Google sends Android into space

It was only ever a matter of time before Android colonised space. As part of a project to collect data from the edge of Earth's atmosphere, Google sent a series of Nexus S phones up into sub orbit using helium balloons. All of the footage from space of the little green robot was captured using the Nexus S. Looks like that phone has a pretty good camera. I wonder if anyone found the Android that broke away on re-entry, or whether he's still floating around out there?



Source: Mashable

Android Market updated - publishers and developers rejoice

Google have announced on their Android Developers Blog that they will be adding new features to Android Market, to improve things for both consumers and developers/publishers. In their own words,

"this new Market client introduces important features that improve merchandising of applications, streamline the browse-to-purchase experience, and make it easier for developers to distribute their applications."





Sounds great, so what's new?

• New categories for widgets and live wallpapers.
• Related apps features on individual app pages.
• Single page view on app pages, rather than tabbed.
• Refund window reduced to 15mins.
• App file size limit upped to 50mb.

The reduction of the refund window and the increased file size limit are clearly meant to appeal to games developers, who have voiced their concern about publishing into Android Market before. It's great to see Google improving on some of the known issues within the Market. Let's hope that this is the beginning of lots of updates that address the problems with purchasing and selling apps on Google's platform in 2011.

Source: Android Developers Blog

HTML5 vs Native Apps: Google Debate

I get asked quite often whether HTML5 is going to mean the end to apps. Normally, I respond that this isn't a clear cut answer, because different tech giants want different things for the future. One can imagine Google wanting a browser only future, but apps are so important to Apple that you can't believe they'd abandon a model that is earning so much revenue for them.

What do the experts think? Well, Google's Reto Meier and Michael Mahemoff recently debated HTML5 or Native for Mobile Development? at the Google Developer Day in Prague.

Angry Birds generating $1m per month on Android for Rovio

Rovio's Mighty Eagle Peter Vesterbacka talks about the success that his company are having with Angry Birds in a video for Google's AdMob team. One of the most amazing things that he reveals is the amount of revenue that their freemium model is generating on the Android platform, which he states will be $1m per month by the end of 2010. That's on over 5m downloads at the time of filming, but given that Angry Birds in now up to 7m downloads on Android, I'd expect that they've already surpassed that target.




Other interesting information in the video:

Retention
App retention rates are important. Angry Birds is at 80% retention. Focus on retention and not disposable apps.

Engagement
Time spent in your app is massive for advertising potential. There's no point going for the ad model if your app isn't engaging. Angry Birds users spend 65m minutes a day playing the game. That is insane!

Other revenue streams
Are there other revenue streams that you can access from your app? Rovio are launching a range of Angry Birds toys. Obviously, there's no point releasing a plush doll for your tube planner app, but alternative merchandising should be considered.

Source: Tech Crunch

There's an app for that

Here's an introductory presentation that I put together for Random House on apps. It was a great excuse to really plug the Android platform.

There's an app for that - An introduction to mobile apps on Prezi

id's John Carmack reveals Rage HD app coming to Android soon

id's Rage HD app for iOS is one hell of a great game and a demonstration that mobile gaming has a serious future, it's not just going to be all about casual games. The good news for Android fans is that id's John Carmack has revealed that they're working on Rage HD for Android as well.

What's the hold-up? Well, it seems that fragmentation is proving to be the little green robot's metal Achilles's heal once more. In Carmack's own words, "there's a lot of things with how the distribution platform works and the diversity of the platforms that you have to target, where things are still much, much nicer on the iOS world."

It will be interesting to see just how long it takes id to overcome the fragmentation issues on Android and what monetisation strategy they employ with Rage HD in the Android Market. Surely, there's no way they'd go down the Angry Bird's free with ads route. I'd guess id will maintain exactly the same pricing policy and two app strategy on Android as on iOS.

Personally, I've chosen to embrace Android fragmentation and ignore the critics. The benefits - lots of brilliant devices for consumers to choose from - clearly outweigh the negatives - pain for developers. I can't wait to play Rage HD on Android. I'll pay for it and promote it as much as possible to other users.

