Posts Tagged: slashdot

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12
Jul 10

Android Gets a Build-Your-Own-App App



Got an idea for a smartphone app? If you’ve got an Android phone you might be able to build it yourself, thanks to App Inventor for Android, a new Google Labs program for Windows, OS X, and Linux that’s designed to make building Android programs as easy as piecing blocks together.

…App Inventor is in closed beta at the moment, and Google says it’ll let folks in “soon” — you can sign up here. As you’ll see if you fill out the sign-up form, Google sees the program as an educational tool of particular interest to teachers and students.
It’s an exciting idea that’s more than slightly reminiscent of HyperCard, the brilliant visual programming tool that was a big deal on the Mac more than twenty years ago, and which is missed to this day. HyperCard or something similar would be a boon on the iPhone — even Steve Jobs has says he thinks so, although Apple apparently doesn’t have any interest in building such an application itself, and new restrictions in the iOS developer agreement prevent apps developed with the HyperCard-like RunRev from being distributed on the App Store.
(More and more, I think that the surface similarities between Android and iOS are less interesting than the fundamental differences in emphasis and philosophy — and the more different the two OSes get, the more…

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Android Gets a Build-Your-Own-App App

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29
Jun 10

Top 7 Best Android Apps | Technohugs.com

Android is the most popular name today we have. Under the Google support, now it has become a leading OS in iPhone or windows mobile. Every one is looking for new and exciting Android apps.

…It is a perfect travel diary for you. If you are interested in writing your views while traveling. You want to record your memories of traveling. Then through OnTheRoad App you can write articles, publishing and reply comments from you mobile.
Link : OnTheRoad App
5. Wapedia
Today the great encyclopedia is very much liked by all which is named as Wikipedia. Every one want to learn about their desired thing from this Wikipedia. But it is very difficult to run Wikipedia on Android smart phones due to small screen.
Wapedia is here for solution of this problem. Now you can get all the encyclopedia thru this application. This simple and clean interface helps you in accessing all the top wiki sites.
Link : Wapedia App
6. Live Fifa WorldCup 2010 App
A good news for Soccer lover. now they can enjoy their favorite FIFA World Cup Matches live on their Android smart phones. They can keep themselves up to date from live score, exclusive news, commentary, World cup history and much more.
Link : Fifa 2010 App
7. Meebo…

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Top 7 Best Android Apps | Technohugs.com

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25
Jun 10

Google flicks Android remote kill switch for apps.

We knew Google had the power to remotely remove Android apps — Microsoft and Apple have backdoors into their mobile operating systems, too — but

…We knew Google had the power to remotely remove Android apps — Microsoft and Apple have backdoors into their mobile operating systems, too — but it’s always a little disconcerting to see a kill switch used. Such is the case today, as we’ve just heard Google unleashed the hounds this week, siccing bits and bytes of remote deletion power on a pair of “practically useless” but still Terms of Service-infringing apps. Curiously enough, Google admits that most who’d downloaded these programs had deleted them already, and that this “exercise” of the remote application removal feature was merely a cleanup operation. Google says users will get a notification beamed to their phone if an app is removed, however — so as Big Brother as that all sounds, at least the company’s being nice and transparent about the whole matter, eh?

Update: To be clear, the developers of the offending apps had already removed them from the Android Market, so this was technically a cleanup. The only question is why Google would go out of…

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Google flicks Android remote kill switch for apps.

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23
Jun 10

Android 2.2 Froyo source code available today

It’s still not hitting the bulk of Nexus Ones as far as we can tell, but for what it’s worth, Google has unleashed the source code for Android 2.2 today, which is a solid sign that the code’s been bulletproofed to the Open Handset Alliance’s satisfaction and is ready for deployment across a number of phones from different manufacturers and carriers

…Colours I get the feeling that updates are likely to be quicker this time. Many of the tentacles that Sense needed to implant in the OS lose their necessity with the advent of Froyo e.g. USB tethering, data backup etc. Now that Google have done so much back end foundation work, things do not need to be as complicated for future updates. If Google do a reasonable job on the UI with Gingerbread then many of the handset front ends may well become themes and widget packs provided free for their customers rather than being too obtrusive. We will see….

