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Droid 4 Could Launch on December 8

2011-11-24T08:18:00.001+01:00

The rate at which Android smartphones are cycled out is becoming a bit disturbing. With only about a half a year between the two, Motorola and Verizon could be releasing their next Droid on December 8th. The Droid 4 would be the fourth device in the series to be launched within a span of two years. For what it’s worth, the handset has come a long way, and the latest iteration promises to continue the tradition of being among the top handsets with full QWERTY keyboards. The phone will sport a 4-inch Super AMOLED display, dual-core processor, and support for Verizon 4G LTE. The handset will come in a bit thinner than its predecessor and carry some RAZR-esque stylings.

December 8th is also the most recent date floated for a potential Samsung Galaxy Nexus launch, so it could be an interesting day for Verizon.

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Remains of the Day: Google Makes HTTPS Even More Secure

2011-11-24T08:10:00.001+01:00

Google enables Forward Secrecy to prevent hackers in the future to access your data, Royal Caribbean outfits cruise ships with iPads for passengers, and Android devices with Ice Cream Sandwich won't have Flash.

Google Protects User Data for the Future with Forward Secrecy: Google enables a feature called Forward Secrecy that will prohibit a hacker from accessing your data, even given future abilities to crack SSL encryption. [ReadWriteWeb]
Big Fish Sells Subscriptions to Its Games on the iPad: Apple has agreed to allow Big Fish Games to sell its titles by monthly subscription on the iPad, much like the Netflix streaming service for movies. [Bloomberg]
Samsung to issue fix for Galaxy Nexus:Samsung has developed a fix for the volume issues that have plagued the Galaxy Nexus, released last week in the U.K. They will be sending the update shortly. [Computerworld]
Google Wave, Knol and Gears Headed for Retirement: Google finally decides when their Wave and Gears services will cease. [Mashable]
Samsung releases fixed Android 3.2 update for Wi-Fi-only Galaxy Tab 10.1: After releasing an update to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 last week that hampered the devices Wi-Fi connectivity, Samsung has re-released the Android 3.2 update with a fix. [The Verge]
Penguin Shuts Down Libraries' Access To New E-Titles On Amazon Kindle: Due to concerns about the security of digital editions, Penguin suspended the availability of their newer titles on Amazon and is working to solve the problem. [TechCrunch]
Android Ice Cream Sandwich Shipping Without Flash: The recent release of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus has revealed that Android devices powered by Ice Cream Sandwich will, for now, not ship with Flash. [MakeUseOf]
Cruise Line to Offer an iPad in Every Stateroom: Royal Caribbean adds the iPad to the list of amenities one would be able to access while staying in one of its staterooms. [TUAW]

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HTC G1 Receives Working Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich Port

2011-11-24T08:03:00.001+01:00

They said it couldn’t be done. Who’s they? Well, I don’t know… Google? HTC? Whichever company or OEM that likes to use “device specs” as a cop out for not keeping their devices up-to-date with the latest Android firmwares. I mean, for gawd’s sakes, we have Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich running on the Godfather of all Android devices — the HTC G1.

And just like the Don Corleon in his later days, the G1 isn’t running Ice Cream Sandwich very gracefully but by George, it’s running it. Or more like walking. Anyway, just check out the video from jcarrz1 and team who have managed to concoct this over on XDA. If the video doesn’t leave you speechless, I’d love to hear your thoughts.

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USB Mounting Achieved on Galaxy Nexus; High Praise for Battery Life Due

2011-11-23T16:57:00.001+01:00

With much of the world still without the Galaxy Nexus many of us want to hear as much as we can about the phone. A couple of tidbits have sprung up from the official Galaxy Nexus Pre-Release thread at AndroidForums.com.

First up, Paul from MoDaCo, the same guy who brought us the ever-so-useful UI tweaks, has achieved USB Mounting. This will allow you to plug up many things to your Galaxy Nexus using a microUSB male to USB female cable, including wireless mice and keyboards as well as flash drives.

This sort of functionality is oft-desired on tablets and it’s no less cool on phones, especially if you plan on hooking yours up to a TV or monitor and using it as a makeshift PC of sorts (though the MHL port wouldn’t be available for HDMI mirroring).

Secondly, Joshua Topolsky from The Verge has been using his Galaxy Nexus and has something very promising to report regarding its battery life. He says on a pretty heavy day of usage he was able to squeeze out 17 hours of battery life and still have about 13% left.

While battery life depends on whoever’s using their phone and how much they’re using it, it sounds very promising. If you already have the Galaxy Nexus be sure to tell us how battery life is working out for you.

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Galaxy Nexus volume fix in the works, Google confirms

2011-11-23T14:54:00.001+01:00

Google has heard your Galaxy Nexus complaints loud and clear, and it's already working on a fix. That's just about all the company had to say today, in response to widespread gripes over a strange volume bugon Samsung's new flagship handset. "We are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix," Google said in a statement. "We will update devices as soon as possible." It appears, then, that the problem lies not in the phone's hardware, but in its software, meaning that a simple OTA update may just do the trick. No word yet on when we can expect to see the fix, but we'll be sure to let you know as soon as we find out.