Source: Engadget

Android Market updates announced by Google - Is a browser-based Market coming soon?

Google have spent Friday 17th November updating the Android Market experience. Here are a list of the new features:

- A “feature” graphic, landscape aspect ratio, 1024 x 500 (required).
- A high-res icon, 512 x 512 (required).. The Android icon design guidelines located at http://developer.android.com/guide/practices/ui_guidelines/icon_design.html apply.
- 2 screen shots, 320w x 480h, 480w x 854h, or 480w x 800h, increasing to 8 screen shots in the future (1 required).
- A link for a promotional video hosted on YouTube (optional).

Does this mean a new browser-based Android Market is on the way?

The additional screen shots, feature graphic and high-res icons suggests that Google is preparing developers for a browser-based version of the Android Market. This will be very welcome news if true, as it will hopefully help to solve some key problems for consumers and developers when it comes to finding great apps.

Android Market isn't searchable on the web. Doesn't this strike you as ironic given that Google has probably done more than any other company in human history to help make information more discoverable? Being able to search and discover apps on your browser would be a big step forward for Android.

Lower the barriers to purchasing apps. People are more comfortable entering their credit card details into a website than their phones at the moment. If Google can integrate Google Checkout efficiently into the browser-based Android Market and create a smooth process for signing-up, they will significantly reduce that first barrier to people actually buying apps. It isn't mobile billing yet, but it would be a good start.

Fingers crossed.

Source: MobileCrunch

Sharp's Lnyx naked-eye 3D phone hits Japan next month

Remember that post when I mentioned Android 3D phones were on the way? Well, it turns out they are arriving faster than I expected. NTT Docomo are going to start selling Sharp's Lnyx 3D phone in a few weeks from now. It's running Android 2.1 and presents a 3D image to the user without the need for glasses.

Here's a video of the Lynx in action:



For more information on specs head to MobileCrunch.

UsTwo's Grallery app makes my mobile into a work of art

I can't tell you how impressed and excited I am to discover an app called Grallery, by creative app pioneers usTwo. They've turned my HTC Desire into a work of art.

  

How Grallery works

Grallery is a satellite app for usTwo's wallpaper creation tool for iPad, Granimator.  Artists create wallpapers on the iPad app and Grallery becomes a distribution tool for their work.  Grallery has a really simple, but beautiful and addictive, tile interface for browsing the available wallpapers. I'd also like to mention the fantastic interaction sounds that the app makes use of, a satisfying click whenever you select an image. After about 10 minutes of deliberation, I finally selected a wallpaper for my phone and I know I'll be updating it constantly.

Collaborative media potential

I think that the collaborative relationship that usTwo have created between two apps is a hint towards the future of digital creation and distribution. Developers should think more about apps that have a symbiotic relationship with each other. Granimator is the app for professionals, while Grallery brings it to the masses. I'd love to see this kind tool developed for authors and filmmakers.

Google Mobile tweet up Gingerbread treats

Google Mobile set Android blogs buzzing yesterday with a tweet featuring this picture.

Looks like a tasty update is on the way soon. And to think that some people are still waiting for Froyo.

Tablets owners more likely to purchase books

Nielsen have released some interesting stats on the different app purchasing behaviours of iPad users compared to iPhone users. It's been well know for some time already that iPad owners are willing to pay a premium for apps, but it also now seems that the larger screen alters what content they are interested in.

Books fair badly on the iPhone, with Apptizr reporting that they make up only 3% of total paid for app sales. It's a different story on the iPad though, according to Nielsen's Connected Devices: Does the iPad Change everything report, with books being second only to games in terms of the apps that people are paying for. It's nice to think that books have a bright future in the tablet space.

