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Filed under: OS Updates, News, Web services, Google, Open Source

Google's new Dashboard sure would tie in nicely to Android, Chrome OS

When a few blog sites yesterday happened upon Google's YouTube video of the new Dashboard, they moved quickly to pull it down. Though the original video is still MIA, Google made an official announcement of the new feature on their own blog last night and the video above is now ready for public consumption.

While Dashboard is now live -- you can check yours out at https://www.google.com/dashboard -- what's being talked about by most sites is how this move is all about transparency and privacy controls. Heck, even the official post hits on those points: "In an effort to provide you with greater transparency and control over their own data, we've built the Google Dashboard."

The post continues, "Designed to be simple and useful, the Dashboard summarizes data for each product that you use (when signed in to your account) and provides you direct links to control your personal settings."

That's fantastic, and I'm sure it's a big part of the story, but I can't help thinking that there's a tie-in to other Google projects. Perhaps Chrome OS and Android, for example?

Read more →

Filed under: Palm, iPhone, Mobile, Android

Ibis eBook reader aims to get around iPhone app store

By now, iPhone users who haven't jailbroken their devices have learned that they can't get an app unless it goes through Apple's approval process and reaches the iTunes App Store. A new eBook reader called Ibis, planned for iPhone, Android and Palm's WebOS, plans to get around Apple's restrictions. How? Simple: it's a web app. You can access the reader from your browser, and your books are stored offline using HTML5.

It doesn't seem like there's much Apple can do about that, unless they want to start blocking web apps on their device. Unlikely. So, you can enjoy your DRM-free books in ePub format to your heart's content, and even buy new ones from Ibis' bookstore. You'll be able to sync books and bookmarks across devices via the cloud, too. Ibis isn't launching for "several months," but it could be a real winner if it looks as good as it sounds.

[via Daring Fireball]

Filed under: Utilities, Google, Mobile, Android

Google Maps brings GPS navigation to Android 2.0 phones

As if we weren't already excited enough about the next version of Google's Android mobile OS, Google has now announced that Android 2.0 devices will offer GPS navigation with 3D views and turn-by-turn directions. Google Maps Navigation looks great, and it's a smack in the face to Apple, who seem to been distancing themselves from Google after buying their own mapping company. The iPhone is cool, but it's hard to beat Google Maps at its own game.

It's especially hard when Google's offering practically everything you get from a pricey GPS navigation unit, right in your Android phone. 3D maps, live traffic updates, and voice directions are all included, along with Google's Street View and Satellite view. When it comes out next week, the Verizon Droid will be the first phone to support the new navigation features. For right now, it'll only work in the United States, but other countries with Google Maps should get it eventually.

Filed under: Audio, Internet, Google

Watch out, iTunes! Google may be getting ready to launch a digital music service


While they've offered music streaming and downloads in China (pictured) for quite some time now, Google users elsewhere have been left wondering "When's it gonna be my turn? (use your best Cleveland voice)"

According to TechCrunch, it may not be that much longer. Take that with a grain of salt, of course, since Arrington and Co. have been known to miss the mark by a wide margin from time to time.

Still, an iTunes competitor makes a lot of sense and now is the perfect time for Google to debut it. With Android starting to pick up steam in the mobile handset market and devices like Barnes & Noble's Nook and Dell Streak popping up with the OS, Google could be planning to strike while the iron is hot.

They've also done their share of negotiating with copyright holders before, so getting content providers on board should be a walk in the park. Putting that experience and existing relationships to work in a music service could be a major win for Google.

After running Google Music China through Translate, I'm thinking my first downloads will be "Sparkling Arouses Love" and "How can you be Willing to Let Me Cry." If this music service turns out to be half as entertaining as Google Translate, I'm all in.

Filed under: Mozilla, Beta, Browsers, Mobile, Android

Mozilla makes its mobile move, brings Firefox 3.6 to Android

In the mobile browser wars, Webkit-based browsers seem to be pulling away from the pack. Don't count Firefox out yet, though, because the CEO of Mozilla says that Firefox has put together "the most advanced mobile browser," and it's due to hit Android phones soon. Fennec, the mobile version of Firefox, is based on Firefox 3.6, which is a generation ahead of the current desktop version of Firefox. As CEO John Lilly told Om Malik of GigaOM, this browser does "everything - Javascript, CSS, Flash, SVG, video and audio."

Like the desktop version of Firefox, the mobile version uses the AwesomeBar, which provides quick access to bookmarks and browser history, right from the address bar. Mozilla also plans to support add-ons for Firefox's mobile version, which would make it the first mobile browser to do so. Add-ons might be the sole factor keeping Firefox competitive on the desktop. In the mobile space, they'd give it an edge. Along with Android, Mozilla is also developing for Nokia's Maemo OS, which isn't too widespread in the US, but is growing in global popularity.

