Android App Review - Diversion

At first glance you'd be forgiven for immediately dismissing Diversion as a poor game. Ezone.com's free app has very silly and camp graphics and looks like a simple run and jump clone, however there's more about this game than meets the eye. If you can ignore the crazy colours and costumes, then there's a rather addictive puzzle game for you to get engaged with here. Although the format is repetitive, running and jumping to the end of a course of platforms, with the odd mini boss thrown in for good luck, Ezone.com include enough variation and challenges to keep things interesting. For example, some levels require your character to swim, use zip lines, fly, climb and teleport across the 3D environment. Yes the characters and costumes look ridiculous, but it's relatively easy to find something for your character to wear that isn't too embarrassing. 

Also, with over 100 levels for a free download it's definitely value for money.

Good:

Free

Hundreds of levels

Creative and challenging

Bad:

Terrible character design and costumes

Some people will find it repetitive

Large 16mb download, but installs onto the SD

Via: Android Market

Google add killer "Download Map Area" feature to Maps on Android

What's the most frustrating thing about having maps and GPS on your smartphone? Not being able to use them in places where you need maps most, such as when you're on holiday, because you don't have a data connection. Well, Google's killer new Download Map Area feature for Android now means that you can use maps offline in future, with a little forward planning of course.

Google update - Google Maps 5.7 - allows you to pre-download and save maps onto your Android phone. When you have a data connection, just browse to the area that you want to visit and then click on more. Within that menu you now have the option to download that map, within up to a 10 mile radius. For now, it's just the basic map and remember that you won't have a data connection when you visit the location, but it's a really useful feature.

Source: Google 

LG Optimus Pad 3D Android tablet available at Best Buy, for a price

LG Optimus Pad 3D is now available at Best Buy, according to the UK version of their website, but for an eye watering £749.99. LG's flavour of Android Honeycomb has appealed to me ever since reading about the T-Mobile G-Slate. Throw in the power of a 3D gimmick and I was hooked. However, with Samsung's excellent Galaxy Tab 10.1 set to retail at around £250 less it's now hard to justify spending that much money on a tablet that I'll need to wear glasses to use.

My next Android phone will be 3D

I follow technology religiously, but even I find it amazing to think that the next Android device that I own will be a 3D device. When Docomo released the first Android 3D smartphone back at the end of last year, it received little attention from anyone except for Darth Vader. You heart was telling you that 3D mobile devices were on their way, but your head kept saying not to get too excited about seeing one in Europe anytime soon. HTC have changed all of that with the announcement of their beautiful EVO 3D smartphone. There's currently only a summer US release date confirmed for the device, but it's bound to show up in the UK towards the end of the year, probably under the Desire HD name.

Android's growth in 2010 visualised

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.

Samsung Galaxy Tab Tips, Tricks and Hints

The Samsung Galaxy Tab gave Android users the chance for tablet goodness months before Google developed the Honeycomb OS for these type of devices. The result is a great, but flawed, little tablet that needs a few tweaks to really get the best out of it. I've been the proud owner of a Galaxy Tab since November 2010. I love the smaller form factor, it's extremely light and portable but also has a screen big enough for comfortably browsing the web, working and consuming multimedia. Here are my tips, tricks and hints for getting the most out of your Samsung Galaxy Tab.

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.

Google play clever game with Android Pin Badges

Why do I have to collect all things Android?

Stupidly, for a man whose house is already full of Android collectibles, I've found myself bidding on Android Pin badges this week. At first, I was attracted to the fact that they look pretty cool and were only available at Mobile World Congress, but a little more investigation has revealed that they are actually part of a very smart marketing ploy by Google.

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

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 :

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

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

Sony reveal Playstation Suite game store for Android

I love those moments in life that make you think everything just changed. Android was huge in 2010, with growth numbers to prove it, but the app store is its Achilles' heel. Android Market is brilliant at many things, but selling apps unfortunately isn't one of them. Developers have struggled to make money on the Android platform with freemium seeming like the only way generate revenue, but only if you have a huge brand. No revenue means a lack of premium quality apps in Android Market, something that you didn't really notice when mobile was all about smartphones, but that will become much more obvious as the number of Android tablets increase.

Sony's announcement of a Playstation Suite app game store for Android means that everything just changed. There's genius behind Sony's decision to make the store "hardware-neutral", which is a pretty big step for the company when you consider that gaming has been all about hardware for years, because it means that all Android users will have access to to Playstation Suite. Sony's store will also attract major game developers in a way that Android Market hasn't been able to. Fragmentation will still be an issue with Engadget reporting that it will only be available for Gingerbread level Android, but then when isn't it on Google's platform.

I can help but feel that this is a big moment for Android. Having premium games on the platform will make a big difference to current users and help attract even more people to Android. It looks like it's time to start clearing space on a home screen for all of the different app stores I'm going to be using in 2011.

Source: Engadget

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.

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.

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.