Some nice tables:

 

Source: Nielsen

Microsoft drop the 7 for Windows Phone ads. Good thinking

I've never understood why Microsoft insisted on referring to their new mobile platform as Windows Phone 7, which led to some very confusing mobile names. Try saying the Windows Phone 7 HTC HD7. I also wondered what would happen come the next phase of devices. Would they stick with Windows Phone 7? Wouldn't that make people think the platform wasn't being updated? What was so bad about Windows Phone?

Anyway, it turns out that their marketing gurus were probably thinking the same thing as the new adverts for the platform have dropped the 7. Good thinking Microsoft. People don't need to be confused.

Nielsen stats show Android still fastest growing mobile platform, with the youngest audience

The latest stats from Nielsen show that Android's growth wasn't dented release of the iPhone 4. In fact, Apple's new device simply helped iOS not lose share.

Blackberry 30%
Apple 28%
Android 19%

Given the strengths of the Android and iOS mobile platforms, I can see both living comfortably with 30% + share of the smartphone market. It will be interesting watching how Windows Phone performs over the next 6 months. Given Microsoft's huge marketing budget, will it be able to achieve the kind of spectacular growth that Apple and Google have achieved?

Android's audience is younger
Those same Nielsen stats also show that the Android platform has a younger audience than its competitors. This is most likely the result of Google's open approach. That much maligned fragmentation allows for cheaper Android device options and more affordable allows you to reach a younger demographic.

Source: Mashable

My top 10 Android apps

1. Angry Birds
Lives up to the hype. Very addictive. Beautifully simple game play.

2. Kindle for Android
It's easier reading books on your phone than you might think. I read the entire Girl Who Kicked the Hornets Nest ebook on my Desire and enjoyed even page. Very cheap books.

3. Aldiko
Brilliant for free books and a really nice library system for storing them. All of my Cory Doctrow reading is done here.

4. Engadget
The gadget kings have the quality app you would expect. Addictive.

5. Pulse
I've posted before about how good this app is. A truly beautiful way of browsing your RSS feeds. It also caches a lot of data, so works nicely on the tube.

6. TweetDeck
 Combines your Twitter, Facebook, Buzz and Foursquare accounts together brilliantly.

7. AppAware
How do you find new apps in the clunky Android Market? AppAware is how.

8. Robot13
Fantastic free comic reader. The comic itself isn't bad either.

9. Galcon
Practice your Adama moves in this old school space strategy game.

10. Watchdog
How do you know which apps are behaving badly on your phone and draining resources? The Watchdog will keep an eye on them for you.

Android media players finally arrive, thanks to Samsung and Creative

With all this hype around tablets you tend to forget that people still like good old media players to listen to music on. Personally, I don't use my HTC Desire as my music player, as it would kill the battery and the phone doesn't have enough memory to store all my music. Of course I can upgrade the mircoSD card, but I need over 32g and that isn't going to come cheap. The irony that in a world of convergence devices I'll still end up with a phone, tablet and MP3 player isn't lost on me. At least there are some nice devices on the way though.

Samsung Galaxy Player 50
Samsung's player looks like a proper competitor to the iPod Touch, with

Android 2.1, a 3.2-inch display and a 2-megapixel camera, plus Wi-Fi and GPS. The 16G version will retail for around £200, so it won't be too expensive either. Plus, that memory is expandable thanks to a microSD slot.

Creative Zen Touch 2

 
Having owned a Creative Zen, I have a soft spot for these guys. If the screen wasn't resistive touch, I'd probably buy one. In any case, I'll definitely test one out when they are released in the UK. It's the cheaper option of the two devices, with the most expensive 16G version priced at £150. Looks great, but touch resisitive...

Droidcon Day 2: Does Android have a dude problem?

Day 2 at Droidcon was a more traditional conference, with presentations and guest speakers.

She's in the 5%

Does Android have a dude problem?
Lady Geek's Belinda Parmar made a compelling case that Android is failing to get its message across to women. Quoting a report from UGov, Parmar pointed out that 57% of women admit to wanting an iPhone as their next mobile, but only 5% want an Android phone. Why can't the green robot communicate with women?

