Announced at the end of March 2011, the upcoming Galaxy 10.1 tablet, with Google’s Honeycomb Android has now been seen in a video, comparing it to the iPad. [Read more…]
35 Tetris-like games pulled out of Android Market
Tetris would probably be the one game that got most of us addicted to gaming. Count me as one of the people who spent hours playing Tetris, cursing silently under my breath as I painfully waited for that one brick that can get rid of the five lines I’ve already accumulated. Since this game is one of the most iconic games of all time, it’s no surprise that there are imitators abound.
But thanks to The Tetris Company, LLC (the company that apparently holds the rights to the game) 35 clones of the game have been pulled out of the Android Market. Okay, I understand that they are just trying to protect their copyright. I don’t blame them. But if you read the reaction of one app developer, there’s more to it:
Google promptly answered that The Tetris Company, LLC notified them under DMCA to remove various Tetris clones from Android Market. My app was removed together with other 35 Tetris clones.
So, I checked online on various sources, and all of them say that there’s no copyright on gameplay. There could be some sort of patent. But besides not having a patent, which would last 20 years, so it would be over on 2005.
It’s a shame that The Tetris Company, LLC uses its power to stop developers from creating good and free games for Android users. Without resources for a legal fight, our application and many others will cease to exist, even knowing that they are legit. Users will be forced to buy the paid official version, which is worse than many of the one available for free on the market.
I really don’t know why The Tetris Company decided to act just now, but it’s a shame that app developers consider the official Tetris App to be inferior to the clones. What do you think?
Google Android 2.2 Froyo: What’s New?
So over at the recently-concluded Google I/O conference, Google unveiled Android 2.2, or Froyo, to the world. Now with people eagerly waiting for iPhone OS 4.0, Android 2.2 amazingly showed that Google can beat Apple, and if Google manages to get the products they announced out (oh my lord I want me some Google TV), there is a huge possibility that Apple may play catch-up soon.
Okay, so Android 2.2, called Froyo, is out. What makes it stand out? What features are going to make people dump their iPhones and go for Android handsets? Here are the top new features of Google’s smartphone operating system, taken from ZDNet:
– Improved security with the addition of numeric pin or alpha-numeric password options to unlock device. Exchange administrators can enforce password policy across devices.
– Remote wipe: Exchange administrators can remotely reset the device to factory defaults to secure data in case device is lost or stolen.
– Exchange Calendars are now supported in the Calendar application.
– Auto-discovery: you just need to know your user-name and password to easily set up and sync an Exchange account (available for Exchange 2007 and higher).
– Global Address Lists look-up is now available in the Email application, enabling users to auto-complete recipient names from the directory.
– Portable WiFi hotspot: Certain devices like the Nexus One can be turned into a portable Wi-Fi hotspot that can be shared with up to 8 devices.
Honestly, this has made me all the more excited to get an Android phone once my current phone – a Nokia E63 – dies on me. What do you think?
You can install Android on your iPod touch
Now if you’d like your old first generation iPod touch to be a bit more… open, wait a little while and you can run Google’s Android operating system on it.
Now the person who ported Android for the iPhone 2G and iPhone 3G is now working to bring Android OS to the first generation iPod touch. Obviously, you can’t make calls on it, but then this is an exciting project if you’d like to run an operating system other than iPod OS on your iPod touch.
It’s not quite ready for primetime though. From the developer’s blog:
Meanwhile, I am working on some stuff that is slightly more fun. Last night, I brought openiboot for the first-generation iPod touch up to scratch so that it supports all the features the other ports of openiboot support: sound, multitouch and SDIO (for WLAN) are the notable things I had to fix. Earlier today, I figured out how to drive the piezoelectric tweeter on the iPod touch.
Hopefully, we’ll be able to roll out the iPod touch binaries with the 3G binaries and get on with the real work: power management and the little details that will make Android a truly viable alternative on our three early ports.
Now I was hoping that they can get it to work on the second and third generation iPod touch, but we’re getting this all for free, right? There’s just no way we can make demands on busy developers spending some of their time to make a free port of Android for the iPod touch.
So, would you risk installing this on your iPod touch or are you perfectly happy with a good old jailbreak?
Android ported to iPhone
Now, I don’t mean to sound like a fanboy here, but the iPhone still is the best-looking smartphone out there. I may not be totally sold on the iPhone OS and Apple’s Apps Marketplace, but the iPhone’s smooth, minimalistic hardware always appealed to me. And then there’s the iPhone OS. I know, there’s so much love for the iPhone OS and its huge apps marketplace, but it really is not my cup of tea. I’d rather go for something more… open. Kind of like Google’s Android.
Now of course, we can’t really ask for Google Android to be installed on the iPhone, that’d be a pipe dream. But that never stopped an iPhone hacker known only as Planetbeing from trying. He was able to port Google’s Linux-based operating system. This is probably the first time anyone has done this, and nobody can deny how huge this is.
From AppAdvice:
It’s still in alpha version for now, but with some improvements, this would allow anybody to use both iPhone and Android OS on their iPhone. Just like you can do Bootcamp on your Mac to access PC apps, you’ll be able to go on Android to try all these apps that don’t exist, or were not allowed on the iPhone. Imagine for a second that Adobe manages to puts flash on there, well, you’ll get to have it too.
Obviously this is not condoned by either Google or Apple, and it is unclear if you are going to break your iPhone’s warranty by doing this. Now if somebody, anybody, can pull this off on the iPad…
Download the Android iPhone port here. Read the original blog post here.