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Google: Galaxy Nexus Volume Bug Is Not Hardware Related - Software Fix Already On The Way

2011-11-23T10:05:00.001+01:00

There's been quite a stir caused in the past few days about a mysterious volume bug which surfaced on the Galaxy Nexus. The bug began drawing attention over at XDA's forums, where several users reported ostensibly random muting, and erratic response from the Nexus' volume rocker.

It was quickly discovered that the issue seemed to have something to do with the use of 2G signal, specifically the use of a 900 MHz frequency used by many European carriers. The bug could also be replicated using other phones situated near the Galaxy Nexus, leading to concerns that perhaps the bug was hardware-related. The issue also gained attention at Google's bug tracker site for Android, perhaps prompting Google's swift response.

After reaching out to Android PR, we got a promising response:

We are aware of the volume issue and have developed a fix. We will update devices as soon as possible.

There's no word yet on when the fix will be available, but it's good to know that the issue is nothardware-related, and that Google has already been working on a patch.

With a fix on the way and no need for recall or hardware fixes, there's relatively little for Galaxy Nexus users to worry about, as long as they can bear the frustration of erratic volume controls, or avoid using 900 MHz 2G signal until the update officially rolls out.

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World’s first Android device with Mirasol display has battery life measured in weeks

2011-11-23T09:30:00.000+01:00

If the major theme in mobile technology this year was dual-core processors, consider 2012 to be the year of reducing battery drain. We will see more power efficient processors, modems, and smarter software, but most importantly we will have the next generation of display technology.

Leading the way is Qualcomm MEMS Technologies, Inc. (QMT) and their new Mirasoldisplay. It is the industry’s first to use interferometric modulation (IMOD), which is a micro-electro-mechanical systems-based technology able to create color from ambient light. Simply put, the display only uses a fraction of the power of traditional LCD displays.

This week Qualcomm and Kyobo Book Centre, Korea’s largest seller of books, announced the world’s first e-reader to include Mirasol display technology. The main appeal of the Kyobo e-reader is its long battery life, promised to allow for “weeks of reading under typical usage.”

We’ve already seen other e-readers like Amazon’s $99 Kindle Touch which allow you to read up to two months on a single charge with wireless off and a half hour of reading per day. It’s hard to compare how the Kyobo tablet will measure up because Qualcomm doesn’t tell us how many weeks it will last and “battery life varies depending on usage and ambient light.”

However, Mirasol provides the clear advantage in user experience because it supports vibrant color and video. Clarence Chui, SVP and GM of QMT said, “Kyobo’s customers will be the first to enjoy the exceptional color e-reader experience and long battery life that only mirasol displays can provide.”

Highights of the Kyobo e-reader include:

5.7” XGA format (1024 x 768 pixels) mirasol display (screen resolution of 223 ppi)
1.0 GHz Snapdragon S2 processor
Kyobo’s custom application interface runs on top of Android 2.3

Kyobo’s e-reader is now on available in South Korea with the device selling for KRW349,000 (US$310) or a special discount price of KRW 299,000 (US$265) for Platinum Book Club members. Again, this is not as cheap as the Amazon Kindle Fire, but you can never really make comparisons with the different currency rates.

Even though the current version of Mirasol displays are aimed at the e-Reader market, Qualcomm has already revealed they are working on the next version of the displays and spending $1 billion to build a new factory in Taiwan that is scheduled to come online in mid-2012 and be able to produce Mirasol displays at a very large scale. These new displays should include faster response times, better color reproduction, and higher resolutions.

Check out the Kyobo demo video below for an idea of what to expect. The animation doesn’t look totally smooth, but it appears to get the job done. Amazon has always had a focus on battery life for their Kindle family of products, so it’s possible we could see Mirasol displays in future generations of the Kindle lineup.

Expect more information about Mirasol displays when we head to CES in January.

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Samsung Tries again at the Android 3.2 Update for the Galaxy Tab 10.1

2011-11-22T21:43:00.001+01:00

Samsung had hoped to have the Android 3.2 update on most Galaxy Tab 10.1 devices by this time, but a glaring WiFi error forced them to withdraw the new software until a fix could be made. Issues have been resolved and the update is back on its journey to a Tab 10.1 near you. For those that never received the upgrade, you can pull the file over-the-air right now. If you were one of the unlucky ones to receive the flubbed update, your only chance at redemption lies in Samsung’s Kies software. You will have to connect to a PC to get things back in order. Galaxy Tab owners should be happy with the turn around from Samsung. It’s not often issues of software updates are resolved so quickly, after all.

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Galaxy Nexus Superboot Allows Quick & Easy Root

2011-11-22T21:35:00.001+01:00

Half the purpose of rooting your phone is to remove carrier bloatware and install the most updated OS versions that wouldn’t otherwise be supported on your phone. But with the Samsung Galaxy Nexus a Google Experience Phone without bloatware and the ONLY phone running Android 4.0 ICS, is there a need to “root”? Sure… and Paul from MoDaCo is helping you do that with his simple Superboot method.