Google doesn't tell a consistent story like Apple.
Steve Jobs didn't found Pixar for nothing, he is a beautiful and compelling storyteller.  Apple created the app and tablet revolution by telling consumers stories about how these products will benefit their lives. Watch any Apple commercial and you can't fail to get the message, apps are fun and magical. Steve Job's introduction of the iPad is text book storytelling, he explains the "extraordinary" things the device does and why it is better than the devices it replaces.

Compare Apple's approach to the way Google market Android. Oh wait, they don't market Android at all.

Phone manufacturers can't be trusted to do advertising
Instead Google leave it to mobile phone manufacturers to promote Android, which results in adverts like this.



Now the Droid may have been a massive success for Motorola and the ad campaign must have worked, but it doesn't explain the benefits of Android and it alienates women. I've noticed that female responses to Android tend to be that it is geeky, that the phones are masculine or that they don't know what it is at all. Google really should start promoting the Android brand, as the phone manufacturers aren't going to do it for them.

Android is geeky
The girls are right you know, Android is very geeky. As an Android fanboy, I realise that we're too obsessed with phone specs and hardware. But that little robot is very cool as well. Look at some of the ways that Android's community use and re-brand him. He could do a great job explaining what Android is all about and we should help him. It is about openness, apps and phones that make us truly connected to the internet and help solve our problems.

Women want apps to solve problems
Belinda Parmar explained that although women love the iPhone, the majority who buy one don't actually then buy any apps. Those who do, buy apps that help them solve problems and are useful, as opposed to entertainment apps like games and books.

Android Market doesn't make it easy for non-geeks to buy apps
I know that I drone on about this a lot, but Android Market isn't exactly making it easy for people to buy apps. Until Google sorts out a one-click purchasing solution for the Market, women (and men who aren't geeky enough to figure out how to set up an account on Google Checkout) will continue not to purchase from it.

Google and phone manufacturers should work out how to reach women, because they're missing out on £0.6bn in revenue
Is that not reason enough to start marketing the platform properly to women?

Droidcon Day 2: Mobile trends that might surprise you

Day 2 at Droidcon was a more traditional conference, with presentations and guest speakers.






Mobile trends that might surprise you
Comscore's Jeremy Copp delivered some very interesting mobile trends that reminded me that I'm not the typical digital consumer.

• Only 25% of mobile owners in Europe browse the web
• Only 25% of mobile owners in Europe use apps
• But there were 15.3m extra mobile media consumers in 2010

The growth in mobile media consumption is being driven by social networking, with more people now accessing Facebook on mobile devices than via PCs.

Google is powerful on mobile, but not as powerful as on PC.

• 41% of mobile owners use their device for web searches
• 90% of PC owners use their device for web searches

Android is growing rapidly.

• The Android OS experienced 1329% growth YoY

Some things you might not realise about mobile.

• UK mobile users access Facebook for over 2,600,000,000 minutes per month
• 75% of mobile users in Europe don't use apps. That's a lot of room for growth in apps.
• UK mobile audiences consume 10bn page views per month on mobile browsers
• Only 38% of Symbian users use apps, compared to 90% on Apple and Android. Tells you a lot about the apps available to Nokia owners.
• About 11m European users access dating sites a month on their mobiles. Weird!

Worldometers delivers a statistical headshot

The Worldometers website is an amazing example of the power of raw statistics to make you very scared. Part of the Real Time Statistics Project, which has the goal of making world statistics available in a thought-provoking and time relevant format to a wide audience around the world, it delivers a stream of numbers to users. Watching the carbon dioxide total race away is truly terrifying.

Droidcon Day 2: Environment aware smartphones are coming soon

Day 2 at Droidcon was a more traditional conference, with presentations and guest speakers.



Environment aware smartphones are coming soon
Qualcomm's Leon Farasati, basically the guy responsible for those awesome Snapdragon processors that make our phones so brilliant, revealed in his talk that mobiles intelligent enough to recognise their environment and situation were very close to being real. This means that your next generation smartphone will know when it's in your handbag or pocket, beside your bed or in your car and alter its settings to reflect its surroundings. Amazing.

