Google have posted a video on YouTube which visualises Android's rise to global dominance in 2010. You can see devices activated across the world between October 2008 and January 2011. If you look very very closely, that single red dot in London in February 2009 is me activating my beautiful HTC G1.
Saturday 26 February 2011
Samsung Galaxy Tab Tips, Tricks and Hints
Upgrade the browser
The stock Samsung web browser that comes pre-installed on the Galaxy Tab is terrible. It's slow and handles Flash really badly, which is very poor when you consider that Flash should be a selling point for any Android device. Luckily, there is a simple solution to this problem, download a new browser from Android Market.
I can recommend Dolphin Browser HD from the Dolphin Browser team. It's a very fast mobile device optimised browser that has lots of fantastic add-ons, tabs for multiple web pages and handles Flash very well. Any Flash elements on the page aren't downloaded immediately, so that pages load faster. To view the Flash you simply click on that area and it will work right away. If you hate the idea of that and don't mind a slightly slower browsing experience you can disable this feature.
Make all apps scale to the screen size of the Galaxy Tab
Not all of the apps within Android Market are optimised for the Galaxy Tab's 7inch screen, which means that some apps display with a large black border around them on your tablet. Annoying, but again there is a way to fix this and ensure that all apps scale properly on the Galaxy Tab. Here is a step by step guide on how to solve the problem.
Step 1: Download Spare Parts app from Android Market
Step 2: Launch Spare Parts, scroll down to Compatibility Mode, untick it and then tick it again.
Step 3: Turn off your Galaxy Tab and then turn it back on again.
Step 4: Launch Spare Parts again and then untick Compatibility Mode once again.
Step 5: Turn off you Galaxy Tab and then turn it back on again for a second time.
Your apps will all now display at the correct size.
Why do apps disappear from my Galaxy Tab homescreen?
The Samsung Galaxy Tab will sometimes delete apps from your homescreens when you switch the device on and off. It's a very annoying bug which means that I very rarely switch my device off. Personally, I don't find this a big issue, as I'm used to keeping devices like my phone on all of the time and the Galaxy Tab seems to use up very little power when sleeping. However, it's a riddiculous to think that Samsung missed this problem.
Unfortunately, there doesn't seem to be any solution to fix it. Apps are deleted because the Galaxy Tab links apps from your homescreen to the applications list on your device. When you add a new app, which if you're anything like me is often, the two lists no longer match-up, the Galaxy Tab can't find the app when you reboot it and so deletes it from the homescreen. Stupid isn't it? Hopefully, future updates to the Android OS on the Galaxy Tab will resolve this.
Will my Samsung Galaxy Tab be able to run Honeycomb?
I wouldn't hold out too much hope for an official Honeycomb update from Samsung, even though the company has claimed that Google's official tablet browser is on the roadmap. Samsung have a poor record with Android updates, with the Galaxy S taking forever to receive Froyo. However, there will be unofficial builds of Honeycomb onto Galaxy Tabs, if you're brave enough to try to update the OS yourself. Personally, I'd wait until these are properly tested before trying them myself, but if Honeycomb can be made to work on a Nook Color there's no reason it can't run on a Galaxy Tab.
Friday 25 February 2011
Google play clever game with Android Pin Badges
 |
| Why do I have to collect all things Android? |
We all know that Google went big with Android at MWC in 2011, the slide at their Android stand proves how big. Of course everyone is going to visit the official Android playground, but how do you get attendees to check out all of the other related Android stands and make those people feel loved as well? According to the Guardian, you give them a game to collect Android 82 badges and a map leading them to participating stands. Genius.
Sources: The Guardian, Pocket-Lint
Wednesday 23 February 2011
Apple's new stance on app subscription is an opportunity for Android
In-app vs Outside-app
Apple's retrospective rules changes to how in-app subscription works in their app store presents Android with a huge opportunity, because it reinforces the key philosophical difference between the two platforms, closed vs open. In-app purchasing has been a brilliant feature for publishers and app developers, because Apple has allowed apps to get around their 30% store charge by handling the purchase on their mobile sites themselves. Notable apps that use this method include Amazon Kindle, Spotify and Sky Sports.
