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Jul

Motorola Droid X And Samsung Captivate Open Source Code Released

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Captivate, Droid X (Shadow), Eclair 2.1, Motorola, News, Samsung

Last Updated: November 23rd, 2011

As part of the Android's open source Apache license, manufacturers are required to publicly release all of their own modifications and improvements made to the Android core. Today, both Samsung and Motorola decided it would be the perfect time to drop the Captivate and Droid X code to their respective open source sites.

This will allow ROM developers to figure out all those little quirks specific to the hardware and incorporate them into their releases.

Note, however, that the Android license doesn't cover proprietary extensions, such as custom vendor applications and widgets, and therefore does not require manufacturers to open source them:

Licensing

With the exception of brief update periods, Android has been available as open source since 21 October 2008.

Jul

Meet Andy: Android’s History In A Nutshell

Posted by Ron Hamelin in Android OS, Carriers, Cupcake 1.5, Devices By Manufacturer, Donut 1.6, Eclair 2.1, Editorials, Froyo 2.2, Gingerbread 2.3, News

Last Updated: November 5th, 2010

Before Apple's iPhone and Google’s Android OS burst onto the mobile device scene in 2007, there were few significant advances in mobile technology. Frankly, "smartphones" (if we could even call them that at the time) were boring: they did little more than email, general messaging, picture taking, some basic apps and games, rudimentary internet browsing, and enterprise integration.

The biggest players at the time were Microsoft Windows Mobile, RIM's Blackberry, Palm, Symbian, and Linux. They all had their respective place in the mobile world (see chart below).

The Status Of Mobile Operating Systems In Late 2006

EMEA (Europe, Middle East, Africa) was clearly led by Symbian.

Jul

Android Internal Version Distribution Updated; Fragmentation Dissipating

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

Right on schedule, Google has yet again updated their Android version distribution charts.

Immediately one notices that Android 2.1 now controls 53.1% of the Android device population. This is in stark contrast to mid-May; when 2.1 accounted for little over 30% of the operating system distribution. The major changes, summarized below:

Android 1.5 and 1.6 have shrunk to a combined 44.8% of the Android population; Android 2.1 and 2.2 devices now represent the majority of the distribution.
Android 2.0.1 has all but evaporated in the wild.
Android 2.1 is run on 53.1% of Android devices.
Android 2.2 adoption hovers around 1.8% (this includes non-standard 2.2 ROM’s that can access the Market)

Fragmentation has long been the buzzword of Android critics and users alike; but it appears that the combined effort to upgrade 1.5 and 1.6 devices to 2.1, in consort with increasing sales of new Android devices worldwide, has provided 2.1 a massive boost in the Android OS share.

Jun

BREAKING: Android 2.1 Eclair OTA Update Now Being Rolled Out To European HTC Hero Users

Posted by David Ruddock in Eclair 2.1, Hero, News

HTC Hero users across Europe are reporting that a two-part OTA update is being pushed to their devices. The first update addresses some bug fixes and system updates; but the second, OTA_Hero_HTC_WWE_3.32.405.1_R-2.73.405.93 is without a doubt the chocolate-éclair goodness Hero users have been salivating over for the past few weeks. One of our Danish readers tipped us that his hero had been updated, and was kind enough to provide us a few screenshots.

It seems that Hero users will finally be able to join the 2.0+ club. Additionally, many users are reporting (Credit: AndroidForums, @mclemmnsn) that the update does not perform a full data wipe.

Jun

Droid X's Sexy Software Keyboard Ripped Out, Now Available For All Phones

Posted by David Ruddock in Applications, Devices By Manufacturer, Eclair 2.1, News, Nexus One (Passion), Tips & Tutorials

Earlier today we reported that the Droid X internals were leaked out and provided to developers to play with. It didn't take long at all - Droid X's software keyboard is already available for everyone to download.

This keyboard should work for any Android phone running 2.1 Eclair (it reportedly force closes for most on Froyo). It looks very clean, mostly due to the absence of most non-alphanumeric characters which can be accessed using a familiar looking button on the bottom left.