Droidcon Day 1: Peer-to-Peer (P2P) apps coming to Android

The first day at Droidcon was a barcamp in which the community proposed talks and presentations were free-styled. There were some common themes that emerged, here's one of them.


Apps that make use of peer-to-peer on smartphones are coming soon
Several presentations at Droidcon featured P2P applications and extensions of the Android platform. We're likely to see an explosion of apps that make use of P2P in the games arena especially, but this type of functionality could also be used on the Amazon Kindle app for Android to share comments, bookmarks and features. Wouldn't it be great to be able to share extracts from books and lists of what you're reading with other friends with the Kindle app?

One barrier to P2P on smartphones is the power draining problems of bluetooth, but the next generations of phones will have improved wireless connectivity that will use far less power. One very interesting talk by Nick Hunn explored how this new technology would usher in an age of Android phones that linked to satellite devices that communicate with one another, such as a pedometer, a house alarm  or your car instruments. Your phone would become a data aggregation hub and really start to monitor your every move. Cool. 

Droidcon Day 1: Earning money from apps in Android Market

The first day at Droidcon was a barcamp in which the community proposed talks and presentations were free-styled. There were some common themes that emerged, here's one of them.



It's tougher to make money selling apps than you think
Forget the hype, the truth is that it's actually very difficult for developers to make serious money selling apps, unless you're a game. The average iPhone app earns around $6000 over a two year period for its developer. With its bias towards free apps and high barrier to first purchase (Google Checkout), Android is even tougher. Apps featured on the Android Market homepage generally earn around $400 per day.

However, it's not all doom and gloom. Some apps are doing very well and generating serious money for their developers, especially games. Developers are increasingly looking at innovative ways to generate revenue from their apps. Here are two such methods:

Freemium
When Rovio came to publish Angry Birds on the Android platform they decided not to charge for the app, but to include advertising within the game. Angry Birds sells for 99p on iTunes (at time of writing), so we're not talking about a high price point here. The strategy worked, with Angry Birds receiving 1m downloads on Android on day after release. Some estimate that it might now be up to 10m downloads on Android.

Location based ads
Currently, only Google makes money out of Maps. How can developers make money from location apps? CloudMade have created a location-based advertising platform, which replaces Google Maps and will deliver advertising to any application that uses it.

Droidcon Day 1: Fragmentation of Android Market, opportunity or problem?

The first day at Droidcon was a barcamp in which the community proposed talks and presentations were free-styled. There were some common themes that emerged, here's one of them.

Fragmentation of Android Market. An opportunity for developers?
There isn't one Android Market anymore. One of the most noticeable things at Droidcon was the amount of new app stores that are opening up on the Android platform. Vodafone Developer Platform and Orange App Store were both using the event to build awareness of their new markets for applications. I tested Samsung Galaxy S on the Orange stand which had no less than three app stores on the device, Android Market, Samsung Apps and Orange App store.

How should I feel about this?


Worried
Fragmenting the app stores will confuse consumers. One Android Market presents a clear message to the public. Apple understands why this is important and tells a consistent story to people about its products. Android unfortunately does not. This will just lead to more confusion.

People don't want to have to hunt around in different stores for different apps. Imagine if Angry Birds was only available in the Orange App Store and non-Orange customers couldn't download it? This is a nightmare senario for Android.

Submission rules. Mobile operators aren't as relaxed as Google about the apps that are uploaded to their stores. Android's famed openness will challenged if app censorship becomes commonplace in third party app stores.


Optimistic
Operator billing for paid apps. Both Vodafone and Orange will provide on-click purchasing of apps in their stores, with the payments appearing in the phone owner's next bill. This is a brilliant feature and something Google should be doing in Android Market. It's fantastic to see a serious barrier to consumers paying for apps being addressed, which will give developers the chance to earn more money from Android.