It’s hardly “rooting” since Google ships the devices to knowingly allow root access, but first-time rooters might breathe a sigh of relief they don’t need to go to great lengths to get the job done. This doesn’t change anything though: you could still very easily break your phone and anything you do to your phone is at YOUR OWN RISK. We are in no way responsible.

However if you succeed, rooting will allow you deeper access to the OS for things like backing up apps/games/settings, altering application and system icons/themes/designs, overclocking and tweaking system resources, and more. For those who like to tinker, I suggest you visit our Galaxy Nexus Root Forums for more!

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Early Galaxy Nexus UI Patch Brings Always-Active Menu Buttons, Dedicated Search Button

2011-11-22T21:30:00.001+01:00

Paul from Modaco has updated the community on his latest Galaxy Nexus developments. This UI patch would allow users to set their navigation bar up so that it always shows a search button, a menu button on the left, a menu button on the right, both or all of them at the same time.

I’m sure many of you wouldn’t mind being able to customize this and we’re happy the development community has created an easy way to do it. You’ll need ADB, but everything else is pretty much straight forward from there. Find the instructions (installation and uninstall) and download links here.

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Android 4.0 is coming soon to the Samsung Galaxy tab 10.1 thanks to Cyanogen

2011-11-22T09:51:00.001+01:00

It certainly did not take long for the CyanogenMod team to get working on Android 4.0. Soon after the Ice Cream Sandwich source code was released, Cyanogen’s official Twitter account informed us that work had begun. We never thought results could show up so early, though.

Steve Kondik (aka Cyanogen) posted something very exciting on his Google+ accountlast night. It reads as follows:

ICS on the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is pretty great. Coming soon to a CM mirror near you :)STEVE KONDIKCyanogenMod

This pretty much means that the port to the Galaxy Tab 10.1 is at least close to being ready. Steve does state that the experience “is great,” so he is definitely getting a taste of some Ice Cream Sandwich right now. Expect the port to be available soon. As he states, they will be offering the files through their mirrors, so you might be running ICS on your tab very soon.

Try not to crack your knuckles or pull your hair too much. Let’s just wait and see when the CyanogenMod team can get us some ICS fun. We sure hope more devices get it soon, too. Who will be flashing ICS to their Samsung Galaxy Tab 10.1?

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YouTube's HTML5 Player Gets Better

2011-11-21T12:58:00.001+01:00

YouTube's HTML5 player has improved a lot lately and it's almost ready to replace the Flash player. You can enable annotations and captions, the contextual menu lets you copy the embedding code and the video's URL, YouTube now offers 480p and 1080p options for WebM videos and there's native full-screen support if you use a Firefox nightly build or Chrome's dev channel.

Bron

Ice Cream Sandwich lacks Flash support, will have it eventually

2011-11-21T10:20:00.001+01:00

We're not sure you'd necessarily consider this a bad thing, but Google's new world-beating Android phone, the Galaxy Nexus, comes without a preinstalled Flash Player and offers no option to download or install it from the Market. This is because, says Google, Adobe needs to update the software for Ice Cream Sandwich, which has yet to happen.

That puts us in rather a tricky situation since Adobe recently halted development of Flash for mobile platforms, although SlashGear — who first spotted the issue — has a statement from Google saying that "as far as we know, Adobe will support Flash for ICS." So Ice Cream Sandwich will likely still get the rich media capabilities that Flash provides, though we imagine it'll be the last new platform added to its list of supported operating systems. At least for the moment, though, it's a Flash-free world on the Galaxy Nexus and any other Android phone you may have managed to flash with an ICS ROM.

We didn't actually spot this issue during our review of the Galaxy Nexus, because we typically turn off browser plugins while conducting our tests, which usually disables Flash as well. The fact we enjoyed using the phone as much as we did without Flash Player probably tells you all you need to know about the sagacity of Adobe's recent decision.

Bron:http://www.theverge.com

[Download] Get The Ice Cream Sandwich Keyboard On Your Phone (Minus Voice Dictation), No Root Necessary

2011-11-21T08:08:00.001+01:00

For those who are anxious to get their hands on Ice Cream Sandwich, another bit of Android's newest iteration has slipped out. This time, we've got the ICS keyboard. While it doesn't include the live voice-to-text functionality we were impressed by at Google's announcement (though there are options related to the microphone button in the keyboard's settings), it does bring some nice improvements to the table over Gingerbread's keyboard. It's important to note that this keyboard is only compatible with phones (it doesn't play nice with tablets), and since the package isn't signed by Google, it's not exactly official. No threats have been discovered yet, but users should be aware of the risk. It's also worth mentioning that while many users have reported great performance, your mileage may vary.

Besides a visual facelift, the ICS keyboard has slightly enhanced prediction/correction functionality, which looks at not only the word you're typing, but those around it as well. Further, users can long-press a word suggestion to choose from a ton of other possibilities. The keyboard also suggests names from your contacts list if it thinks you're talking about a specific person.

For those worried about the keyboard's security, a user over at Reddit has kindly extracted the apk's manifest, revealing the following permissions:

VIBRATE
ACCESS_NETWORK_STATE
READ_USER_DICTIONARY
WRITE_USER_DICTIONARY
READ_CONTACTS
BIND_INPUT_METHOD
BIND_TEXT_SERVICE
ANDROIDSPELLCHECKERSERVICE
INPUT_LANGUAGE_SELECTION

Without further ado, you can grab the download here or here. Just install the apk, activate the keyboard from settings, set it as your input method, and enjoy!

