS has done it yet again. According the latest report by ComScore, More than 50% of the US smartphone subscribers are now on Android.

The Android OS is in the lead with 50.1% with Apple in second place with 30.2%. Android has increased by 3.2 since the last three months. While Android and Apple have increased last quarter, RIM has seen a dip in their user base reducing from 16.6% to 13.4%.

Among the top mobile OEM’s, Samsung Electronics has maintained its place capturing 25.6% of OEM which is the same as last quarter. However, LG, HTC and Motorola have taken a decreased from last quarter.

Instagram Android Application live on Google Play

Neeha — Wed, 04 Apr 2012 11:24:05 +0000

After a long wait, Instagram has finally been released for Android. The app was released this week and millions of Android lovers are showing off their photography skills with Instagram.

To start off, a user has to sign up and once that is done you can start following friends and check out pictures by other members in the community. The User Interface of the app is remarkable. The Instagram development team mentioned that the Android app would be better than the iPhone app. Along with the amazing UI, the Android app has more share options. Unlike the iPhone app which has just a few selections of social networks, the Android application allows you to share your pictures on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr and Foursquare. However one feature which is not available in the Android version is that the we cannot see the tweaks and the effects in real-time while in iPhone version we can.

This app is quite addictive and definitely worth a download. To get this app on your Android device, click here.

Instagram provides sign-up form for the Android Application, no launch date yet

Neeha — Mon, 26 Mar 2012 08:35:52 +0000

We recently had great news that Instagram would be soon coming to Android devices. We have come a step closer to the release of the Android Application, however no release date has been revealed as of yet.

Though, instead of a launch date, Instagram has released a sign-up form. Users can sign up to be notified details of the Android App and its release via email. You can sign up here.

Android App Developers rejoice over release of kernal Source code for HTC Devices

Neeha — Wed, 21 Mar 2012 04:49:49 +0000

Good news for Android App developers! HTC has released the source code for few of their phones. The source code is available for the HTC Sensation, HTC Sensation XE, and the HTC Vivid. Previously, developers were unhappy about the delay in release of the source code, so this is great news for the development communities. We can expect to come across some developments in the HTC devices real soon with the release of the kernel source code. With the kernel source code, developers can enhance performance, build custom ROMs and more.

To start off, developers can download the kernel source code for development from the HTCDev.com

Engaging and Challenging Puzzle game, Linderdaum Puzzle: Android App Review

Neeha — Mon, 19 Mar 2012 07:05:39 +0000

Android Developers, Linderdaum has a launched a new puzzle game for Android users which is simple yet challenging which would totally engage you. Linderdaum Puzzle is a straight forward Android game where you need to rearrange a jumbled image.

You start out by choosing an image from a collection of “100 relaxing images” and the controls in the game are really easy to handle. You can very easily drag the pieces to its right place. One of the many nice features to this puzzle game is that when you get a few pieces of the puzzle right, they connect and you can move the pieces as a whole. When you have completed the puzzle, the time taken to complete the puzzle is shown. So you can keep on competing against yourself to complete the puzzle in less time.

The game comes with 6 different modes of difficulty so you can choose the mode of difficulty. The image can be jumbled up from 4×4 to 8×14 pieces. This makes it suitable for both users who are beginners and experts. This added advantage engages you for hours on end.

When considering the choice of images, you can either choose from the huge collection from provided or you can choose from images from the gallery of your phone. The collection of 100 images provided by Linderdaum is displayed in a 3D format and if you have the paid version of the app, all the images are in HD quality. An added feature is that you can set the images from Linderdaum gallery as your phone wallpaper. The app has a background music but if you find it to be bothersome you can turn of the sound.

Overall, the game is engaging and fun and quite challenging. With the different modes of difficulty that is available, this is suitable for all ages. The graphics look very sleek and elegant and the images that have been used are very pleasant and refreshing. If you like puzzle games, then Linderdaum will not disappoint you. You can play the game while travelling or whenever you are on-the-go. The game is available in the Android Market in 2 versions. The Free version includes ads while the paid version is free of ads and all images are in HD.

Screenshots of the Apps

App Name: Linderdaum Puzzle	Note: There is a rating embedded within this post, please visit this post to rate it.
Category: Brain & Puzzle
Price: Free
Developer: Linderdaum

Popular iOS Application, Instagram coming to Android OS soon!

Neeha — Mon, 12 Mar 2012 06:30:57 +0000

There have been popular iOS apps that have come to the Android OS before and another one is going to join in. Instagram, the popular photo filtering and sharing app is soon going to come to the Android OS. This has been one of the most anticipated Android Apps for quite some time.

It was at the SXSW, this Sunday that Co-Founder Kevin Systrom announced that the Android version is soon to be released though no date was mentioned. In December when asked, the App was still in Development According to him, the Android Application works better than the iOS version. It’s fast, well compatible with large screens and can share photos to Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr and other social networks.

At the SXSW conference, Systrom, announced that the iOS application has just crossed 27 Million registered users. Though the number of daily active members has not been disclosed but he mentioned that 67% of the users were active yesterday.