Strictly speaking, Apple's rules didn't ever really allow for purchase outside of the app, they just chose not to enforce it. Here's the official line from the their guidelines.
App Store Review Guidelines :
Now that has all changed, with Apple giving developers and publishers until 30th June 2011 to switch to using the In App Purchase API. You can understand Apple's reasoning behind this move. They've built and incredibly successful ecosystem for apps across some amazing devices. With publishers increasingly looking at the iPad and the future of subscription it was time to close the loop. Not receiving $1 on the cost of an eBook is one thing, but missing out on $30 for a $100 annual subscription is quite another. However, it will be very interesting to see whether Apple will really start rejecting Amazon's very successful apps, and exactly what kind of response that would receive.
Google's Digital Newsstand
At the beginning of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google have been talking with media giants about the possibility of developing a e-newsstand for Android. The article suggests that Google are offering a lower fee than the 30% charged by Apple per in-app purchase and would also provide more data to publishers about their customers. The Wall Street Journal are careful to state that the who project may never materialise, but I'm not even sure that it has to for Android to benefit from Apple's change of heart on outside-app purchasing.
Open to outside-app purchasing
Android Market currently allows developers to include outside-app purchasing in their apps. Ironically, this is because Android hasn't actually supported in-app purchasing until very recently. Provided Google continue to improve on the e-commerce side of Android Market to make it more attractive for customers to actually buy apps and continue to allow outside-app purchasing, then the platform will become more and more publisher friendly. Maintaining the open market philosophy behind Android, in opposition to Apple's increasingly closed off walled garden paradise, becomes a real advantage over its rivals.
Source: MondayNote
Source: Wall Street Journal
Apple's retrospective rules changes to how in-app subscription works in their app store presents Android with a huge opportunity, because it reinforces the key philosophical difference between the two platforms, closed vs open. In-app purchasing has been a brilliant feature for publishers and app developers, because Apple has allowed apps to get around their 30% store charge by handling the purchase on their mobile sites themselves. Notable apps that use this method include Amazon Kindle, Spotify and Sky Sports.
Strictly speaking, Apple's rules didn't ever really allow for purchase outside of the app, they just chose not to enforce it. Here's the official line from the their guidelines.
App Store Review Guidelines :
11.2 Apps utilizing a system other than the In App Purchase API (IAP) to purchase content, functionality, or services in an app will be rejected
Now that has all changed, with Apple giving developers and publishers until 30th June 2011 to switch to using the In App Purchase API. You can understand Apple's reasoning behind this move. They've built and incredibly successful ecosystem for apps across some amazing devices. With publishers increasingly looking at the iPad and the future of subscription it was time to close the loop. Not receiving $1 on the cost of an eBook is one thing, but missing out on $30 for a $100 annual subscription is quite another. However, it will be very interesting to see whether Apple will really start rejecting Amazon's very successful apps, and exactly what kind of response that would receive.
Google's Digital Newsstand
At the beginning of the year, The Wall Street Journal reported that Google have been talking with media giants about the possibility of developing a e-newsstand for Android. The article suggests that Google are offering a lower fee than the 30% charged by Apple per in-app purchase and would also provide more data to publishers about their customers. The Wall Street Journal are careful to state that the who project may never materialise, but I'm not even sure that it has to for Android to benefit from Apple's change of heart on outside-app purchasing.
Open to outside-app purchasing
Android Market currently allows developers to include outside-app purchasing in their apps. Ironically, this is because Android hasn't actually supported in-app purchasing until very recently. Provided Google continue to improve on the e-commerce side of Android Market to make it more attractive for customers to actually buy apps and continue to allow outside-app purchasing, then the platform will become more and more publisher friendly. Maintaining the open market philosophy behind Android, in opposition to Apple's increasingly closed off walled garden paradise, becomes a real advantage over its rivals.
Source: MondayNote
Source: Wall Street Journal
Wednesday 16 February 2011
A tour of Google's Android Stand at Mobile World Congress
Google seem to have the fun factor edge at Mobile World Congress, as this tour of their Android Stand demonstrates. Giant robots, smoothies, toys and even a slide. Isn't MWC supposed to be all about phones?
Source: The Next Web
Source: The Next Web
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)