ios - 10/12 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Jan

Editorial: iPhone 4 Is Coming To Verizon Wireless - Should Android Be Worried?

Posted by David Ruddock in AT&T, Editorials, News, Verizon Wireless

The big question on everyone's mind (well, at least ours) today is: How will the iPhone coming to Verizon next month change the smartphone landscape? At this point, it's anyone's guess, but Android's unabashed domination on the US's largest wireless carrier will certainly be challenged in the coming months. However, there are significant forces at work that won't exactly help the iPhone with its Verizon debut - namely, Verizon and Android. That's not to say the Verizon iPhone won't be a success, it's just a question of exactly how much of a success it will be. Here's our take.

Upgrade or Downgrade?

Jan

Hulu Plus Confirmed For Android 2.2

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Applications, News

Having long been rumored, Hulu Plus for Android was finally confirmed during Samsung's press conference at CES. During the Keynote, Hulu's CEO Jason Kilar demoed the app running on the Samsung Galaxy S, announcing, for the first time, that the subscription service was being developed for Android.

Google and Hulu have not always seen eye-to-eye, so it was fortuitous that Samsung was able to mend the bridges and bring this amazing service to the Android platform.

Image courtesy of Gadgetsteria

According to Hulu's Blog, Hulu Plus will be available on select Android mobile phones (Android 2.2 and above) in coming months.

Jan

Nielsen Releases Smartphone Market Share Figures, Android Domination Imminent?

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

America's most trusted name in bar graphs, Nielsen, released an updated look at smartphone market share distribution today. The results aren't terribly surprising: Android is growing, and quickly at that. Blackberry's free-fall into the abyss has slowed to a steady death march. But what about Apple's fare?

Since the release of the iPhone 4 in June, Apple's total share of the smartphone market has increased by a paltry 0.7%, while Android has gained 10.8% more of the smartphone pie to reach 25.8% of the total - a mere 2.8% behind Apple, as you can see below.

Meanwhile, Android is outright dominating smartphone purchases made in the last six months, representing over 40% of all smartphones purchased since June.

Dec

Déjà Vu: WSJ Study Suggests Many Android & iOS Apps Transmit User Data To Advertisers

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, Development, Games, News

Way back in July, Lookout released the results of a study on app security, and found that many apps have access to user data that they have no need for - suggesting that there was plenty of potential for illicit information use. Two months later, a group of researchers from Intel, Penn State, and Duke came forth with data showing just that: 15 of the 30 apps tested sent GPS data, 7 sent unique hardware information, and a few sent more private information such as phone and SIM numbers.

Fast forward to today - the Wall Street Journal has released the findings of a very similar study they conducted, and the results are surprisingly similar.

Dec

Sony Announces Official PlayStation App For Android And iOS

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, Apps/Games, News, Sony

It's not the PlayStation-related Android announcement we were hoping Sony would make, but the Official PlayStation app is still (sort of) intriguing in and of itself. Version 1.0 of the app will be coming soon to both our beloved Android Market and the iOS App Store, though we here in the States will be left out of the fun initially. For those lucky enough to live in the UK, France, Germany, Spain, Italy, or the Netherlands, (the areas where the app will be available upon launch) here's what you have to look forward to:

Check out your PlayStation Network trophies and keep up to date with your friends’ games and online status.

Dec

Chitika Says Android Won't Pass iPhone's US Market Share Until February Of 2012... We Disagree

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, News, Off-Topic

Our pal Dan Ruby over at Chitika just shot us a note to let us know that he's run the numbers and come up with a prediction for when Android will take over the #1 position in market share in the US, based on ad impressions on Chitika's network. The result: February 16, 2012... at 12:23 PM EST.

He's put a fair amount of time into crunching these numbers - last we'd talked to him (two weeks ago), he was already working on it. With that in mind, it's hard to argue that he's wrong - and it's even harder to argue without running my own numbers or putting in my own research.

Dec

Google Instant For Android 2.2+, iOS 4 Now Available In 28 Languages, 40 Countries

Posted by David Ruddock in News

Google's mobile blog released some impressive numbers today in regard to the availability of Google Instant for mobile: the service is now ready for Android 2.2+ and iOS 4 devices in 28 different languages and 40 countries.

If you're a non-US Android (or iOS) user and want to check availability for your locale, simply go to the Google homepage on your device. If "Instant (beta) is off" appears hit "Turn on", and you'll be set to go.

Commenters, if you'd like to confirm the languages/countries that Google Instant for mobile is now available to, please do so below!

Source: GoogleMobile via Engadget

Nov

Com2Us Ports A Popular iOS Game Slice It! Over To Android, Available Now Via GetJar

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Games, News

Whenever a game as polished as Slice It! comes out, you pretty much have no choice but to download and try it out - Angry Birds and Fruit Ninja are great examples of such games, and Slice It! from Com2Us does not disappoint. Not to be confused with Fruit Ninja-like games where you have to slice fruit in the air, in Slice It!, you have to divide various shapes into equal sizes in order to advance. Similar to Angry Birds, star ratings are given at the end of each level. My first impressions after seeing the graphics and the UI were most excellent, and I'm sure Slice It!

Oct

ZeptoLab, The Maker Of The Top iOS Game Cut The Rope, Promises An Android Version

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Games, News

Merely four days ago, @AndroidPolice (that's our Twitter account) tweeted out the following message:

"Cut The Rope" for iPhone is dubbed the next Angry Birds. Can we have that on Android please, @ZeptoLab? http://youtu.be/-1gf5UdYHwg

I don't know if ZeptoLab, the developer of this top paid iPhone game, was really listening or the timing was just right, but it seems to have answered our prayers with the following statement:

We plan to develop an Android version too, but it's still hard to give a release date.

Extremely vague, yes, but a little bit of patience never hurt anyone, right?

Sep

Millennial Media: Android Still Growing Like Gangbusters: Increased Market Share 7% Month-Over-Month, Now Accounts for 26% Of Smartphones

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Devices By Manufacturer, Motorola, News

Millennial Media, one of the largest mobile advertisers in the US, has released their August MobileMix. Based on their ad impressions, they estimate that Android now commands 26% of the Smartphone market - up 7% month-over-month. If accurate, that puts Android 7% ahead of RIM - but still 22% short of iOS.

Other tidbits: smartphone impressions gained 3% in the last month, up to 51%. The original Motorola Droid surprisingly still holds 9.44% of the market as the second most popular phone (obviously, the iPhone is first); based largely on the success of the Droid, Motorola is now the third largest device manufacturer.