Source: XDA via Reddit

Quad-core Exynos 4412 could power Samsung Galaxy SIII

2011-11-21T07:56:00.001+01:00

What kind of mobile processor will you find inside the Samsung Galaxy S III? Chances are it will be one of Samsung’s own Exynos application processors, but we still don’t know exactly which model will be used. According to the latest leak, we might get a quad-core beast. Read on for the full details.

The current Samsung processor used inside most versions of the Galaxy S II is the dual-core 1.2 GHz Exynos 4210. Samsung recently announced the newer dual-core 1.5 GHz Exynos 4212, but we don’t know if that will offer enough of a boost to be considered for the Galaxy S III. The Exynos 4212 is basically a more efficient 32nm version of the 4210, with 30 percent lower power-level and 50 percent higher 3D graphics performance over the previous processor generation from Samsung.

A more likely candidate for the Galaxy S III could be the newly discovered Exynos 4412, which is 32nm quad-core design with ARM Cortex-A9 cores running at speeds up to 1.5 GHz. Evidence of the new chip was spotted in the Linux Kernel archives and Samsung already appears to be testing it.

One of our regular tipsters informed me that Samsung has a few devices coming in early 2012 that will “blow minds” and they were a “big step past the Galaxy Nexus class, in every way.” Based on that description, I believe Samsung will likely go with a quad-core processor that includes a few surprises.

Hopefully one of those surprises will be an upgraded GPU. The Exynos 4210 featured the ARM Mali-400 GPU which offered the fastest graphics performance of any Android device when it debuted, but it has since been passed up by Apple’s A5 chip and its PowerVR SGX543MP2 GPU.

We expect that Samsung will use the Mali-T604 GPU, which delivers up to 5x performance improvement over previous Mali graphics processors and is scalable up to 4 cores. ARM announced this tri-pipe architecture GPU back in 2010 and Samsung was the first partner who gained access to it, but we have yet to see it being used.

At this stage we are just going to have to sit and wait, as Samsung isn’t expected to announce the Galaxy S III until next year at Mobile World Congress in late February. The quad-core Exynos 4412 CPU and Mali-T604 GPU sound like the perfect combination, so we will keep our fingers crossed.

Samsung might end up giving NVIDIA and their quad-core Tegra 3 some real competition with a more efficient process technology (32nm vs 40nm) and a more advanced GPU, but only time will tell.

Via: PocketNow

Source: git.kernel.org

Android 4.0: Security Holes in "Ice Cream Sandwich"

2011-11-20T14:02:00.001+01:00

Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” is imminent with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Nexus smartphone. Early reviews suggest that Android 4.0 is a cutting edge mobile OS with a variety of awesome features to look forward to. Some of those whiz-bang features come with potential security concerns, though.

According to Good Technology, a provider of multiplatform mobile management and security tools, Android 4.0 introduces some new security holes that users and IT admins need to be aware of. None of these are glaring security gaps that should cause you to run the other way or choose to avoid “Ice Cream Sandwich”, but you should at least know what the potential security risks are so you can take steps to defend against them.

Face Unlock is cool, but could also be a security issue for Android 4.0.On-Device Encryption

Support for on-device encryption is a good thing, but it also introduces a variable which can make the encryption on one Android device stronger than the encryption on the next one. Encryption is only as strong as the combination of the encryption algorithm used, how well the encryption keys are protected, and the strength of the password used to unlock it. If any of these is lacking, it becomes the weak link in the chain, and the Achilles heel of the encryption.

Email Copy and Paste

The ability to copy and paste from email could lead to data loss. IT admins in particular should be aware that it could be possible to take email content or data from file attachments and open it in third-party apps that may not provide the same level of security.

Facial Recognition Unlock

Face unlock is a cool feature. Android may be one of the first to implement it, but it is not the only OS considering facial recognition as a means of authentication. It is awesome for your smartphone or tablet to just recognize you and log you in without having to remember or type passwords or PINs, but if you can unlock the device with your face, so can someone else. A decent picture of you might be all someone needs to activate the facial recognition and access the Android device.

Android Beam

Users will appreciate the ability to wirelessly beam data and contacts from one Android device to another. But, if data is not encrypted in transit, there is potential for information to be exposed or intercepted in transit.

Capture Screen Shots

The ability to capture screen shots is a crucial function for a smartphone or tablet in my opinion. It helps for storing important information, and troubleshooting. As a tech writer, I need it so I can capture images of what I am talking about to use with my posts and articles. IT admins may not appreciate the feature as much, though, because screen capture can be a method of capturing sensitive data that can then be stored or shared in ways that can compromise it.

Android 4.0 “Ice Cream Sandwich” appears to be a phenomenal mobile platform with a variety of cool features and functions. Just make sure you are also aware of the security implications of some of those features so you can use ICS safely and avoid exposing or compromising your sensitive information.