Filed under: Web services, Google, Social Software, iPhone, web 2.0, Mobile, Android

Surprise! Google Wave (unofficially) works on iPhone and Android!

After playing with Google Wave for about a week, I found myself wishing I could check my waves on the go. How is this thing going to replace email in the future if I have to be at my computer to use it? Well, it turns out that Wave does work on at least two mobile platforms: the iPhone and Google Android. Although the mobile versions of these browsers aren't technically supported - so you'll have to click through a warning to use it - the fact that they're built on WebKit means it's more or less Wave-ready.

There's even a mobile-optimized site for Wave, similar in design to mobile Gmail. Although there's no official Wave iPhone app, you can add Wave to your home screen on the iPhone for convenient access. Obviously, some of Wave's features won't work in the mobile version - dragging and dropping images, for example - but for basic reading and adding to conversations, it's fine. Preparing a decent mobile web version of Wave is certainly one alternative to going through Apple's app store approval process, especially after the infamous Google Voice rejection.

[via TechCrunch]

Filed under: News, Apple, Google, Open Source, Mobile, Lists, Android, Op-Ed

Preemptive FAIL : Five easy things Verizon isn't doing to fix Android

It's all over the place; Verizon is embracing Android. Google loving apologist geeks everywhere are heralding the 85 million new customers -- who are obviously ready to try Android, if only Verizon would let them -- as the beginning of a new era in mobile phone competition. The cries of panacea are all I've heard all day:

"It's going to be a floodgate of new users! "

"Death to the iPhone!"

And, as one particularly difficult to satisfy commenter on another blog wrote:

"Get over yourselves apple and make a new product."

I'll have to admit, as a current G2, and previous G1 owner, I was a little excited myself. Then I read one thing from the joint Verizon/Google press call which made me crestfallen.

"Verizon also has no plans to make any changes to the Android Market."

And with that, all my dreams of an Android controlled world ran away like so much sand through my fingers. This is an enormous mistake, Verizon. Care to know why? The Android Market is terrible. It's worse than terrible, it's horrible.

Horrible, and just a little bit dangerous.

I've got a list of five things Verizon must do to the Android Market if they're to have any hope of even modest success.

Read more →

Filed under: Commercial, Mobile, Android

Astraware Solitaire and Sudoku titles now available for Android


Astraware
- long time software developers for Windows Mobile, Palm and more recently iPhone, Symbian and Blackberry - have now entered the rapidly growing Android software market with the release of two of their top titles - Astraware Solitaire and Astraware Sudoku.

Astraware Solitaire features 12 different single player card games in the one download, with the ability to customise each game to play 'your way'. A wide choice of card backs is included, together with an optional 'clear' card face. The application also features unlockable rewards.

Astraware Sudoku includes some great features including smart hints, pencil marks, hold-and-highlight to help beginners, a downloadable 'Puzzle of the Day' from the dedicated companion website (which also includes tips on solving techniques) and a puzzle solver to help you complete those troublesome puzzles in the newspaper!

Available for immediate download from the Android Market, both games are priced at $4.99 each and feature design and controls optimised for Android while still retaining an 'Astraware feel' that will be familiar to anyone who has used Astraware products before.

Filed under: Apple, Freeware, iPhone, Android

0870 for iPhone and Android saves Brits money on 'national rate' calls

Here in the UK, there's phonecalls that are deemed 'national rate' - they're calls to a non-geographic number, and the cost of the call is a little more than you'd pay for a general phone call (as the name implies). The company which uses the 0870 number makes a small amount of money on every minute that you're connected to the number, and when you use an 0870 number on a mobile phone, the network providers add their own fees on the top of the number - making a £0.10 per-minute call into (for example) £0.35 per-minute. In short, it's a great big money-spinner for the service providers.

Since February this year, Android users have been able to use 0870, a free app that translates non-geographic numbers into their geographic alternative - allowing users to burn through their inclusive minutes instead of paying through the nose for 0870 calls. The application lets you enter the relevant 'national rate' number, uses the No To 0870 website to find a suitable alternative, and lets you call it.

Developer Simon Maddox has long hoped to build an iPhone version - and after over 400 days of back and forth (with Apple stating that iPhone carrier O2 had blocked the application) the app is now available for iPhone users too!

Both apps are free - the iPhone version is available here on the App Store, whilst Android users can simply search for '0870' in the Marketplace.

[Via The Daily Telegraph]

Filed under: Mobile, Android

In pictures: the updated Android Market


As you may know, Google has updated the Android Market in the new 1.6 release (aka Donut), providing a brighter UI and more logical browsing of the catalogue (particularly necessary now that the market has grown to over 10,000 applications).

As you can see in the gallery below, users can choose among from 'Apps', 'Games' and 'Downloads' categories and within a category, applications can be sorted by paid, free and 'just in' (new). Finally, screenshots are now included in the market, a much requested feature!