One thing that is strikingly different about Droid X's keyboard is multi-touch. You can press one button while typing something else, which you can't do with other keyboards.

Jun

Play DivX, H264, MKV, and AVI Files On Your Android Device Using RockPlayerBase

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, Apps/Games, News

One of Android’s major shortcomings is its lack of compatibility with many audio and video file types. Fortunately, doubleTwist stepped in to fix the audio problem, but what about video playback? That’s where RockPlayerBase comes in!

Compatible with a plethora of video formats, including MKV, AVI and DivX, RockPlayerBase combines great compatibility with a simple interface. Controls are overlaid on the screen, so you can still see the video track whilst using the controls.

When testing on the Nexus One, I found playback quality to be predominantly good. I tested a DVD rip encoded in AVI which played back without any problems, although audio output was sometimes a little pitchy and inconsistent.

Jun

BREAKING: European HTC Hero Android 2.1 (Eclair) Update Finally Rolls Out, Nordic Countries Are Up First

Updated: Not 2.1 Yet AGAIN. Another European HTC Hero Update Rolls Out (102MB), Nordic Countries Are Up First

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Eclair 2.1, Hero, HTC, News

Our chinned Hero brethren from Europe, it looks like your time has finally come - minutes ago, HTC posted a new update which finally brings the ~~long-awaited Android 2.1 to your Heroes, following a small update earlier this week which was released in preparation for the big one~~

Update 1: it's another 1.5 update, though at 102MB and requiring a wipe. We jumped the gun a bit - apologies for giving you false hope. Why HTC would post another 1.5 update this large and requiring a wipe, if 2.1 is expected soon, which would require yet another wipe, is beyond me right now.

Jun

Adobe Flash (Full Version) Working On The Evo And Other HTC Devices Without Android 2.2

Posted by John Thompson in Applications, Apps/Games, Development, Devices By Manufacturer, EVO 4G (Supersonic), Hero (Sprint, HeroC), HTC, News

One of the members at xda-developers has managed to compile an APK for Android 2.0 and 2.1, giving users full Flash support on their device!

Achieved by using a plugin on Android 2.x currently used to enable Flash Lite, the APK that’s been created will remove the Lite version of Flash, replacing it with the full version used on Android 2.2.

Android 2.2 has a new feature called com.google.android.feature.GOOGLE_PLUGIN. And Flash usesit to embed itself inside browser. So browser in 2.1 does not see plugin.

BUT!There's another thing inside - a permission called android.webkit.permission.PLUGIN. It is already used by Flash Lite on HTC devices.

Jun

Android Platform Version Chart Updated, Android 2.1 Continues To Grow

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Carriers, Devices By Manufacturer, News

Ever since they promised to help developers and slow the growing problem of Android fragmentation, Google has been quite consistent in updating their platform version chart, which shows how many phones are running each version of Android. Just over a month ago, the chart was used in the argument that fragmentation is a major problem for Android, as Android 2.1 was running on a much smaller percentage of phones than previous versions Android 1.6 and 1.5. However, last month, Eclair finally took over, becoming the most used single version of Android (1.5 and 1.6 still accounted for a larger total share).

Jun

Apple iOS 3 & 4 VS Android 2.1 "Eclair" & 2.2 "Froyo": Fight!

Posted by Chris Dehghanpoor in Devices By Manufacturer, Eclair 2.1, Froyo 2.2, News, Tips & Tutorials

In This Corner!

For better or worse Apple has dropped their latest update regarding the groundbreaking iPhone this week along with the official release date for their next version of the phone’s operating system, which has now been dubbed ‘iOS’.

A big thanks to Ian Douglas for all the work he did putting the chart together, and to my fiancee for the image

The announcement comes on the heels of last Friday’s uber-successful launch of the Sprint EVO 4G, which shares many of the same features with the new iPhone. This puts consumers in an interesting spot – as the hardware and software offerings from both the Apple and Android camps begin to share more and more of the same features, it becomes increasingly difficult for a consumer with no allegiance to either side to choose the phone that best suits their needs.