By Tony Bradley, PCWorld

2011-07-18T15:27:00.001+02:00

This past week, HTC was dealt a minor setback when an ITC judge ruled HTC is in fact infringing on two patents held by Apple. The case in question was first presented last year when Apple filed a complaint against HTC claiming HTC’s Android devices were infringing on ten different patents held by Apple.

Patent #5,946,647 (a system and method causes a computer to detect and perform actions on structures identified in computer data) and #6,343,263 (a data transmission system having a real-time data engine for processing isochronous streams of data includes an interface device that provides a physical and logical connection of a computer to any one or more of a variety of different types of data networks) were both granted to Apple in 1999 and 2002, long before Apple’s iOS and Android were even a blip on the radar.

While many blogs and commenters have labeled this news as a doomsday scenario for HTC and other Android manufacturers, the initial ruling by the ITC judge is not yet final. The ruling must first be reviewed by a six-member ITC panel that will decide if HTC’s products do in fact infringe on Apple’s patents.

Even if ITC rules in favor of Apple, HTC is poised to do everything they can to continue to sell their Android powered devices. In HTC’s official response to the ITC ruling, HTC’s Grace Lei expressed, “We strongly believe we have alternate solutions in place for the issues raised by Apple. We look forward to resolving this case, so we can continue creating the most innovative mobile experiences for consumers.” Some speculate this could lead to even more Android fragmentation as manufactures recode the OS to work around Apple’s patents.

KDDI's mind-reading Android app monitors your brainstorms, or lack thereof... (video)

2011-07-18T14:47:00.002+02:00

Ready for an epic brainwave dance-off between Jobs' Jets and Rubin's Sharks? Well, put down your shivs and get back to that alpha state because it's gonna take a little while. Developed by KDDI's R&D labs, this prototype mind-monitoring, sensor-laden headband connects wirelessly to your Android device to let you know just how stressed out you are. All it takes is a simple 30-second game of "mash mash mash the little green robot" (amongst others) to translate your focused and relaxed states into an easily readable brain pattern chart. The tech's nothing we haven't already seen the ominously namedNeuroSky do for the iOS platform, but it should help to get those fanboy flames a-blazing. Of course, if mobile OS turf wars don't get your neurons in a tizzy, you could always spend half a minute thinking of your honey -- or actual honey. Whatever floats your neural boat. Video demonstration after the break

Hands-On: Spotify’s App Sounds Damn Good on Android

2011-07-18T13:17:00.002+02:00

Spotify is a veritable dream-come-true for music lovers.

Previously available only in Europe, the music service launched Thursday in the United States to much applause. On the service’s desktop client, you’re able to listen to any of up to 15 million hosted tracks, on demand, absolutely free.

But the real gem isn’t found on the desktop app: It’s on your phone.

Spotify’s U.S. release arrives with both Android and iOS apps, which allow you to stream music wirelessly to your smartphone, via either Wi-Fi or 3G connection. You’ve also got the ability to store music files locally on your phone, so you’ll be able to listen to tracks whether you’re online or not. That’s not possible with services like Google’s Music Beta or Amazon’s Cloud Player App, which require an active internet connection in order to stream music continuously.

So what about the app itself? Here’s our lowdown on the Android version so you can see us try it before you decide to buy.

First off, there’s one caveat: You’ll have to pay ten bucks a month to upgrade to the Premium version of the service in order to use the mobile apps at all. But ten bucks a month for all-you-can-listen access to a massive music library, whether you’re at home or on the go?

Another big bonus — you don’t need to own any of the music you’re streaming to your phone in order to listen to it. Spotify has deals with the four big record labels: EMI, Universal, Sony and Warner. The tunes on your home computer get mimicked to Spotify’s servers — without having to upload them as you do with Google and Amazon’s new music services.

And it’s compatible with at least 30 Android devices, as well as iOS, Windows Mobile and even Symbian-based phones; It’s got far more reach than any platform-dedicated cloud music service.

After you’ve created a Spotify account, signing in to the mobile app takes you to a black, minimal user interface, anchored by a menu bar at the bottom of the screen. The playlists tab separates your local music — or those tracks stored on the device itself — from custom playlists you’ve created. At the top is the “edit offline playlists” button, arguably one of the app’s best features. From here, you can decide which of your tracks in your cloud library you want synced to local storage on your phone.

Why is this such a big deal? First of all, no matter where in the States you may live, there’s not always readily available Wi-Fi or cellular connectivity. Think of your underground subway commute, or maybe a weekend getaway spot in the middle of nowhere. With Spotify’s offline listening option, you’re always covered.

Second, Spotify integrates songs you’ve searched for (but haven’t previously purchased) into your cache of existing music files, treating all your tracks as part of one synchronous library. There’s no need, for instance, to switch to iTunes or your Android music player for your already purchased tracks, while jumping over to Spotify for others.

It’s meant to make Spotify your primary music playing source on both desktop and mobile devices. No Google Music Beta, no iTunes, no Amazon — no sweat.

Though you’re able to store and play music locally on your phone, you’re not realistically going to be able to store massive amounts of music on limited smartphone disk space. That means more streaming, which means you’ll have to take into consideration your phone’s data plan.

