News - 810/939 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

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

For Developers: Live On The Edge - Upgrade To The Latest Eclipse ADT (Currently v9.0.0) Before It Is Released [How-To]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Development, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Tips & Tutorials

We, Android developers, spend our days staring at a computer screen, most likely at one of Eclipse's windows. Eclipse is an amazing IDE in theory, but it never quite feels complete and polished, mostly due to the fact that it's powered by open source enthusiasts and is based almost entirely on plugins (if you want to get it to do anything useful, that is).

Being Android developers, the plugin we are using every day is ADT - Android Development Tools, written by Google engineers, mostly @tornorbye and @droidxav who I've been conversing over twitter lately and annoying with filing numerous ADT bugs (hi, if you're reading!).

Dec

LG Announces Optimus 2X, The First Dual Core Phone

Posted by Nate Kimmey in LG, News, Optimus 2X (Star, p990)

Last Updated: December 23rd, 2010

Planning on buying a Nexus S when it's released tomorrow? You may want to re-think that: LG has just officially announced the next phone in the Optimus line, the Optimus 2X. What makes this phone so special? Aside from all the regular features in high-end Android phones, it's packing the dual core Tegra 2 processor, a first for any phone. And the rest of the phone's specs won't disappoint, either:

1 GHz dual core, Tegra 2 processor
4-inch display
Android 2.2 with plans to upgrade to Android 2.3
8 megapixel rear camera, 1.3 megapixel front-facing camera
HDMI
1080p video playback
Gyro sensor
1,500 mAh battery
microSD card slot

According to the press release, the Optimus 2X will be released in Korea next month, with a launch in Europe and Asia to come shortly after.

Dec

Finally! IBM Introduces Lotus Notes Traveler for Android

Posted by Stephen Tenerowicz in Applications, News

If you were simply dying for a Lotus Notes solution on Android like me, today is your lucky day! IBM has introduced a version of it's Lotus Notes Traveler software for the Android OS. The free software is designed to give Lotus Notes customers two-way, over-the-air synchronization of information between their accounts and mobile devices via the Lotus Domino server. The new app impressed with:

Remote wipe support for stolen or lost devices
Automatic, over the air synchronization of notes, calendar, and contacts
The ability to read encrypted email.
A free mobile solution for Lotus Notes customer

So, anyone out there as excited as I am?

Dec

New Nexus Wallpaper Escapes From The Samsung Nexus S, Leaks Into The Forums

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Development, Gingerbread 2.3, News, Nexus S (Crespo/Soju), Samsung

The Nexus S isn't exactly a huge upgrade from Google's original Jesus phone (in fact, it could be considered a downgrade in some respects), but it does feature one potential selling point: Gingerbread. That said, there's no reason those of us with non-Nexus S phones should have to wait in order to enjoy the update's new features, as the leaked Gingerbread launcher and 2.3 keyboard have shown us.

Today, Android Central Forums member Upstreammiami tweaked the Nexus live wallpaper in Éclair and Froyo to make it nearly identical to the default wallpaper on the NS. Obviously, since the phone isn't available yet, Upstreammiami wasn't able to grab the files directly off Samsung and Google's creation; therefore, this isn't a direct port.

Dec

Google App Inventor Leaves Private Beta, Now Open To Everyone

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Apps/Games, Google, News

Remember Google App Inventor, a Google Labs project that lets people without programming experience create Android apps for personal use? It is an interesting project, but so far, it has only been available as a private beta, which meant you needed an invitation to get in. According to the App Inventor team, their experiment has generated more interest than they had ever hoped for, with people creating apps ranging from vocabularies and SMS to marriage proposals.

To unlock the full potential, Google is now opening up App Inventor to anyone with a Google account - just head over to the App Inventor home page and sign up.

Dec

First Google TV OTA Update Rolling Out Along With The Official Google TV Remote Control Android App

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Google, Google TV, Logitech, News, Revue, Videos

The users of Google TV will love Google a little more than usual today, as the company is rolling out the first over-the-air update since launch (I am assuming the OTA my Revue prompted me to download out of the box did not count). Refreshingly, there is no fragmentation present with Google TV (yet?), so both the Logitech Revue and the 2 versions of Sony's GTV should be receiving the updates without delays throughout this week.

Before I describe the updates, I just wanted to note that I received my Revue box last week, installed and configured it in about 20 minutes, with all steps being painless and kind of fun, without any problems I've heard some people having.

Dec

NullDC Sega Dreamcast Emulator Being Ported To Android, Initial Efforts Showing Promise

Posted by Brian O'Toole in Development, Games, News

Sega's ill-fated home console may have died in 2001, but with a library of classics such as Crazy Taxi and Shenmue the appeal of the Dreamcast has lived on. A popular open-source project, nullDC, has been providing PC-emulated nostalgia for some time now, but this week we're seeing the first fruits of a project set to bring the 200 MHz box to your own open-source OS device. While your old Nexus memory card may not fit in your Nexus One, the advent of nullDC on Android is set to bolster Google's mobile OS's reputation as a retro-gaming platform. Android's native gaming library may be a bit sparse (despite some admitted gems), but the prospect of emulation can really shift units to those interested in some pocket nostalgia, as it did for Sony's PSP.

Dec

Dolphin Browser Mini Goes Into Public Beta, Offers Much Faster Performance All Around

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Applications, News

Do you feel the need for speed? Apparently you aren't alone, as Dolphin Browser Mini has just gone into public beta on the Market. The app offers numerous improvements over the regular version of Dolphin Browser as well as the HD version, including:

High speed responsibility [sic]

Speed Dial Homepage

Innovative Menu design

Infinite tabs browsing

Intelligent back & forward button

Like its ancestors, it also features a variety of innovative gestures, bookmark syncing, private browsing, and a host of other features not found in the stock Android browser. Here's a really nice cross-reference chart for those not immediately seeing the differences:

Notably missing? Themes support, one of the features that made the original two Dolphin Browsers so great.

Dec

Millennial Media November Report: Android Continuing To Grow, Dominating Ad Revenue & Developers

Posted by Aaron Gingrich in Android OS, Apps/Games, News

Another month, another report from advertiser Millennial Media. As usual, it's best to start this off by pointing out that these results are based on ad impressions across Millennial's network, and thus should be considered a sample. With that out of the way, let's take a peek.

The two most significant things that stand out to me are that Android is now tied with iOS for the largest smartphone OS, and Android accounts for a whopping 54% of ad revenue on the network, versus 39% for iOS. Pretty damn impressive.

Among application publishers who are adding support to new platforms, Android is the fastest growing, though that is something that is probably common sense if you really think about it (given that iOS already has a very large developer following).