Android OS - 81/164 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

[Infographic] Android Fragmentation Visualized... If You Like Biased Information, That Is

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Android OS, News

Apparently there are a whole slew of pissed off users because Google decided that the Nexus One will not be getting updated to Ice Cream Sandwich. As a result, an infographic was made to represent the fact that Apple can support its four devices better than manufacturers support their ump-teen Android devices. The infographic compares the all the iPhones of the past three years (so it excludes the 4S) to most Android devices of the same timeframe.

Let's have a look before we continue:

At first glance, it seems like a well put together graphic with attention to detail, right? For the most part -- yes.

Oct

ice-cream-sandwich-launch-announcement-confirmed-by-android-developers-youtube-channel

[Getting To Know Android 4.0, Part 2] Google Talk Gets A Facelift

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Features, Getting To Know Android, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Last Updated: August 10th, 2012

Google Talk is one of my favorite parts about Android. If you have other Googly friends, between Android, Gmail, and G+, they are almost always available. In Android 2.3.4, Google Talk got a big upgrade in the form of voice and video chat.

There will be many similarities to the to the Ice Cream Sandwich version of Gmail, which was the subject of Part 1 of this series. So go read about it or risk falling behind the rest of the class. Just like that article, Gingerbread is on the left, Ice Cream Sandwich is on the right. The ICS pictures are all from the emulator, which has the occasional rendering issue, so don't judge too harshly.

Oct

No Ice Cream Sandwich For The Nexus One, Says Google

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Nexus One (Passion)

Go ahead and file this one under the we're not surprised tab: Google's Hugo Barra told the Telegraph that the Nexus One won't be getting updated to Android 4.0, as the hardware is just too old. Honestly, we didn't expect the Big G to support the original Nexus forever, so this shouldn't really come as a shocker to anyone.

With that said, we know that tons of unofficial ports (read: custom ROMs) will be available shortly after the ICS source is dropped, once again breathing life into an otherwise dying device. Just one more reason we all love the Android development community so much.

Oct

Apple Granted Slide-To-Unlock Patent, Bearing On Android Yet To Be Seen

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Legal, News

Well, it happened - the slide-to-unlock patent Apple has been requesting was granted this morning by the US Patent & Trademark Office, meaning almost any device in America using a sliding unlock mechanism is now infringing on Apple's patent unless otherwise ruled.

While the timing may seem a bit suspicious, Apple originally filed for the patent in 2005. Have a look at this excerpt from the granted patent document:

A device with a touch-sensitive display may be unlocked via gestures performed on the touch-sensitive display. The device is unlocked if contact with the display corresponds to a predefined gesture for unlocking the device.

Oct

Motorola Speaks Up About Ice Cream Sandwich Updates: RAZR, Bionic, And XOOM To Be The First, Will Confirm More Later

Posted by Cameron Summerson in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Motorola, News

After Google's Ice Cream Sandwich announcement, the obvious question on everyone's mind was will my device get it? Motorola has started to address that issue, albeit very slowly.

A note about Ice Cream Sandwich:

We are planning to upgrade DROID RAZR, Motorola RAZR, Motorola XOOM and DROID BIONIC by Motorola to Ice Cream Sandwich. We will provide more precise guidance on timing after post-public push of Ice Cream Sandwich by Google, as well as any possible additions to this list of devices.

Therefore, we know at least three Moto devices that will see the ICS update. Of course, if you're rocking a high-end Moto device that was released in the past six months or so, I wouldn't sweat it too much.

Oct

Microsoft Getting Royalties From Over Half Of All US Android Phone Sales, Plus: An Interesting Android Licensing Infographic

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, Legal, News

Yesterday, Microsoft announced its latest Android licensing deal with Taiwanese manufacturer Compal, marking the company's tenth such agreement to date. While such a small manufacturer in terms of market share makes little overall difference in Microsoft's profits derived from Android, its deals with HTC and Samsung, combined with various smaller manufacturers like Compal, means it now receives royalties from over half of all Android smartphones sold in the US (the figure may be even larger on a global scale).

The major holdouts on the graphic above are Motorola Mobility and LG, though Moto is obviously the majority of that 47% chunk of green.

Oct

New Data Shows Android Has Surpassed iOS For App Downloads, But Still Has Far Fewer Apps Downloaded Per Person

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

An analysis of recently compiled data by ABI Research indicates that Android phones are for the first time downloading apps in greater numbers than Apple's iPhone. This would seem like a milestone, but ABI's research also shows that while the total number of apps downloaded onto Android devices in the last quarter exceeds that of the iPhone, Android handsets outnumber iPhones by a factor of 2.4 to 1.

This means that Android users are still downloading far fewer apps on an individual basis than iPhone owners - ABI suggests by a ratio of 2 to 1 one, in Apple's favor.

The growing marketplace for app revenue on Android is clear, as Android growth continues to outstrip the iPhone by a significant margin, app developers are turning their attention to the mobile OS that was once considered a lost cause in terms of making a profit.

Oct

[Updated: Here Are The Winners!] Book Giveaway #10: We're Giving Away Five Copies Of Android For Programmers: An App-Driven Approach

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Contests / Giveaways, Development

Our friends over at informIT are back with another new book on programming for Android. This time around, though, the book places more emphasis on learning directly by creating apps - in other words, learning by doing. The book is Android for Programmers: An App-Driven Approach, and it packs 16 fully coded Android apps as examples.

The Book

Written by Paul J. Deitel, Harvey M. Deitel, Abbey Deitel (quite the family affair...) and Michael Morgano, the book is 512 pages long and can be had for $29 for the eBook, $36 for a paper copy, or $49 for both.

Contains 16 Fully Coded Android™ Apps

The professional programmer’s Deitel® guide to Android™ smartphone and tablet app development and the Eclipse IDE with the Android Development Tools (ADT) plug-in

Billions of apps have been downloaded from Android Market!

Oct

[Weekend Poll] What Ice Cream Sandwich Feature/Improvement Are You Most Excited About?

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Polls

This is the latest in our Weekend Poll series. For last week's, see What Is Your Primary Portable Music Player Device?

Whew... it's certainly been an exciting week in the world of Android, hasn't it? Arguably the most anticipated update to the OS yet was finally officially revealed to the world, and it managed to meet - and exceed - virtually all of our expectations. For a quick run-down of the major changes, check out Cameron's primer or browse through the plethora of ICS posts from the last few days. Alternatively, you can watch the full 1-hour reveal.

So, what's your favorite aspect of the ICS update?

Oct

Oracle And Google's Epic Battle Will Have To Wait - This Month's Trial Postponed Indefinitely

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Android OS, Legal, News

It looks like there's finally been a new development in the Oracle vs. Google fight. For those who may be out of the loop, Oracle (who owns Sun and the Java programming language) have had patent infringement and copyright lawsuits boiling against Google for quite some time now. The patent claims are essentially related to Google's use of Java in the Android platform. Oracle claims that Android includes code which violates patents gained through the acquisition of Sun Microsystems.