Luckily, Spotify takes this into account, letting you tweak settings to limit bandwidth usage. Choose a lower audio bit rate for streaming music, and you’ll decrease the amount of data you’re transferring (though you’ll take a hit on sound quality). And make sure you check the box to only sync your music to local storage over a Wi-Fi connection, unless you’re ready to pay some serious overage fees to your wireless carrier.

The search tab is self-explanatory. The portal allows for browsing Spotify’s massive catalog by track, artist or album title, and we’ve found it damn comprehensive.

Although to be sure, there are some glaring omissions: Songs from bands who are notorious for tightly guarding their catalogue rights — The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Metallica — are nowhere to be found, with only tracks from god-awful cover bands to fill their stead. That may be a dealbreaker for you, but really, how many times do you need to listen to Abbey Road?

The ‘what’s new’ tab adds a social element to the app, split into three further category tabs at the top of the screen. The ‘what’s new’ and ‘top tracks’ categories are fairly straightforward, as they’re basically lists of recent additions to Spotify’s catalog and the most popular songs at the moment, respectively.

Let Spotify connect to your Facebook account, and the third ‘feed’ tab is a bit more fun. It’s literally a newsfeed of the music your friends are sharing on Facebook. Right now my feed is sparse, as I’ve only a handful of European Facebook friends using the service, and even fewer U.S.-based Spotify pals. If it takes off, however, I’ll soon know which friends of mine I’d go to shows with, and which ones have musical tastes that mean I’ll never look at them the same again.

Afraid your friends will peep your expansive collection and see something you’d rather them not? Don’t worry, Spotify included a way to share only the playlists you want to make public, so your Bieber-fever can forever remain a well-kept secret.

It’s worth noting that competing service Rdio has most everything Spotify offers, not to mention Rdio has been available in the states for almost a full year. But with a music catalog that beats Rdio by more than 40 percent, Spotify’s lofty aspirations are promising.

Of course, we can only wait and see what sort of traction the service makes in the States. If the Android app is any indicator, we can see Spotify living up to the hype.

Android: Who is worse, Google or the OEMs?

2011-07-18T12:53:00.002+02:00

Now that I have your attention, I’d like to shed some light on what inspired this tirade I am about to display. Recently I purchased aSamsung Galaxy Tab 10.1 Android tablet. Regular readers will remember that I previously owned a Motorola Xoom tablet, which I have since passed on to Jason Perlow.

I love the hardware on the Galaxy Tab. It’s thin, it’s light, it’s comfortable to hold. The display is sharp and bright, and the battery life is excellent. The power adapter uses a proprietary connector, but at least that connector goes into a fairly standard 5 volt, 2 amp USB brick that can be used to charge pretty much any device that gets its juice through a USB cable.

On July 12, however, my love of all things Samsung came crashing down upon me as I suddenly discovered that my shiny new tablet was misbehaving–badly.

The highly touted bookmark sync between the desktop Chrome browser and Android 3.x Honeycomb tablets had stopped working. It was causing the automated background synchronization process between the tablet and all Google services to crash.

It turns out that at some point Google started making some changes to the backend systems that handle Google’s user account data. There’s nothing wrong with them doing this; it happens all the time. In fact, no other Android 3.1 tablets had any issues at all with the changes, and their bookmark sync continued to work without a blip on the radar.

Not Samsung, however. I’ve discussed the issue with a number of people, including Howard Burgess, author of the ChromeMarks for Android app. Howard tells me that the ability to push the bookmarks from his app into the Samsung browser stopped working on July 12.

I also discovered that the PhoneMarks app, which provides similar functionality, is also having issues operating properly on Samsung devices. When I tried to run it on my tablet, the app would continually crash as it tried to access the Google data backend.

So what does this mean? Well, I did some digging around the internet, and it’s become somewhat well-known amongst Android developers that Samsung actually modifies core source code in the Android operating system that handles communicating with Google’s backend data services.

Say WHAT?

Yes, that is correct. Just head over to the XDA Developers forum and search for yourself. There are people complaining about modifications to the browser, the backend communications issues, and more.

What really bothers me about this is that while it is important for OEMs to make sure the software functions properly with the hardware, Samsung is changing code they should not be touching at all. What made their developers think they know better than Google what goes on with their backend services? Samsung can’t even get their own OTA update services for their devices working properly; they shouldn’t be messing with the core communication software that connects to a service they have no access to whatsoever.

It’s not just Samsung doing this, although currently they seem to be the worst offender. Motorola and HTC respectively put out heavily modified kernels for Android that include their Motoblur and SenseUI interfaces. Samsung does the same with TouchWiz. Some people love these custom launcher/skinned interfaces for their phones and tablets. I even tried the leaked TouchWiz 4 interface from Samsung for my tablet.

Then again, some people don’t love them. Most of the time they add an extra layer of apps that are pre-loaded into memory, causing an unnecessary burden on the CPU and decreasing battery life. I liked the TouchWiz widgets, but didn’t like the modification of the browser. I was annoyed by its tendency to load apps I didn’t use into memory, and couldn’t even block from loading. Also, over time, my tablet became more and more unstable the longer the TouchWiz interface was running.

