23
Feb

Google Reportedly Disappointed By Music's Performance, But Still Confident In Long-Term Outlook (And Why I'm Not Surprised)

Posted by in Editorials, News

Google Music launched just 3 months ago, but CNET is already hearing from Google managers and record labels that the company is disappointed by the service's performance so far. In a nutshell: when Google Music launched, there were 200 million Android users, and that number was growing extremely quickly. The expectation was that it would be fairly easy to convert some of those users to Music customers. Unfortunately, that just isn't what's happened, with adoption lower than expected.

According to CNET, those involved with Google Music "aren't panicking"; it's only been 3 months, after all. But more importantly, Google has yet to go full-force with its major music push.

23
Feb
nochange

[Editorial] Virtual Game Tokens For Android Games Exist, And They're Even More Evil Than DLC

Posted by in Editorials, Games

To say that DLC is a growing problem would be an understatement. Of the last five games I've reviewed for this site, all of them have had some form of in-app purchases to expand the game or unlock content. Sometimes it's awful, sometimes it's not so bad, but all of them guarantee you only get most of a game. A new service called Pocket Change, however, wants to let game developers charge on a per-play basis. This is beyond scummy.

Going From Bad...

Back before DLC became a common term amongst gamers, we still paid for extra content. Whether we called them "expansion packs", "map packs", or "Pokemon Every Color Of The Friggin' Rainbow", we would pay money for new content to extend games we enjoyed.

22
Feb
android_privacy_investigation_580

PSA: California's New App Privacy Policy Requirement Just Made Life Harder For Developers Everywhere, Here's What You Need To Know

Posted by in Android OS, Apps/Games, Development, Editorials, Legal, News

Privacy is a good thing in the digital world - you'll get no argument from me. I don't like my data floating around in cyberspace without my consent, but I also realize that much of what makes the internet (and computing generally) so great is that I can use my own judgment to decide who I will and will not trust with my information.

Things like app permissions, which have been a part of the Android package installation process for quite some time, are nice, but let's face it: 95% of us don't read them. And if we do, we may not even be sure what those permissions really entail, or how the app will use those permissions to gather information, or even what kind of information will actually be collected.

17
Feb
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In-Depth Analysis: Android's Notification Bar Patent (And How Apple May Or May Not Infringe It)

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Legal, News

There has been a lot of interest of late in a patent filed (by Google) back in 2009 for what is obviously a rendition of Android's notification bar system. There are a number of pretty (well, as pretty as black and white gets) figures in the patent showing the notification bar we all know and love, and lots of language about notification systems and the like.

As many of the Android-faithful know, Apple recently implemented as part of iOS 5 the "Notification Center," and it looks an awful lot like Android's in some respects. This immediately drew criticism from the Android community, with many claiming that Apple had essentially "ripped off" Google's implementation, and has been a sore subject ever since.

13
Feb
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Editorial: The PlayStation Vita Is A Vivid Reminder Of Sony's Tenuous And Evolving Relationship With Android

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Games, Off-Topic, Sony

We certainly aren't a console video gaming blog, but when reviews of the US version of Sony's PlayStation Vita started cropping up this morning, I couldn't help but take notice of the new mobile console system's software. Particularly, how... smartphoney it looks.

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Image via The Verge

Everything in Sony's Vita OS has been appified - Google Maps is there, while Twitter, Facebook, Foursquare, and Skype apps are forthcoming. Sony has its own suite of apps as well, including a full-blown browser which, although it appears to be pretty terrible, is apparently the best on any mobile gaming device to date. But the point is this: the Vita's OS looks and tries to be a lot like a smartphone's.

10
Feb
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PRADA By LG 3.0's Marketing Campaign Featuring Edward Norton Utterly Confuses Us, But I Can Get Behind The Idea

Posted by in Editorials, LG, News

Why? That is the first word that pops to mind when I see this, LG's marketing campaign for its PRADA-branded smartphone.

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The second thing I think is, "I kind of want to watch Fight Club." Two hours later, I get back to thinking about just how terrible an idea this phone is, and just how great an actor Edward Norton can be. Anyways, the PRADA by LG 3.0 is being sold as a stylish smartphone, with the design-house PRADA having had at least some level of input so LG could stamp the logo on its back (and front). And in these marketing photos, it looks utterly bland.

09
Feb
motorola-red-logo

Motorola Laying Blame On Hardware Variation For Slow Updates Is Missing The Point - Carriers Are The Real Culprits (In The US, At Least)

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, Motorola, News

Earlier today, when I read comments from Motorola executive Christy Wyatt over on PCMag explaining that lagging software updates could be blamed in large part on hardware variation, my first response was "really?" Talk about the pot calling the kettle black. Motorola has iterated so much hardware in the last year that it has actually promised to cut down on the number of versions of Android handsets it will make.

Specifically, Wyatt made a point of the obvious fact that when Google releases the source code for Android, the only devices it will readily compile on fall into the "Nexus" category.

06
Feb
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Editorial: The Thinness War Needs To Stop, Or, Why I Shouldn't Have To Carry A Portable Charger For My Phone

Posted by in Android OS, Editorials, News, RAZR / RAZR MAXX

When it comes to high tech, downsizing is often looked at as a sign of progress. Microprocessors meant whole computers, for the first time, could fit on a desktop. LCD displays made them portable - in the form of laptops. Moore's law proved that chips that once would have been classified as capable of enterprise-level computing now occupy devices that easily fit in your pocket. And advanced lithium-ion batteries meant you could finally take yourself off the AC teat for an appreciable amount of time, and you could charge your gadgets over and over without worrying about the ridiculous cycling fatigue that plagued earlier rechargeable systems.

02
Feb
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[Updated] Rumor Analysis: Is A New Galaxy Nexus With A TI OMAP4470 CPU Really In The Works?

Posted by in Editorials, Galaxy Nexus, Rumors

A rumor has begun circulating over the past week about the possible existence of an upgraded version of the just-released Galaxy Nexus. At CES, ASUS announced the TF700T, a beefier version of the Transformer Prime (well before the first Transformer Prime has even been released in many countries), leaving a lot of people who bought the first iteration a bit upset. Are Google and Samsung following ASUS's lead and planning on releasing an incremental upgrade to the Galaxy Nexus so soon?

The Story So Far

Normally, our policy is to avoid reporting on stories for which we can’t find good corroborating evidence.

01
Feb
vomit

[Editorial] Sense 4 On Ice Cream Sandwich: One Step Forward, Two Steps Back For Android

Posted by in Editorials, HTC, Ville

Yesterday, we saw the first glimpse of Sense 4 on Android 4.0 on the HTC Ville. While watching the video, I assumed that the handset was running Gingerbread since it looked just like previous versions of Sense (save for the updated launcher). The only thing that even slightly resembled ICS is the Roboto font in the clock.

Then it showed the version information, which made me feel physically ill. This is Sense 4 on ICS? Say it ain't so!

I use a Galaxy Nexus as my main phone and the Transformer Prime is my main tablet, so I spend a substantial amount of time using stock ICS.

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