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May

Watch The Keynote And Android Sessions From Day 2 Of Google I/O 2011 Now On YouTube

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CR-48, Development, Google, Google TV, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Revue, Videos

Ahh, Google I/O, how we'll miss you for the next 365 days or so. The last 2 days have been filled with anticipation, knowledge, surprises, excitement, and fun - the perfect recipe for happy developers. As a developer myself, I've picked up heaps of new information, especially from the SDK Tools and ADT session by Tor Norbye and Xavier Ducrohet, and viewing the keynotes was simply a blast.

As you may have seen yesterday, day 1 keynote and sessions were already posted last night, and now the same fate reached the sessions and keynote from day 2. As before, you can view the whole list by visiting the YouTube page of GoogleDevelopers or simply watch the embeds on this page.

May

Watch The Keynote And Android Sessions From Day 1 Of Google I/O 2011 Now On YouTube

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Google, Google TV, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Videos

The first day of Google I/O 2011 is now over (see our highlights) - in fact, the next one is starting in mere 7 hours (4 hours of sleep - check). That doesn't mean, however, that the information presented was lost forever - on the contrary, Google has archived most, if not all, of the footage and made it available to you on YouTube via the GoogleDevelopers channel.

You can find the full keynote, filled with Android goodness to the brim, along with the most interesting Android sessions below.

Keynote Day 1:

Fireside Chat with the Android Team:

How to NFC:

Android Protips:

Honeycomb Highlights:

And, of course, Jane's Addiction live in concert at the after party (this was awesome):

Source: YouTube

May

Google Releases Android 3.1 SDK, Introduces API Level 12 And SDK Tools Revision 11

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

Google didn't leave us waiting long for the Android 3.1 SDK; hot on the heels of this morning's unveiling, the software development kit for the latest version of Honeycomb has landed. With it comes a boatload of new APIs (no wonder the API level is now 12) - most notably resizable widgets, improved animation frameworks, and, last but certainly not least, a host of options for interacting with USB devices. In fact, the last item is perhaps the most important, as it will allow users to connect a wide variety of USB accessories to their tablet and interface with them easily.

May

Google Movies: Rent And Watch Movies On The Web (YouTube) Or Your Motorola XOOM Right Now

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Apps/Games, News, XOOM

When Google announced its new Movies service today, some of the details of the service's launch were omitted in the information overload that is I/O. But now that we've had a minute to regain our composure and, you know, investigate, we've got some exciting news about Google Movies: you can start renting and watching right now (note: only the United States is currently supported):

The catch is that you'll only be able to do it from your personal computer (via the Web Market or YouTube in the browser) or on a Motorola XOOM in the Videos app for the moment (we're assuming that means it's limited to Honeycomb Android devices for the time being).

May

[I/O 2011] Ice Cream Sandwich: One OS To Rule Them All

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Shortly after Honeycomb dropped, we were told that the next version of Android would bridge the gap between tablets and phones. That bridge was officially announced this morning at Google I/O: Ice Cream Sandwich.

Ice Cream Sandwich will be the newest version of Android, and it's going to bring the goodness of Honeycomb to phones, along with Gingerbread features to tablets. The update is due out in Q4 of this year, and the goal is to unify the Android experience across devices, which is a huge step towards ending fragmentation as we know it.

It's clear that between this and the Android Alliance, Google has really paid attention to the biggest problems in Android and is making a collaborative effort to efficiently address them.

May

Music 3.0 App Hits The Market With Google Music Beta Support

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Applications, Apps/Games, News

We've had leaked betas of Google's Music 3.0 app for Android for what seems like time eternal now, but Google has finally chosen to make the app public. At least part of it, that is. It sports the same interface as the beta we've all come to know (and love?), but lacks one key feature, mysteriously: a settings menu. That's probably owing to the fact that the previous betas we've seen all contained sync (Google Music) options in the settings menu, and unless you're a beta-invitee (don't worry, none of us have gotten ours yet, either), these options will presumably remain hidden and otherwise inaccessible.

May

[Google I/O 2011] What Would You Want To Ask The Android Team? Ask Us And We'll Do It For You

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Development, Google, Google TV

With Google I/O 2011 around the corner - in fact it starts in less than 8 hours - I can barely contain the excitement (the 5 beers at today's Samsung and Lookout parties failed to numb that feeling).

Google Music (and movies?), the new Google TV, the next-gen Android dubbed "Ice Cream Sandwich," new games, and possible tablet/phone giveaways are among this year's rumor chart toppers. Will all of them come true? It's likely. Will some? Most definitely (Music and the next-gen Google TV are pretty much sure things now). Stay tuned to Android Police, and we'll make sure to bring you the full event coverage and as much on-location content as possible.

May

[Not As Good As It Sounds] Judge Forces Oracle To Throw Out 129 Of Its Patent Claims Against Google

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

File this under "things that look good on paper." On Tuesday, a federal judge for the Northern District of California issued an order forcing Oracle and Google, in their fight over various Java patents allegedly infringed by Android, to reduce the number of patent claims and defenses thereto to a "triable" number. That number? Three. And Google will be allowed eight "prior art references" to defend against those claims. (Note: A "prior art reference" is a way of showing that a patent was trying to patent something someone else had already invented prior to the filing, a complete defense against patent infringement, invalidating the patent in question)

Oracle's complaint ended up amounting to 132 patent claims against Google's Android mobile operating system - a staggering number for any court.

May

DuckDuckGo Brings Private Searching And Zero Click Results To Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

While some apps use a mile long feature list to attract users, there are others that use a very opposite approach. They use simplicity, subtlety, and effectiveness as their calling card. One such app is DuckDuckGo for Android: a search app that bases its entire existence on privacy and efficiency.

On the surface, DuckDuckGo is not unlike other search engines - type in what you're looking for and get your results. Easy peasy. Under the hood, though, is where things work a little bit differently. DuckDuckGo uses crowdsourcing as its go-to method of providing legitimate information. Not only that, but it boasts "real privacy" as one of its flagship features - clearly a shot at Google.

May

Skyhook Joins Forces With MapQuest, Brings More Accurate Navigation To Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

Mapquest's navigation app already offers a slew of features that we've come to expect from a worthy GPS app, but it has recently seen an update that brings Skyhook's hybrid positioning engine into the mix. This engine not only uses satellites for global positioning, but it also judges accurate location by using nearby WiFi networks (Google Location does this as well - but Skyhook utilizes their own proprietary magic and claim it's more accurate).

Even though Google and Skyhook haven't always played nice, the addition of the Skyhook engine in Mapquest really does make it a worthy competitor to our beloved Google Navigation (some may say that it already was).