Google - 34/42 - Android Police - Android News, Apps, Games, Phones, Tablets

Oct

Interview With Android UX Lead Matias Duarte: "Google Is Taking Design A Lot More Seriously"

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Interviews

Let's get the preliminary question off the plate first: who is Matias Duarte? Well for one thing, he oversaw the designing of a few small projects such as webOS, Sidekick OS, and Helio (the little carrier that could... be bought out). And, oh yeah, he also played a large part in Honeycomb's development.

Yesterday he sat down with Joshua Topolsky of This is my Next (soon to be The Verge) to discuss the "philosophy" of Android and, more specifically, Ice Cream Sandwich. It certainly provides some interesting insight into the man behind ICS' fancy new UI, and while we highly recommend you read the full interview, we'll be providing a few highlights below so as to save you some time (the unabridged version is quite lengthy).

Oct

Android Engineer: Ice Cream Sandwich AOSP Source Code Will Be Released, But Not Before Galaxy Nexus Goes On Sale

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Android OS, Galaxy Nexus, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News

Since I'm seeing questions inquiring about Android 4.0's source code drop every 5 minutes here and there, I thought it would be a good idea to point out this blurb in a recent post by an Android engineer Dan Morrill, aka morrildl:

To reiterate, these servers contain only the ‘gingerbread’ and ‘master’ branches from the old AOSP servers. We plan to release the source for the recently-announced Ice Cream Sandwich soon, once it’s available on devices.

Since the Galaxy Nexus is the first ICS device, rumored to go on sale sometime in the beginning to mid November, we shouldn't expect the source code to be publicized until about that time either.

Oct

Confirmed: Ice Cream Sandwich Looks Great On Tablets - Here's The Evidence

Posted by Jaroslav Stekl in Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, Tablets

One of the first things that crossed our minds when Google wrapped up its Ice Cream Sandwich press conference was "what about tablets"? Well now, thanks to This is my Next, we can finally lay those fears to rest: Android 4.0 looks absolutely fantastic on a larger display.

As you can see, it doesn't look all that different from Honeycomb, which makes sense given ICS' promise of unifying Android on phones (currently Gingerbread) with Android on tablets (Hcomb). Still, it has been brushed up here and there - and we like it!

So, how'd they do it? The TIMN team decided to take the Android 4.0 SDK for a spin, and in the process of doing so they discovered an option that allows devs to change the emulator's screen size.

Oct

[Updated] Re-Watch The Ice Cream Sandwich / Galaxy Nexus Event [1 Hour Recording]

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Nexus, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Samsung, Videos

While I was tapping away on my laptop trying to keep up with the Ice Cream Sandwich event earlier today, the desktop machine was happily recording it for future reference. This should hold us over until Google posts the official HD version - the video is about 1 hours long, but almost every minute of it is totally worth it (at least once you get to the juicy ICS bits):

Update: The official HD video has now been posted:

Oct

Official Galaxy Nexus Site Goes Live, Highlights Ice Cream Sandwich And Galaxy Nexus Features

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Nexus, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Samsung

Wow, what a heated hour we've just experienced, eh? Typing away and posting to our live blog, Google+, Facebook, and Twitter, while taking snapshots almost made me cross-eyed, but it's not time to stop right now. The official Galaxy Nexus site, which updates every time Google releases a new Nexus device, now has the freshly announced Galaxy Nexus plastered front and center:

If you click the blue dots, you can check out some of the major new features included in Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich and the Galaxy Nexus. We'll have a post with the details soon - in the meantime, I'll let the pictures do the talking:

Visit: Google Nexus site

Oct

[Updated] Galaxy Nexus And Ice Cream Sandwich Launch Live Blog

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Nexus, Google, News, Samsung

Welcome to the home of the Ice Cream Sandwich launch live coverage. Come back to this page about 30 minutes before Google and Samsung start the event in Hong Kong and join us in the chat. The official start times in various time zones are below:

Oct 18 4PM HAST
Oct 18 7PM PDT
Oct 18 8PM MDT
Oct 18 9PM CDT
Oct 18 10PM EDT
Oct 19 2AM GMT
Oct 19 3AM BST
Oct 19 4AM CEST/IST
Oct 19 5AM EEST
Oct 19 6AM MSK
Oct 19 10AM HKT
Oct 19 11AM JST

Remember, the whole event will be broadcast live at youtube.com/android - don't forget to tune in.

Oct

Confirmed: Ice Cream Sandwich/Galaxy Nexus Announcement Rescheduled To October 18 10PM EST (October 19 10AM HKT) In Hong Kong

Posted by Artem Russakovskii in Galaxy Nexus, Google, Ice Cream Sandwich 4.0, News, Samsung

We can finally stop guessing when Ice Cream Sandwich will be revealed to the world in all its glory as Google and Samsung just announced the event would be happening in Hong Kong, October 19th at 10 a.m. HKT, which corresponds to 10 p.m. October 18th EST. As before, the live stream will be available at http://www.youtube.com/Android.

And to that we say, "Bring it!"

Oct

Google TV SDK Goes Final, Start Coding!

Posted by Ron Amadeo in Development, Google TV, News

Hey GTV fans: Fantastic news! The final version of the Google TV SDK went live today - Google TV is still alive! This is a follow up to the preview build released in August.

Apparently, the differences between this and the preview version are pretty minor: by popular demand, the Action Bar now renders horizontally (like tablets), and there are additional on-screen quick access keys, like picture-in-picture, fast forward, and channel buttons.

The finalization of the SDK means it's time for developers to really get cracking. So fire up your Linux box, grab the add-on from the SDK Manager, and get to work!

Aug

Eric Schmidt: Google TV Launching In Europe 'Early Next Year'

Posted by Liam Spradlin in Google TV, News

Last Updated: September 1st, 2012

Google's Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt delivered the MacTaggart keynote lecture at the Edinburgh TV Festival last Friday - the first time a non-TV exec has been invited to do so. In his address, Schmidt indicated the UK as being "among the top priorities" in Google TV's European launch next year.

Google TV experienced a rough beginning, facing suspicion - and blocking - from some of the top broadcasting networks in the US. The platform initially faced criticism because some broadcasters felt that Google was "stealing their advertising revenues without contributing to the cost of making programs," Reuters reports.

Schmidt looked to dispel suspicions in his address, pointing out that Google seeks to "support the content industry by providing an open platform for the next generation of television to evolve, the same way Android is an open platform for the next generation of mobile."

There is no word yet on who will manufacture Google TV boxes for the European market, but Reuters speculates that Google's recent purchase of Motorola may or may not point to a future interest in manufacturing the boxes.

Aug

Google TV To Be Added To The Next Update of The Android SDK; Developers, Start Your Engines!

Posted by Matt Demers in Google TV, News

Google TV users will be happy to know that support for the platform is finally coming soon to the Android SDK. This will allow developers to unleash their apps on all Google TVs on the market, which in turn could help manufacturers eventually push more units given the renewed interest.

Since the Google TV Market announcement at Google I/O, the platform has had a lot of road bumps in both TV network and user adoption. However, since the SDK update will provide new APIs (such as channel line-ups),developers will have a wider array of tools to use while crafting applications.