Here’s the thing: When I was running the Motorola Xoom tablet, I had none of these problems. Why? Because it’s Google’s flagship tablet device. As such, they are not allowed to modify the operating system in any way. It has to be plain vanilla Android. As such, it was quite stable when I used it–after the Honeycomb 3.1 update, of course.

Non-flagship devices are not limited by this restriction, which means the OEMs can do whatever they want to them. And that results in the issues I experienced with my tablet. I should point out that I was finally able to sync my bookmarks to my tablet, but I have to do it manually. If I keep the automated bookmark sync option enabled in my tablet settings, it will crash the sync process every single time it runs.

So who’s at fault here? I’m inclined to just swing wildly and include everyone involved. Samsung modified core operating system functionality when they should have left well enough along. Google didn’t stop any of the OEMs from fiddling with things that should have been outside their permission to mess with.

Also, Google hasn’t released the Honeycomb source code–I would love to see the folks from CyanogenMod get a hold of it so they could release a stable, vanilla firmware for all tablets. Samsung provides a website where developers can test their code, but their website is broken so you can’t create a new account to test your code.

At this point I am in total agreement with Jason in that these devices need to have a low-level hypervisor that interfaces between disparate OEM hardware and a standardized version of Android. Stop letting the OEMs make decisions about the operating system.

Android 3.2 Honeycomb SDK released

2011-07-18T10:50:00.002+02:00

Bored Android developer looking for something to do with your Monday morning? Google has you covered, releasing the Android 3.2 Honeycomb SDK. Tipped as fast-incoming back in late June, andsince arriving for XOOM users, the updated version adds support for 7-inch Honeycomb tablets in addition to official microSD compatibility and other functionality.

The screen size support will open the door to more flexibility in Android slates, with tablets like theHuawei MediaPad offering an in-betweener display option between phones and 8.9-inch tablets like theLG G-Slate. There’s also an interesting new “compatibility zoom” option, intended to make viewing smartphone apps on tablet hardware more pleasant. Rather than simply stretching the app to fill the screen, Android 3.2 can use pixel-scaling.

Google has thrown in some API changes, too, along with releasing new versions of the SDK Tools, a newEclipse plug-in and updated NDK. If you don’t know what that all means then don’t worry; just expect to see more tablet-suited apps hitting the Android Market as developers get to grips with the new abilities on offer.

Preview: Google+ Mobile

2011-07-18T10:44:00.002+02:00

It's bad form to roll out a new service without some kind of mobile app available. As expected, Google rolled out a mobile app with its beta of the Google+ social network -- an app for the Android platform.

Google was wise to launch this app along with its limited-use service. The service will need debugging from every direction before a mass rollout. I tried out the Android application on two different phones--a stock LG Optimus T running Android 2.2 and a rooted Motorola Cliq XT running CyanogenMod 7.0.3 (Android 2.3.3).

Excepting an issue with photos I'll discuss below, the app ran smoothly on both phones. Here's the main menu for the Google + app for Android. It's clean and simple.

On launch, the app presents your choice of Stream, Huddle, Photos, Circles or User Profile -- each selectable via a large icon.

The Stream view is a miniaturized version of the full website. Here you find tools at top for adding a post, taking a picture or choosing a nearby location. Your stream sits below. Swipe to the right and you get any nearby public activity. Swipe to the left and you see the incoming feed. It works intuitively.

Here's a stream view with posts and comments. The stream updates itself automatically and it allows you to force a reload if you think you've lost connectivity. That's a nice feature.

Notifications are confined to notification-only pages.

The mobile app aims to allow sharing of photos you take with the device. Notice the arrow to the right of "Friends." Use it to select the circles of contacts -- family, acquaintances and so on -- you want to share the photo with. Obviously, you want to share your photos with some groups and not others. With this, Google gives a welcome nod to user privacy.

The pencil icon brings up a text box for sharing posts, location data or photos. Tap the photo icon to either snap a new picture or select one from the photos already on your camera or in your Picasa albums.

Photosharing is the single most addictive feature of the app -- and possibly of all Google +. It's well designed, too. You decide when uploads take place. For instance, you're able to set them only during WiFi connections and only when the phone's plugged in and charging. That makes it easy to go out, snap bunches of pictures, add comments, and automatically upload them from a data connection that doesn't penalize you $1.99 a MB for overage fees. Nice touch.

Program options include several other ways to constrain uploads as the situation requires.

I should note that the behavior of the camera app varied between the two phones. On my LG, invoking the camera function from Google + did not work automatically to share or add with Picasa, as I expected it would. I had to select the newly-snapped picture manually from the phone's album. Whether that is a limitation around the way LG implemented its camera in Android is still unclear. The app on the rooted Motorola phone, you see, ran as I expected. I'll be following this up over time and talking to Google and LG.

Managing circles via the mobile app works well. I could accomplish almost anything with circles on the mobile app as I can on the full social app site.

Most of the functionality you'd find on Google +'s main site is available through the app -- this includes managing who belongs in what circles. Suitably, the interfaces for doing that is greatly simplified in the mobile app.

