Android OS - 131/164 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Google Body For Honeycomb Official - It's The 'Google Maps Of Human Anatomy'

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

As part of today's Honeycomb- and "Android ecosystem"-event, Google demoed Renderscript - a new 3D graphics library in Android. And part of their demo? A new application called Google Body, aka the "Google Maps of human anatomy."

It looks like it'll be a pretty cool way to explore the human body - just like Maps, you can strip away layers (i.e. skin, bones, etc.), rotate it in 3D, and search for body parts before having them highlighted in the app. Sweet - I can already hear the sound of science teachers across the nation screaming for joy.

Feb

[Updated: OTA Installations Are Here!] Google Announces Android Market Web Store - Online Now At Market.Android.Com

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Apps/Games, Google

Oh yes, those juicy rumors about an online version of the Market were true - the "Android Market Web Store," as Google is calling it, is accessible now via market.android.com.

As you can see, a list of featured/best selling games populates the front page, along with a list of categories, a "Sign in" button (~~which, at the time of this writing, leads to an 'invalid request error'~~), and a "Search" function. Once you click on one of the apps, you are taken to a page somewhat like the one in the second screenshot, with a description, links to "Overview," "User Reviews," "What's New," and "Permissions" on top, as well as a list of related apps on the left side and a QR code and a "Tweet" button on the right side.

Feb

"Monster Madness" And "Great Battles" Demoed On Honeycomb Tablet, Coming Within A Month

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Games, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News

We've already seen a few apps shown off at Google's live Honeycomb event, including two 3D games that take full advantage of both cores on the Tegra 2 processor. Monster Madness, ported from the PS3 to Android, is a hack and slash game with amazing 3D graphics and destructible environments, while Great Battles is an epic RTS that's also called an "educational game." While that doesn't sound that cool, just take a look at the pictures of the game in action. If this is what we can expect from Tegra 2 games, gaming on Android is about to get a whole lot better - and apparently sooner rather than later, as both games are expected to be released within a month.

Feb

T-Mobile Releases Details And Images Of The LG G-Slate Honeycomb Tablet

Posted by Nate Kimmey in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Optimus Pad / G-Slate, T-Mobile

Just before tomorrow's Honeycomb event, T-Mobile is out to steal the spotlight with their G-Slate Honeycomb tablet that was announced at CES earlier this year. Back then, we had virtually no details other than the fact that it was running Android 3.0, but tonight, T-Mobile's spilling the beans:

8.9" HD display
3D capable with glasses
Dual stereoscopic cameras for 1080p 3D video recording, as we've already figured out
5 megapixel camera with dual LED flash
2 megapixel front-facing camera
HSPA+ capable
Gyroscope and Accelerometer
32 GB internal storage
HDMI out
NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor
Android 3.0 Honeycomb

What is highly disappointing about the G-Slate is the silver band that looked very much like a kickstand seems to be just a cosmetic element.

Feb

New Official Froyo ROM (DL30) For Samsung Fascinate Leaked Completely Unchanged - Bloatware And All

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Fascinate, Froyo 2.2, News, Samsung, Verizon Wireless

We have some somewhat good news for Fascinate owners: a new, official, very final-looking Froyo build DL30 for the Samsung Fascinate has been leaked, and it's been released completely unmolested (short of pre-rooting it). Even the bloatware has been left intact.

Obviously, the silver lining here is that we can see that Samsung and Verizon are making progress, and this could be a sign that the update is closer to being ready to roll out. (Then again, that could just be naïve optimism.) On the flip side, the only people who will find this immediately useful are the ones who are rooted, and those people are probably already running a custom Froyo ROM already (and likely one without the bloat).

Feb

Android, iOS and BlackBerry In A Three-Way Tie In The US In Q4 2010

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

According to Don Kellogg from the Nielsen Company, 31% of all mobile phone users in the U.S. own some type of a smartphone. More interestingly, it appears that the race for market share in the U.S. by the leading smartphone platforms - Android, iOS and BlackBerry - is in a dead heat.

We have already learnt from analysts at Canalys that shipments of Android-based smartphones globally commanded a 32.9% share of the market, followed by devices running Nokia's Symbian OS at 30.6%, Apple's iPhone OS at 16%, and RIM's BlackBerry OS at 14.4%. Nielsen's report today shows that RIM and Apple are still fairly popular in the US, being on equal terms with Android in terms of market share.

Jan

Google Opens Up Early I/O Registration

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, News

Google I/O, a conference dedicated entirely to Google technologies and hosted in San Francisco's Moscone Center, is fast approaching, and Google today opened up early registration to key developer partners and 2010 I/O attendees. Early reg, available to the first 1500 people who complete it, costs $450 ($100 more than last year). Don't worry though - when it goes public next week, the price is going to stay the same until April 17th, at which point it will go up another $100 to $550 (thanks for the correction, Philip!). Unfortunately, unless you've received a personal invitation, you will not be able to proceed with the early signup and will have to wait until February 7th.

Jan

Google Hiring Android Developers To Create Apps In-House

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

Although, the Android Market has exploded recently, it is no secret that apps on the iOS platform consistently look and perform better. With revenues from mobile apps set to triple this year, Google is going on a mass hiring spree to find developers to create quality apps for the Android Market, reports the Wall Street Journal.

Google, like Apple, takes a 30% cut for every app sold in the Market. However, with paid app sales failing to live up to expectations, Google is hoping to increase its revenue stream by improving the overall quality of the apps available in the Market.

Jan

Android Takes The Top Spot From Symbian Following Strong Sales In Q4 2010

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Android OS, News

Just a few weeks after Android became the number one smartphone platform in the US, Canalys is reporting that strong sales of Android devices in Q4 2010 has helped it overtake Nokia's Symbian OS to became the world's best selling mobile platform.

33.3 million Android-based devices were sold globally in Q4 2010, compared with 31.0 million Symbian-based phones and 16.2 million iPhones.

Android's growth is astonishing. In Q4 2009 it sold a mere 4.7 million units, a year later shipments have jumped by over 600%. In the same time-frame Symbian has grown by a mere 30%, while Apple's iOS platform has jumped by 85.9% (this is just limited to smart phones and would not include iPad sales).

Jan

Yet Another Android Data-Stealing Vulnerability Uncovered, Affects All Versions Of The OS

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Gingerbread 2.3, News

Last year, we reported on a serious vulnerability in all versions of Android, found by a security researcher Thomas Cannon. It allowed a remote attacker to download files off a user's SD card upon visiting a webpage with malicious JavaScript code embedded in it. Google's response was swift, and the fix was rolled out in the public release of Gingerbread at the end of 2010.

A new report from eWeek came out today stating that another researcher, Xuxian Jiang, this time from North Carolina State University, stepped forward with a tweak to the very same vulnerability Google reportedly patched. The new method circumvents protection put in place and allows an attacker, yet again, to access a user's SD card as well as the /system directory and directories that are open for reading in the Android sandbox.