Flash on the iPhone is officially dead
Apple released a new draft of their iPhone developer program license, and it contained the following clause:
3.3.1 — Applications may only use Documented APIs in the manner prescribed by Apple and must not use or call any private APIs. Applications must be originally written in Objective-C, C, C++, or JavaScript as executed by the iPhone OS WebKit engine, and only code written in C, C++, and Objective-C may compile and directly link against the Documented APIs (e.g., Applications that link to Documented APIs through an intermediary translation or compatibility layer or tool are prohibited).
The thing is, Adobe has been, for a time, trying to find a way to bring Flash or at least Flash-based apps to the iPhone. In fact, Adobe has proved that there is no technical reason that Flash can’t run on the iPhone, and that developers can create well performing and compelling content for the device with Flash.
Mike Chambers says that Apple’s new developer program license “has the effect of restricting applications built with a number of technologies, including Unity, Titanium, MonoTouch, and Flash CS5. While it appears that Apple may selectively enforce the terms, it is our belief that Apple will enforce those terms as they apply to content created with Flash CS5. Developers should be prepared for Apple to remove existing content and applications (100+ on the store today) created with Flash CS5 from the iTunes store.”
However, they feel that it’s not a total loss. There’s Android, which has been doing well because of the Droid and the Nexus One, plus the fact that Android-based tablets are just around the corner, which everyone who would like a tablet PC but don’t give a damn about the iPad (like me) are excited for. This is going to be interesting.
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Nokia N900 Dual-Boots Maemo and Android
I’m sure most of you were waiting for this, right? Since Nokia’s previous Maemo Internet Tablet offerings were also capable of running Google Android, it was only a matter of time before somebody thought of installing Android on Nokia’s intrepid new smartphone. And imagine: installing two open platforms on one excellent phone? It’s a geek’s wet dream come true.
From Slashgear:
Brandon Roberts is the man responsible for the dual-booting marvel, and while he’s describing it more as a proof of concept right now than a workable solution, from what little is shown in the video he’s come a decent way. The keyboard seems to work, and the display is running at the N900’s WVGA resolution; a boot menu allows you to choose between Maemo and Android.
Right now there are no instructions as to how exactly he did it, but we’ve a feeling this could be a popular hack assuming all the N900’s core hardware could be encouraged to work with Android. The combination of Maemo for experimentation and Android for everyday use could potentially transform the N900.
Okay, it kind of sucks that there are no instructions on how to install Android on the Nokia N900, but I guess the hack’s not yet refined. I can’t wait to see this in the future though.
The Google Nexus One is here!
That was pretty fast, don’t you think? Just a few short weeks ago, there came out rumors that Google has been giving its employees a mysterious phone that they were supposed to test out over the holidays. Then we see Google employees praising the phone to high heavens over on their Twitter accounts. Heck, after Google’s initial announcement, I was expecting the Nexus One to be released around March to June.
So imagine my surprise to see that the Nexus One is already out, but there’s a review already on TechCrunch! Michael Arrington himself gives his two cents on the Nexus One.
Basically, the phone is everything people loved about Android, and then some. The Voice Keyboard has been retooled so that every single text field in the device is now voice-activated. It has a great camera, a (as of yet vaporware) cloud backup service, and loads of eye candy:
Google has added a lot of nice graphical touches, including 3D scrolling of apps, and a new way of viewing photos using the CoolIris technology. Photos dip into the plane as it there is depth. Tipping the phone trips the accelerometer and the photos dip in the same way.
Unfortunately, the Nexus One’s microphone seems to be placed in an awkward position. If you cradle the phone between your head and shoulder when you’re not using your hands, your voice gets muted. This means you have to bring your headsets all the time. Battery life seems to have taken a hit with all the eye candy Nexus One packed into it too.
But still, the Nexus One looks like a pretty solid phone.
Will it pose a serious threat on the iPhone? What do you guys think?
Google Goggles: First Peek
If you need any more proof that Google Android is definitely going to step up to take the iPhone down, Google is coming out with Google Goggles. Okay, that product name kind of reminds me of a website that used to infect unsuspecting users with loads of malware, but trust me, Google Goggles is different. Way different.
Google Goggles basically is mobile search taken to a different level. Instead of using words, use your Android phone’s camera to take a picture, and Google Goggles will process and attempt to recognize the image, and will return relevant search results.
Okay, since Google Goggles is still in its infancy, we’re going to definitely run into a coupe of caveats when using it. Books, business cards, artwork, places, logos and landmarks are going to work brilliantly, but take a picture of food and other things, we’re going to end up with gibberish results, if any.
Actually, the first glimpse of Google Goggles is actually a video showing animated caricatures of Google engineers presenting a cartoon demo of Google Goggles. So it was vaporware and all, and we weren’t expecting Google Goggles to go live for a while.
I was pretty surprised to see a live demo of the experimental software on a yet-to-be-released phone. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X10, the other Android phone other than Nexus One that I want to get my hands on in the future, has got Google Goggles installed on it. Here’s a video demo of the much-awaited android app, and this time it’s not a cartoon:
I’m pretty impressed with Google Goggles. Tell me what you think!
Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 to be announced on November 3
Okay, so even Sony Ericsson is getting into the Google Android act. The Sony Ericsson Xperia X3 (also called the Rachel) is going to be unveiled this November 3, and we are really devoid of any real information about this highly-anticipated phone.
The Rachael will be Sony Ericsson’s first Android smartphone. Its features should include a 4 inch WVGA touchscreen display, 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, Wi-Fi, GPS, 8MP autofocus camera and a 3.5mm headset jack.