I found only two main areas where the mobile app didn't match the full site in functionality. I couldn't edit my user profile or use Hangout, the Google + real-time webcam chat system. The latter matched expectations -- I never expected the app to do that on my mobile devices.

I was able to use Huddle -- the text chat system -- however I found the system to act strangely once I had the app on more than one mobile device. My posts only showed up on the device I made them on. Here is another area where I'll be following up with Google. It just isn't clear if this is a limitation of the service or a bug in the app. It's early yet.

Huddle, the instant real-time chat system in Google +, is available in the mobile app. Hangout, the video-conferencing system, isn't. At least not yet.

For the most part, I found the Google + app to be surprisingly stable, even in this early 1.0 incarnation. A minor bug involving malformed dates on pictures in galleries was fixed almost immediately with a point upgrade.

I did experience a crash involving the use of a contact who was only available via email -- that is, someone who didn't have a formal Google + account -- but the app recovered immediately where it left off after the crash. That's impressive at this early an incarnation.

Here's the mobile browser version of the Google + site's main page. Find most all the functionality of the full site listed here. You can collapse the list of additional Google services.

If you're on a device that has no native-app support yet -- this includes BlackBerry, Windows, Nokia/Symbian or an iOS platform where an app is still under wraps -- there's an easy workaround. Just fire up a web browser and use the mobile version of the Google + site--that's m.google.com/plus.

It's remarkably similar to the app--or, maybe, I should say the app is similar to the mobile site. If you want the full website experience, you just switch from the mobile version to the desktop version with a link at the bottom of the main page. Again, most of the same functions are present -- management of circles and so on -- but minus the slick feel of the full website's interface.

Like the service itself, the Google+ app is in its infancy. Yet I found it to be already pretty solid and useful. It's hard not to imagine what this will look like at a tablet form factor, where integrated video will work out the gate and really shine. All in all, Google's so far showing excellent work in its mobile app design.

Arduino delivers Android and Ethernet toys for all the good little DIYers

2011-07-15T23:14:00.000+02:00

It's like Christmas in July Arduino fans. The Italian open-source hardware platform just scored a number of new add-ons and a pair of fresh iterations that are sure to keep you tinkering and hacking for some time. First up is the Arduino Ethernet -- which, as you may have guessed -- sports an onboard Ethernet jack. You'll probably want to pick up a USB Serial Adapter to program the ATmega328 chip but, once you've loaded your code, it can be hooked up to the web without the need for a Ethernet shield -- and an optional PoE (Power over Ethernet) module means you'll only need one cable for all you net-connected projects. The DIY scene's favorite microcontroller was also blessed with the new Arduino ADK board, a take on Google's accessory development platform. And, if you're not sure where to get started, you can pick up an entire kit for €249 (about $352) that includes not only the ADK board, but a huge pile of sensors and components, and the Mega Sensor Shield to arrange them on. The ADK alone will run you €59 ($83), while the Arduino Ethernet costs €39.90 ($56) with an additional €14.90 ($21) for the PoE module. Can you say a synonym for awesome?

Groupon offers KIRF iPad for $248, proves it's the best deals site in the universe

2011-07-15T22:38:00.001+02:00

Why does one thumb its nose at a $6 billion offer from Google? 'Cause you can make a mighty fine sum from hawking Android-equipped KIRF iPads, apparently.

Google to launch music marketplace?

2011-07-15T21:19:00.000+02:00

When Google announced Google Music back in May, there was a huge feature missing from the service: the ability to buy songs right from inside Google Music. The main reason Google wasn’t able to add this was due to licensing deals. Basically, the company couldn’t reach a deal with music labels, so it decided to launch the service anyway without song purchasing abilities.
There other features missing from Google Music, as well. One of those is song recognition. This would let Google Music recognize the songs you have on your computer and put them in your Google Music library without actually uploading the files. Both song recognition and song purchasing require a licensing deal with music companies, and it looks like Google has managed to get them at last.

What you see below is a screenshot of the new Market app’s resources. As you can see, these are most of the graphics the app uses to draw buttons at runtime. Hidden among the sea of buttons are a handful of graphics that don’t quite fit in. And they are the Music buttons.
These colored shopping bag icons are used in the Android Market to distinguish between different sections inside the app. The Movies sections has a red shopping bag, the app section has a green one, the Books section is blue, and it looks like the music section will have an orange shopping bag. Fun fact: that orange color is the same one used on the Google Music website.

What does this mean? Well, it could mean one of two things. First theory, Google already came to an agreement with music companies and it’s now working on adding these features. If this is the case, we could see Google make an announcement any moment now. The second explanation could be that Google hasn’t reached an agreement yet, but is getting ready to add the features the second they sign the deals. In this scenario, there’s no way to know when the company will be able to add these features. It could be this week, next month or next year.
Either way, we’re surely getting closer to the day when we’ll be able to buy songs or sing up for a subscription with Google Music. Coincidentally, this week we saw the emergence of yet another music service. After bringing years of enjoyment to our European brothers, Spotify is now available here in the US. Does Spotify’s ability to finally come to the US means music labels are being more open-minded about music streaming services? Who knows? But if I were a betting man, I’d say Google is about to make some pretty big announcements about Google Music.