The operators will pay the tax for you. Again, this removes a serious barrier for large content and media companies from developing apps for Android, who just can't ignore the payment of taxes within different territories.

New opportunities for promotion. There's no question that Vodafone and Orange reach a lot of customers. The chance to have your app featured in their stores will be enticing to app developers.

Growth of Android. If operators are seriously committing to Android in this way, it can only be good for the platform's growth. Mobile operators will want to earn money from their app stores, so will advertise the Android devices that can host their stores. This will lead to increased Android phone sales, which can only be a good thing.

Aggregate the stores
Google could turn all of these new stores into something really powerful if they used Android Market as an app aggregator. Apps from Orange, Vodafone and Samsung stores would be visible within Android Market, but clearly branded as being from the third party partner.  Users would download the app from the third party store. Both sides would get the benefits from promotion and more apps being available.  If users were able to browser through all available Android apps within Android Market this would also solve all of the concerns about fragmentation.

HTC Desire HD Engadget review, oh no

  

I've been waiting for Engadget's review of the HTC Desire HD with dread, fearful of that horrible thought that eats away at all smartphone owners, "my phone is no longer the best, the fastest, the newest or the coolest". Today, it arrived...

But it turns out that I'm okay, the HTC Desire HD isn't the Robocop meets Terminator phone that I thought it was going to be. It sounds like the battery can't handle all of that power. Does that make the HD Roy Batty?

I'm glad in a way, because I totally love my HTC Desire. I always thought it was as close to perfection as a smartphone could be and now it turns out that I was right.

 

Droidcon London

I'm immersing myself in all things Android app at Droidcon over the next two days. The handy schedule on the Droidcon app has helped me put together the following highlights.

Create killer location apps

Excellence in Android app experience

Best of UK mobile business

Android had a dude problem

Turn good ideas into great apps

The economics of apps

I'll blog notes from each presentation.

Let's carousel - Alphonso Lab's Pulse app is a great way to organise your favourite feeds

More apps should help us to organise the content that we like from the web. Pulse is a fantastic app that displays stories from your favourite feeds in an innovative and engaging way. Why download apps for each individual blog or website that you enjoy when one app can take care of it all for you?

I like
The image driven story carousels are a great way to organise a large amount of content on my HTC Desire's small screen.  Swiping to rotate the stories has me immediately engaged and discovering information.

Very simple, but strong user journey. Tapping a story takes me immediately into a detailed, but easy to read content page. The carousel related to the particular website or blog that I'm browsing also remains at the bottom of the screen, encouraging me to discover new stories.

Great social media integration. I'm only ever a touch away from sharing stories with my Twitter followers or Facebook friends.

Works very well offline. The majority of the content on Pulse seems to be cached, so you can happily browse through stories on the tube.

Don't like
Limited amount of recommended content when setting up feeds.

It would be fantastic if Pulse recommended other feeds and stories to you, based on what other users where looking at or sharing.



Download Pulse from Alphonso Labs now

Android Market hits the 100,000 app mark

Engadget are reporting that the Android Market has now reached 100K apps. Whilst this is still miles behind the Apple App Store, it still feels like a another significant milestone for the platform. Now, if only Google would make it easier for users to buy apps.

Ford open up Sync to Android developers

Ford Motor Company recently released the SDK for their AppLink platform for Sync. Most people in the UK won't have heard of Sync, but it allows drivers to link up with their smartphones in car and control them by voice commands. AppLink connects Sync with your phone's apps. By inviting Android developers to create apps specifically for their company, Ford have given us a glimpse into the future of mobile. Where your phone is the bridging device between products and also brands.

Source: Cnet CarTech Blog

How Google can improve Android Market and sell more apps

Android Market is a bohemian dream. I love the chaotic and multi-cultural feel to the Android app store. There's something very cool about not being censored, being able to see Japanese apps that I can't understand and having to work out how to buy apps myself. The early adopter thing was part of my reason for going with this platform in the first place.

However, that freedom comes at a cost. There are elements of Android Market that really annoy me and I think are holding it back. At a time when Android is surging ahead of the competition in terms of phone sales, the app store has some serious flaws that Google needs to address.

