interview - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

May

Head Of Android Sundar Pichai Talks Google I/O, Android, And Chrome - Confirms Focus On Developer Tools, Not A Major Android Revision

Posted by Kyle Wiggers in Android OS, News

Newly appointed head of Google's Android division Sundar Pichai - who perhaps not-so-incidentally also leads the Chrome OS team - recently sat down with Wired for his first interview since Andy Rubin's departure. Though he didn't speak to specifics about any mysterious Motorola smartphone or Chromebook Pixel follow-up, Pichai did shed some light on the state of Android, Google's open-source philosophy, and future projects.

When asked if separate operating systems - Chrome OS and Android, for instance - confuse users, Pichai said the OS is less important than the apps, ecosystem, and backend people rely on. He also emphasized that developers, concerned about distributing their products on particular platforms, appreciate the flexibility multiple operating systems provide.

Mar

Conversations With An Amiigo Founder: This Fitness Bracelet Is For Everyone, Whether You Lift Or Not

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Features, News

Last month, we covered the Amiigo which, frankly, looks kind of awesome if it works as advertised. For those who missed it, here's the gist: you put on a bracelet and a shoe clip and the two track your workout. The system then logs that data and feeds it into some fancy software that analyzes your sessions and tells you how much weight you're losing, how many calories you're burning, and what other exercises might be right for you.

The big question that a system like this faces, of course, is one of accuracy. If the device can't really measure what you're doing reliably, then it's not going to be any good.

Feb

Ouya Will Be Sold At GameStop, Best Buy, Target, And Amazon, Controllers Will Cost $50

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in News

We've only got about a month left before Ouya units start landing in the hands of backers and a few months before the full-blown retail launch. A retail launch that we now learn will include GameStop, Best Buy, Target, Amazon, and an undisclosed number of other sellers. Yes, including brick-and-mortar stores. Things are starting to look pretty good for the little console that could.

Speaking in an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Ouya's CEO released a few extra details, including the price: $100 for the console, which we knew. However, controllers will also be available for $50. Note the distinct lack of the word "extra" before "controllers." You see, the touchpad-enabled handheld can be adapted for use on other devices.

Jan

Larry Page On Apple's Thermonuclear War: 'How Well Is That Working?', Also Facebook Is 'Doing A Really Bad Job On Their Products'

Posted by Eric Ravenscraft in Google, News

It's hard to argue that Google hasn't been a significantly different company under Larry Page's leadership. If nothing else, it has certainly become more directly competitive. Mountain View has generally (though not always ) preferred to be passive in its approach to other companies, allowing the product to speak for itself (whether for good or ill), rather than outright antagonize others. Apparently all that reservation was just saving up for when Page would take the helm and let the zingers fly. In a Wired interview, the CEO had this to say on the subject of Apple:

Wired: Steve Jobs felt competitive enough to claim that he was willing to “go to thermonuclear war” on Android.

Dec

Google Search Gets Shown Off In Two New 30-Second Spots [Video]

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Google, News, Videos

In a pair of new thirty-second ad spots, Google is showing off what it does best – search. The spots both feature Google's Search app for Android, using the same cozy, refined aesthetic as Google's other ads in recent memory, even showing off Search's new "search with camera" functionality.

The first spot follows the story of a nervous job candidate, gaining some insight into his prospective employer's interests with a last-minute Google search, while the second spot shows us a "smart Dad" who uses Google Search as a cheat sheet to answer his inquisitive son's astronomical questions. Without further ado, here's the new set of ads.

Jul

Going Indie: The Story Of Independent Android Game Development From Concept To Completion

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Applications, Development, Games, Interviews

Last Updated: July 31st, 2012

One of the great things about Android's ecosystem is the number of indie developers who are able to enter the market successfully, providing a great product and inspiring would-be developers to join in. For many though, Android development in general is a mysterious topic. How an app or game goes from an idea to an entry in the Play Store is unknown, but (thankfully) not unknowable.

Of course, considering how major development studios bring apps to life doesn't require too much thought – major companies like EA, Disney, or Rockstar have no problem hiring designers and developers to crank out and maintain polished apps.

Oct

Interview With Android UX Lead Matias Duarte: "Google Is Taking Design A Lot More Seriously"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Interviews

Let's get the preliminary question off the plate first: who is Matias Duarte? Well for one thing, he oversaw the designing of a few small projects such as webOS, Sidekick OS, and Helio (the little carrier that could... be bought out). And, oh yeah, he also played a large part in Honeycomb's development.

Yesterday he sat down with Joshua Topolsky of This is my Next (soon to be The Verge) to discuss the "philosophy" of Android and, more specifically, Ice Cream Sandwich. It certainly provides some interesting insight into the man behind ICS' fancy new UI, and while we highly recommend you read the full interview, we'll be providing a few highlights below so as to save you some time (the unabridged version is quite lengthy).

Apr

Interview And FAQ With PowerAMP For Android Creator Maxim Petrov - An Insight Into The Life Of A Top Android Developer

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, Interviews, News

Last Updated: April 18th, 2011

PowerAMP for Android appeared seemingly out of nowhere one day as a leaked beta and immediately captured attention of thousands of Android users who were impressed by its initial features, good looks, and overall polish. Fast forward to today - PowerAMP is one of the best selling Android apps in the Market with a 4.6-4.8-star rating, even at ~$4.99, which is considered pretty pricey for an app.

We sat down with Max Petrov, PowerAMP's sole developer, to discuss Android development, PowerAMP, the Market, and everything related. The interview, carried out by me (Artem), is below (with minor formatting and grammatical edits approved by Maxim; also, this was not a translation - Max spoke English).

Jan

Interview with Firefox For Android's Matt Brubeck

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in Applications, Interviews, News

Last Updated: April 14th, 2011

Introduction

As a fan of Ubuntu, I really love using Mozilla Firefox. In my opinion, it is the best desktop browser out there (sorry, Chrome). It was because of my love for Firefox that I became elated when I first heard that Mozilla would be developing a browser for the Android platform.

Having followed the development of Firefox for Android from an alpha and now to a beta, I jumped at the chance to interview software engineer Matt Brubeck, one of the lead developers of Firefox for Android. In our time together, I got a chance to ask him about Mozilla's plans for Android, why Firefox for Android seems so slow, and much, much more.

Dec

[Exclusive] Wet Ink: Our Interview With Notion Ink’s Rohan Shravan

Posted by David Ruddock in Adam, Exclusives, Interviews, News, Notion Ink

Last Updated: June 5th, 2012

As promised earlier this week, Notion Ink CEO Rohan Shravan took time out of his schedule to answer a number of questions from Android Police. What did we ask the creator of the Android world's most anticipated tablet device? A lot of the questions you, our readers, wanted answers to - as well as a few of our own. The interview, in its entirety, below.

Questions From Our Readers

AP: Many have speculated about Notion Ink's production capacity - can you tell us how many Pixel Qi units were sold on pre-order? How many do you expect to be able to produce per month?