News - 787/947 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Feb

Nearly 90% Of Android Devices At Version 2.1 Or Above

Posted by David Ruddock in Android OS, News

Google released its monthly update of the Android version distribution charts today, and the battle against fragmentation is slowly being won.

Froyo now accounts for almost 60% of all Android devices, with Éclair hovering around 30%. Donut and Cupcake now make up only one tenth of all Android devices in the wild. Compare that to only 6 months ago, when they took up over 35% of the pie. Android's evolution is certainly impressive, and it doesn't seem like it'll be slowing down any time soon.

Gingerbread represents around 1% of the Android population right now according to Google, which makes sense, as the Nexus S remains the only Android handset being sold with Android 2.3.

Feb

Dell Venue On Sale Now For $500 From Dell; Shipping February 18th

Posted by David Ruddock in Dell, News, Thunder

Do you have $500 laying around to spend on a smartphone? Well then, have we got a deal for you - Dell's most attractive piece of Android hardware to date, the Venue (formerly know by its code name "Thunder"), is up for grabs on Dell's website right now. At $500, it's not too exorbitant a price for an unlocked handset, and you get your choice of frequency band versions: AT&T or T-Mobile. You can expect it ship by the 18th of this month.

There will be no contract pricing, at least for the moment. The plus side to that, of course, is that on T-Mobile you can get a reduced pricing plan as a pay-as-you-go customer off contract.

Feb

Yes, Folks, Honeycomb IS A Tablet OS - Though Some Of Its Features May Arrive On Phones "Over Time"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Android OS, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

If, for whatever reason, you didn't believe that Honeycomb is an OS built exclusively for tablets (despite the third slide of Google's official video teaser), here's yet more proof for your doubting mind.

First up, we have a report from PC Magazine, who has been told by a "company spokesman" that Honeycomb will not be available on Android smartphones. However, some of its features will be carried over (PC Mag thinks Movie Studio and browser enhancements are likely candidates) - just as should be expected.

Additionally, Phandroid has a "trusted source" who claims that Google is currently working on Android build GRI17 (that's Gingerbread post-Honeycomb, or Ice Cream Sandwich).

Feb

CLIQ XT Owners To Be Forever Stuck In Android 1.5 Hell But Motorola Bets They'll Loooove The CLIQ 2

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in CLIQ / DEXT (Morrison), CLIQ 2, CLIQ XT (Zeppelin), Motorola, News, T-Mobile

Even though Motorola's original CLIQ received a 2.1 upgrade a long time ago, CLIQ XT owners have been patiently (and impatiently) waiting for the good news ever since. Unfortunately, it will never come, as Motorola's official decision, posted on their Android Software Upgrade News, is to forever doom it to 1.5. It is hard to imagine which differences between the original CLIQ and the XT prompted Motorola to refuse the upgrade, because the phones are really very much the same, and the biggest difference between them is the physical keyboard on the CLIQ.

As if that wasn't enough, about a week ago, Motorola/T-Mobile sent a lovely targeted email to all CLIQ XT owners (in addition to Backflip and potentially some others), inviting them to upgrade to the CLIQ 2.

Feb

The Android Effect: HTC's Gross Profit Has Tripled Since Introduction Of Nexus One

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in HTC, News, Nexus One (Passion), Off-Topic

Business Insider took a look at HTC's gross profit, and noticed something interesting: since the introduction of the Nexus One, the company's gross profit has nearly tripled. Although the Nexus One was a flop by sales standards (although certainly not by consumer standards - I've yet to meet an N1 owner who doesn't swear by the phone), there were clearly positive implications in building the device for HTC.

It's hard to say what caused the massive increase - whether because building the flagship device provided the company with valuable experience, because it coincided with Android hitting its stride, or because of the attention the company received for being chosen by Google.

Feb

Mythical T-Mobile HTC Pyramid Rumoured With A 1.2 GHz Dual-Core Processor

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in HTC, News, T-Mobile

Another day, another Android phone rumour. Android And Me received a tip from a "regular source" about HTC's first dual-core smartphone set to launch on T-Mobile in May 2011. The phone, codenamed the "Pyramid", will reportedly feature a 1.2GHz dual-core MSM8260 Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, a 4.3-inch qHD display (with a resolution of 960x540), and support for T-Mobile's HSPA+ network for 4G connectivity.

We do not wish to speculate on the veracity of this rumour, however Taylor from Android And Me has stated that the regular source has provided accurate information in the past and in this case, TmoNews has confirmed the rumour through another independent source.

Feb

Honeycomb Will Come With An "Encrypt Tablet" Feature - Business Users And Spies Rejoice

Posted by Abhiroop Basu in Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, XOOM

Earlier yesterday, Google demoed some of Honeycomb's most impressive features, however one of its best features seems to have slipped under the radar. While playing around with the Motorola XOOM, Engadget noticed an "Encrypt Tablet" option in the settings page.

At this time little is known about the encryption standard that will be used or whether the encryption process will affect the tablet's other features in any way. All that is known is that your accounts, settings, downloaded applications, media, and other files will be encrypted, and you will require a numeric PIN or password to decrypt the data. Additionally, it will take an hour (or more) to encrypt all your data.

Feb

For fffffffuuuuuuuuuuuu Fans: Forever Alone SMS Widget For Stock Messaging App

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Applications, Apps/Games, News, Off-Topic

Those of you who are familiar with F7U12 (FFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUUU) comics will appreciate this: developer Jor dan has released a Forever Alone widget for the stock messaging app. When your unread SMS count is 0, the widget displays the Forever Alone face. When you have unread messages, it switches to the happy Forever Alone face (coincidentally, is there an official name for that?) and shows the count.

If this doesn't make sense to you because you're not familiar with the meme, perhaps the screenshots can help clarify:

^{Left: no unread messages because you're forever alone. Right: Yaaay, 2 unread messages!}

The app is free and available now in the market.

Feb

[Recap] Missed Today's Honeycomb Event? Here's All You Need To Know + Watch It In Full On YouTube

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, Honeycomb 3.0/3.1/3.2, News, Videos, XOOM

Today has definitely been one of the more exciting days this year, at least in the Android department. Last week, Google sent out invitation for a Honeycomb-related event, where we, of course, were expecting detailed walkthroughs of Android 3.0 and hands-on with the Motorola XOOM.

Rumors of the web store that was promised almost a year ago as well as Google Music, teased at the same time at Google I/O last year, were flying, and one of them definitely came true today - we've finally got ourselves a web-based Market with over-the-air app installations.

Instead of Google Music, we got a different present in the form of in-app purchases, which will, hopefully, put an end to multiple variations of apps (Lite, keys, Demo, etc), help curb piracy, and allow for easier microtransactions within existing aps and games.

Feb

SwiftKey Announces A Tablet-Optimized, Tron-Inspired Honeycomb Keyboard

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Applications, News, Videos

We can't say we didn't see it coming, considering we saw this preview of the tablet-optimized SwiftKey keyboard during CES, but what SwiftKey is announcing today looks quite a bit different, to say the least.

Allow me to introduce Swiftkey Tablet - a tablet-only Honeycomb keyboard set to launch around the same time as the Motorola XOOM tablet. Sticking with the 3-way-split design, the new holographic look reminds me quite a bit of Tron. If you watch the video below, you'll see that the UI is quite... magical, with suggestions floating up when clicked. The dual space bar design and the presence of arrow keys are very welcomed as well.