1. No one-touch payment
This is a big barrier to selling apps. Google seems to be making it as difficult as possible for consumers to actually buy apps from them. The only option to buy apps is Google Checkout, which requires users to give their credit card details directly to Google in order to be able to make purchases. When will the introduce billing via carriers? No wonder Amazon are starting their own Android app store.

2. Full refund for 24 hours after purchase
This is wonderful for the consumer, but terrible for app developers and content owners. I can understand that Google don't want to police the Android Market. However, forcing developers to refund paid for apps within 24 hours of purchasing is a bad economic model for someone trying to sell apps. Apps with limited lifespans, such as comic book apps that I read once and then forget about, can simply be downloaded by users and then uninstalled at the end of the day, for a free refund.

Why don't Google take a more flexible approach to the refund and allow developers to alter the terms of the refund? Users will of course be more wary of purchasing apps, but then it's up to the developers to establish a good reputation.

3. App discovery
It's very difficult to discover apps within the Android Market. How ridiculous is it that I have to use an app, called AppAware, to find new apps to download. Okay, so iTunes is just as bad, maybe worse, but that's no excuse for not seriously trying to improve user experience within Android Market. There must be a better way of exploring apps other than, popular, featured and new. Google could do worse than take a look at the AppAware approach. Last FM emerged because no one could discover music on iTunes, so I guess similar services will start appearing for apps as well.

4. No moderation
I hate censorship. I don't like the way Apple decides what people can and cannot see on iTunes. However, Apple users do benefit from being protected from exploitation, because Apple cares about the apps that appear in its store. Google's hands off approach to Android Market means that Android phone users can be exploited by phishing apps and other evil applications. Given the recent stories about how unscrupulous developers are collecting personal data from Apple and Android users, Google needs to look at how they can combat these kind of apps, without losing the bohemian appeal of Android.

Dell to release 7-Inch Looking Glass tablet within weeks, but only with Android 2.1

I came very close to purchasing a Dell Streak earlier this year. Despite some of the negative press that Dell's device received, mostly for being too small, I actually thought that the device had a lot going for it. It was pretty fast, very portable - I've never been one of those people who wants to lug around a 9-inch iPad just for the screen size; sit at a laptop for God's sake - and that hardened Gorilla Glass was a great feature.

What stopped me from buying it was their decision to go with Android 1.6 at launch. Having just upgraded my HTC G1, I wasn't prepared to go back to an older version of Android. My phone would have been better than my tablet. I also had a hunch that the promised upgrade to Froyo wouldn't happen quite as quickly as Dell were promising, which turned out to be a good call as they barely made it past 2.1. All of which was pretty sad, as it seemed a great device and my head has now well and truly been turned by the Samsung Galaxy Tab.

So, to the news that Dell are now releasing their 7-Inch Looking Glass tablet, within weeks! Sounds great. If they get the price right, this could be a real challenger to the G Tab. Unfortunately for Dell however, there's that issue with using the latest version of Android lurking around in the shadows again. When I checked the specifications Android Central have it running Android 2.1. Are Dell incapable of staying up to date or something? In reality, this suggests that Dell have rushed the tablet out to hit the pre-Christmas tablet hype - which isn't actually a bad idea if you live in the UK and will have your economy smacked down by 20% sales tax in the New Year - cutting corners and abandoning Froyo for the sake of hitting a deadline.

Given their inability to update the Android OS on the Streak - their 2.1 update actually removed more features than it upgraded for some people - I won't be getting a Looking Glass. Sorry Dell.

3D gaming coming to Android

Scaleform, a user interface developer for videogames, have created a prototype no glasses 3D gaming engine for Android. This video does a much better job of explaining things than I ever could, so get watching...



It's incredible to see this kind of technology already making its way to smartphone devices. I'd been planning to purchase a Nintendo 3DS, but with Scaleform saying that 3D Android devices will be available from mid-2011, I might just put that on hold.

