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I think Google jumped the gun a bit on this one, but hey, if everyone is rolling with it, we'll go with it too. The @AndroidDev twitter account, which publishes official Google Android updates, this morning tweeted that the Market finally reached 100,000 applications:
As if Oracle's, Microsoft's, and Apple's [1] [2] suits weren't giving Android enough headache, today, Gemalto, an Amsterdam-based digital security company, added some fuel to the flames by filing a patent infringement suit against Google and its partners HTC, Samsung, and Motorola. The suit claimed that Android and the Dalvik operating environment incorporated Gemalto's patented Java Card technology without the company's permission.
What do we have here? Why, it's a giant Gingerbread statue getting installed over at Googleplex, right next to Froyo and the rest of the gang. It's not exactly what we'd been expecting and hoping to see today, but it's a start. Last time the Froyo statue was installed, we got the SDK a week later. Bring it on, Google!
There are a couple of Android programs that are so brilliant and well done that you can't imagine your life without them. For me, these programs are Launcher Pro, Titanium Backup, and QuickDesk. QuickDesk is ingenious and always makes those who see it for the first time beg me to tell them what it is. Minutes ago, Faruq, the QuickDesk developer, published a completely redesigned and long awaited version 0.4 to the Market, and it is good. Damn good.
Back in September, Samsung announced 4 new media players, one of which was of particular interest to us - the Galaxy Player 50. Out of the bunch, the Galaxy Player 50 was the only device running Android - it's what iPod Touch is to an iPhone, a Galaxy S phone without a chromosome phone.
I have loved StarCraft ever since the first version came out back in 1999. I've played it for 10 years, and this year excitedly watched, with all of you, the unveiling of both the beta and final versions (hey, we even got our cool Twitter background thanks to Starcraft II).
This article is aimed at rooted Android users using ROM Manager - if you are one of them, you should definitely consider looking into it; otherwise move right along, as this info will not apply to you. To see what ROM Manager can do for you, check out our guides here:
Have I gotten a treat for you music lovers? Winamp, the very first good music player for Windows - and one I still use religiously to this day - hit the Android Marketplace today, largely unnoticed in the Androidosphere.
Google is on a serious roll lately - after releasing standalone Gmail, Maps, Navigation, Street View, and Car Home apps, today the company continued to decouple its applications from the core of the Android OS with the release of the standalone YouTube app.
Have you ever wanted to peek ahead to those locked worlds in Angry Birds that are unavailable before fully completing the previous ones? A bug (or an Easter egg) in the Android version of the game lets you do just that, a reddit user braaaiins found. I tried it just a few minutes ago with 100% success.
A few days ago, Yahoo rolled out a version of the Yahoo Messenger for iOS that supported video chat and promised the same on Android shortly. Of course, we can't wait for "shortly" - that's entirely too long. Remember the Glacier/MyTouch ROM leak from yesterday? Turns out, it contains a full version of the Yahoo Messenger app, including video calling. Ripped out by the brave xda member matthewjulian, the app is available for download immediately (see below).
Welcome to the weekly roundup of the best new Android applications and games that went live in the Market in the previous week or so.
Hot in the heels of the incredible $100 Amazon deal on Sprint's flagship EVO 4G, we found ourselves looking at the same price tag on an even more expensive and more recent 4G device - the Samsung Epic 4G. Retailing for $249.99 at Sprint, the best deal we've seen on an Epic so far was $200 at both Amazon and Wirefly.
HTC EVO 4G, our favorite 4.3 incher from Sprint, has revolutionized the mobile industry back in June. However, due to high demand and low stock, it was extremely hard to get at first, and when it did show up in stock, we were still looking at a $199 price tag. Sure, a $10 or $20 discount popped up here and there but no significant deals ever surfaced. Until now.
The sad part about being a mobile customer, at least in the US, is that you almost never get the same perks when upgrading your phone with your current carrier, compared to switching to a new one. For example, if you're an existing T-Mobile customer, you will need to shell out $200 if you upgrade with T-Mobile, Amazon, or even Wirefly.
ment we've all been waiting for is finally here. A few hours ago, the full version of the most anticipated Android game ever, Angry Birds, has hit the Android Mar... errrr... GetJar Market, exclusively. Instead of uploading to the official Market first, Rovio decided to go for an alternative market called GetJar, probably in a deal to promote it. The Market version is promised "soon," which would be good right about now, as GetJar apparently wasn't prepared for the influx of visitors and promptly crashed for a couple of hours. It seems to be back up now, but who knows what is going to happen to it when the West Coast wakes up.
Dropbox users, listen up. Today, the company released an off-Market beta version of the Android app that finally fixes a runaway always-on background service, adds Apps2SD support, and fixes a bunch of other bugs. As far as I can tell, the background service was introduced to allow uploading of files even if the app is closed, except a buggy implementation never shut the service down. In the new release, files are properly uploaded in the background, after which the service correctly shuts down.
Last week, I had to deliver disappointing news about the full version of Angry Birds, the most addicting game on Android, getting delayed till this week, mostly due to proper multi-tasking support. Today, I'm glad to report that not only did Rovio commit to a Friday (tomorrow) release, as evident from the screenshot below, but also sent us a full version to play with.
Who thinks strictly black and gray phones are gloomy and boring? I do and, thankfully, so does Best Buy. A few months ago, the retailer announced an exclusive white EVO 4G, and today we got word of not 1 but 2 more white Android phones arriving on October 24: Verizon's Samsung Fascinate and AT&T's slightly outdated Sony Ericsson Xperia X10. While the exact pricing on either of these is unknown, you can head over to Best Buy today and reserve the device of your dreams with a $50 deposit. Unfortunately, there's no word on whether other outlets will be receiving these handsets - all we have to work with is the picture below.
Take this with a large grain of salt as it's just a rumor at this point, but one of our sources very close to the Android core who has been testing and working with Gingerbread for quite a while recently shared a little tidbit of info. According to the source, we won't have to wonder what exactly Gingerbread, the next Android OS, is going to bring to the table for too long because the Gingerbread SDK is going to go public next week.