Devices with 1.6 on board are expected to ship in October but thanks to the beauty of open source, if you own a T-Mobile G1 / HTC Dream or HTC Magic / Sapphire and are feeling particularly brave, you can have a play already courtesy of the unofficial 'Cyanogen ROM'.

Filed under: Mobile Minute, Mobile, Android

Mobile Minute: anonymous browsing with TOR comes to Android


When it comes to anonymous browsing on a desktop PC, getting set up is pretty straightforward. The widely used Tor Network provides a software bundle to install on your machine which allows you to connect via a virtual proxy to their network, which reroutes your traffic between constantly varying nodes. This makes it impossible for you to be traced as you go about your business on the web and it also makes it exceptionally difficult for anyone snooping on network traffic to determine which sites you are visiting.

Mobile anonymity is historically a lot harder to achieve, however if you're an Android user, there's now a nice simple solution.

Read more →

Filed under: OS Updates, Google, Open Source, Mobile, Android

Google releases Android 1.6 'Donut' developer toolkit

Google have released version 1.6 (codenamed 'Donut') of their Android Plaform.

The new release of the Operating System includes a number of new features including CDMA support, support for higher resolution screens, device wide search functionality, updated camera, camcorder and gallery applications, VPN support, a battery usage monitor allowing you to analyse power use by application, text-to-speech functionality, new developer APIs, an accessibility framework and an updated 2.6.29 kernel module. Phew!

The Android Market gets a makeover for 1.6 too. Users can now quickly access 'Apps', 'Games' and 'Downloads' categories and sort by paid, free and popular within those categories. Screenshots finally come to the Market too, providing a much improved end user experience.

Windows, Mac or Linux developers can download the new SDK today (for free, of course) and fire up Donut in the emulator. In addition to the new OS features, the new SDK includes updated developer tools, fixing a few little bugs... including the ability for the ADB tools to work with the Samsung i7500 device, which I can now confirm works properly! Hurrah!

Devices featuring the 1.6 release are expected to come to market very rapidly - as early as October. It is not known at this stage which existing devices will be upgradeable to Donut.

Filed under: Mobile, Android

Remember The Milk released for Android (if you're a Pro subscriber)


Remember The Milk
have released their new client for Android devices in the Android Market.

Available as a free download, the client does require the user to have a 'Pro' account, which is priced at $25 per year. This puts the official client at odds with the popular (and excellent) third party solution Astrid, which can be used with free accounts.

The official application does bring a host of features that make the $25 outlay tempting - as well as looking great it is feature packed, and one-ups the iPhone client with full background sync functionality.

RTM for Android includes a number of other features that make the most of your mobile device. Our favourites include location awareness - tasks can be assigned to a place and the application will generate a notification when you near that location, full landscape support, a homescreen widget and swipe gesture support. Most importantly, there seems to be nothing you can do on the website that you can't do on your device!

Head on over to the Android page at the Remember The Milk website for more details or fire up the Android Market to download.

Filed under: Mobile Minute, Mobile, Android

Mobile Minute: HTC releases software update for the HTC Hero


If you are a HTC Hero owner, you've likely been waiting with baited breath for the device software update that has been widely publicised as giving the Hero a much needed speed boost.

Wait no more, it's finally here!

Wearing version number 2.73.405.3 (in line with the leaked version that surfaced last week) for the WWE region (an Asia release will follow), the update adds also adds a new radio layer for improved reception and will require a wipe of your data to install. The update can only be installed via a Windows PC.

If you are lucky enough to have a Hero, there is absolutely no doubt you should install this update to significantly improve the performance of your device - grab it from the HTC support site.

The update does also flash a new bootloader which makes 'rooting' the phone for full unrestricted access slightly more difficult, but due to HTC failing to patch a vulnerability in the kernel, it can still be done!

Read more →

Filed under: Mobile, Android

Google's Android Market now contains 10,000 applications


AndroLib, a website that provides the ability to browse the Android Market via your web browser, is now reporting that the Android Market contains in excess of 10,000 applications (10,434 applications at the time of writing to be precise)!

The impressive figure is a clear sign of the growing popularity of the Android platform and while the figure does of course include a large number of, er, 'substandard' applications (mitigated by the 'anything goes' approval process of Google's market) the number of high quality and must-have applications available is also growing considerably.

Although without doubt 10,000 applications is a considerable catalogue, 148apps.biz is reporting that 76,085 applications are currently available in the Apple App Store.

Microsoft's 'Windows Marketplace for Mobile' is expected to launch in the near future alongside the release of Windows Mobile 6.5, however these metrics show that the platform, historically well supported by developers, has a fair bit of catching up to do. With Microsoft's focus on 'quality rather than quantity', expedited by the considerable costs associated with publishing an application (even for free download), it seems likely that it will be a while before we see Microsoft's offering hitting the 10,000 application mark.

[via AfterDawn]

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