Via pocketgamer.com

Samsung Galaxy Tab walkthrough

Samsung have released an incredibly detailed 9 minute walkthrough for their Galaxy Tab.



Here's what I love.

Speed
Android 2.2 seems to run very quickly on the device. It looks almost as quick as the new HTC Desire HD.

Swipe keyboard
Just because I really want to try it out. Watching the disembodied hand swipe words into his presentation you can't ever imagine it working. But what if it does?

Gundam
The inclusion of the Gundam in the video calling section was even more exciting than video chat.

Ereader
The ability to highlight and bookmark individual words and sentences is a real plus for me. I'm also very interested to see how this integrates with the rest of the internet. Being able to pull up additional definitions and more information looks incredible. The book suddenly feels connected and part of the digital revolution!

Media Hub
Amazing. Just what I want. However, I know that I'll probably have to move to America to be able to use it. Hate territorial rights!

Flash in browser
Why would anyone ban Flash?

Nokia say Android is like peeing in your pants for warmth

I asked and Nokia have responded. Nokia CEO Anssi Vanjoki has been riled up by all the talk about Android on their phones; and probably claims that Android will hit 30% smartphone market share by 2014. According to Engadget:

mobile manufacturers who go the Android route are doing no better than Finnish boys who "pee in their pants" for warmth in the winter

So there you have it.

When open means exploited

Android's open platform makes it brilliant, but it's also starting to cause real problems. Personally, I'm tired of waiting for T-Mobile to update my HTC Desire to Froyo. It feels like lazy and cynical carriers have simply decided to exploit the open nature of Android for their own evil ends. Tech guru Michael Garten feels the same and has written a compelling article on the issue for Engadget.

"More and more devices I look at are coming installed with applications I don't want, often popping up messages to try and upsell me on services I have no interest in. Even worse, unlike PCs where offensive applications can be removed or the OS reinstalled cleanly, there's often nothing that can be done to get rid of unwanted mobile software without arduous work. It's not limited to Android devices, but it seems that increasingly Android more than other platforms is shipping with the worst mobile bloatware. It's a bad trend that's going to lead to consumer backlash and it's destroying the credibility of Google's Android vision."

The problem is that the carriers are going to end up killing the golden goose. And then we'll all be crying.

Read Entelligence: Will carriers destroy the Android vision?

Nokia need to go Android

Nokia N8, with an OS that only its mother could love

I noticed that Nokia have turned to a Microsoft guy to try to revive the company's fortunes in the smart phone stakes. The only way that Stephen Elop can turn Nokia around is to embrace Android. Having spent years demonstrating that they can't develop mobile software, they need to bin Symbian and concentrate on making great phones again. Something they used to be able to do, but seem to have forgotten all about recently.

If they are going to hang onto Symbian, go open. Let the development community rebuild it and make it work. It is the community that makes Apple and Android strong, although in Apple's case it's more like a cult. Nokia need fanboys and fangirls to help it come back.

Super Mega Worm

When you're house bound, suffering from Johnny Utah knee, mobile games become your friend. After getting bored with the ubiquitous Angry Birds Lite for Android, I decided to look around for others. Glad I did because I discovered the insane Super Mega Worm, for the iPhone.



From the trailer, I've deciphered that the game's plot revolves around a mega worm that's trying to eat the world to safety. Mega Shark seems to be an influence here. I love mega animals. Hope this comes to Android soon.

Samsung Galaxy Tab price fail

I've been following the hype around Samsung's new Galaxy Tab with increasing excitement in recent weeks. Finally, an Android tablet that actually might make people sit up an take notice. I'd put my Dell Streak ambitions away and was ready to buy on release day.

Then Samsung dropped the price BOMBSHELL, £600+!

How can a device, which is supposed to be a competitor to the iPad, cost so much?

If it does turn out to be this expensive the Galaxy Tab can't hope to match Apple's success.

Welcome new blog

This blog is an attempt to archive mobile media, which is something I love.