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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).

May

Sprint + Google Voice Integration Officially Goes Live For The Masses

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, News

Judging by the comments in the post where Brad described his experiences with the Sprint + Google Voice integration after receiving his beta invite a few weeks ago, many peoples interest was piqued. Luckily, the wait is over for those of us who weren't fortunate enough to get an early invite to the program - they've now opened the doors for the rest of us.

The announcement comes courtesy of a post on the Google Voice blog, and outlines the 2 options available:

Option 1: Keep your Sprint number: Your Sprint number becomes your Google Voice number so that when people call your Sprint mobile number, it rings all the phones you want.

May

The Official Google I/O 2011 App Now In The Market - Start Starring Those Sessions

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Google, News

Ever since my visit to Google I/O last year, I've been waiting for this year's event with great anticipation - after all, I/O still remains the most exciting conference for Android fans and developers. To help attendees navigate around it, this morning Google updated the official I/O app that has been sitting idle for almost a year.

If you're trying to manage all the sessions on your own, just stop - this is exactly what the I/O app will do for you. You can see the whole schedule, including all the necessary details, star the ones you want to attend, take notes (using Catch integration), and guide yourself around the floor.

May

Download: Google Talk With Video/Audio Calling For Rooted Android 2.3 Devices (Ported From The Nexus S)

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Gingerbread 2.3, News

One of Android 2.3.4's main new features, which was officially released to the Nexus S late last week, was video and audio calling in Google Talk. While having this feature on the Nexus S is great for its owners, Android users of other devices were left behind. If there is one thing Android users don't like to do, it's wait, which is why britoso from xda managed to rip out the app from his Nexus S and modify it to be compatible with most devices running Android 2.3.

Unfortunately, because he had to modify the apk, he needed to sign it with a different key, which means you need root to install this version (you won't be able to install it over the original Google Talk app as an update due to mismatched signatures, which means you need to uninstall the original app first, and that's not possible unless you're rooted - Google Talk is a system app).

Apr

[In Response To Your Concerns] Google Voice + Sprint Integration Questions and Answers

Posted by Brad Ganley in Applications, Editorials, Sprint, Tips & Tutorials

Last Updated: May 13th, 2011

A few days ago I posted about my experience with the Google Voice integration with Sprint and outlined exactly how I did it. In the comments section, you guys responded with a lot of good thoughts and, in some cases, some serious bugs and questions. I have done a little bit of research, some testing, and some drinking (just kidding. Kind of), and I have some answers and responses for you upstanding, early-adopting citizens.

The Questions

1.How will this affect my MMS?

This was actually the main reason I chose to integrate my Sprint and Google Voice accounts. The short answer is this: If you want to use your Google Voice number in place of your Sprint number, you'll have to have people send MMS messages to your Sprint number.

Apr

We Knew It Was Coming: Google Is Being Sued Over Location Tracking in Android

Posted by Cameron Summerson in News

I would like to say that this comes as a surprise... but I would be lying. Two Michigan women have filed a class-action lawsuit against Google for location tracking features used in Android's GPS, stating that it puts "users at serious risk of privacy invasions, including stalking." Their request? That Google stops selling phones that can track users location. Puh-lease.

This $50 million class action lawsuit comes after Google acknowledged that Android phones temporarily store some location based data directly on the phone after using GPS. Google stands firm that this information is not traceable back to the originating device, nor a specific individual.

Apr

Android 2.3.4 To Introduce Video Chat - No Need To Wait Until Google I/O

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Applications, News

On Monday we told you that Google may bring video chat to Android 2.3.4, and that we expect an announcement at Google I/O. It looks like we got it half right - Google has officially announced Talk with Video Chat integration in Android 2.3.4, but we didn't have to wait until I/O to find out.

The service looks like it will work almost identical to its desktop counterpart: the status icon displays whether or not the person is available for video chat (or capable of it). Tap the icon to start a video chat session, and you're good to go. It's cross platform, too, meaning that you can chat with desktop users and other mobile users alike.