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Android 2.2 Froyo source code available today

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21
Jun 10

Analysts Warn Of Mass Defections From BlackBerry, Nokia

Analysts today warned that Nokia and RIM were about to see their market share plunge in the near future thanks to Apple and Google. Goldman Sachs’ Simona Jankowski pointed to checks at retail that showed BlackBerries were no longer the top-selling phones at US carriers outside of AT&T

…You all act like selling through fewer carriers or using less models of phones gives you some kind of prize.

You get no prize for it.

When RIM has sold its best ever quarter - the correct response, is congratulations.

That’s not a failure, but a success.

Still we know RIM and Nokia, crystal balling it, have some competitive weaknesses, and their sales are coming downmarket.

Is apple kicking butt? Yes. But Apple isn’t the story… Apple won’t go downmarket, where frankly at this point Nokia and RIM are increasingly cornered…its how fast Android leaves its North American base, and how well it kicks RIM and Nokia in countries like Brazil, India, Malaysia, etc….thats the story…if it materializes.

outside the U.S. though, RIM sales are still strong, Nokia’s sales of low end/cheap smartphones where their real competition is still Chinese knockoffs…it remains strong, Nokia is considered a premium brand over the generic chinese knockoff….

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Analysts Warn Of Mass Defections From BlackBerry, Nokia

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7
Jun 10

People of Lava’s Android TV gets tested, only your pocketboo

When we heard an upstart named People of Lava were going to beat Google to the punch with an all-in-one TV set, we were confused,

…Olufsen, which I tend to associate with being a little too expensive and too gimicky. The fact that the Android part is a mode, you can’t overlay a widget in the corner of live TV, suggests that they did not think this through.I think they should drop the “people of” from the name, it’s cumbersome and unnecessary.I expect they will sell, but I don’t know what their expectations are. If it offered widget overlays, I think it would go well in hotel lobbies, restaurants, bars, any commercial establishment with TVs already, with a widget assortment that fits their customers. For personal use, I would just keep using the TV I have and use my laptop….

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People of Lava’s Android TV gets tested, only your pocketboo

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5
Jun 10

‘iPhone vs Android’ report finds Apple has three times Googl

It’s oftentimes easy for us to get swept up in Android mania and forget that Google’s mobile platform is still in its infancy. Then we

…MarkAnderson 1st off I have no problem with choice. I don’t care if you prefer your shitty nokia phones to the awesomeness that is the iPhone.My problem is when the Apple Haters come here and accuse those of us that like Apple Products of being1) Stupid2) Blind loyal fanboys3) Non-tech peopleThe list goes on and on. As for HTC’s sense that is one company. And of course you’ve got Motorola’s “Blur”.I’ve tested and used devices from both companies and the experience wasn’t that great. Definitely not as fun as my iPhone 3GS. Sorry to say but the majority of the market agrees with me.People love their Blackberries, their iPhones, and hell even their old Windows Mobile devices.That to be expected give that each of those phones provides a good experience and actually provides value in some shape or form.Android on the other hand has only 2 things to its name.1) multitasking (which no one cares about)2) open os (again something that the average consumer doesn’t care about).And of course soon Flash will be on…

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‘iPhone vs Android’ report finds Apple has three times Googl

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1
Jun 10

Google: Android fragmentation ‘is a boogeyman, a red herring

Google’s Dan Morrill, open source and compatibility program manager in the Android team, just penned a lengthy diatribe against the very concept of f

…Google’s Dan Morrill, open source and compatibility program manager in the Android team, just penned a lengthy diatribe against the very concept of fragmentation on the official Android Developers Blog, basically saying it doesn’t exist. Actually, the language is a little more colorful:
“Because it means everything, it actually means nothing, so the term is useless. Stories on ‘fragmentation’ are dramatic and they drive traffic to pundits’ blogs, but they have little to do with reality. ‘Fragmentation’ is a bogeyman, a red herring, a story you tell to frighten junior developers. Yawn.”
Sure, as Android goes, the term “fragmentation” has meant moderately different things in different contexts over the past couple years — fair enough. But the fact remains that releasing six major revisions of any platform within the span of 19 months (four of which are in heavy user circulation) is unprecedented and potentially unsettling to manufacturers and consumers alike. Your average Joe isn’t going to understand why,…

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Google: Android fragmentation ‘is a boogeyman, a red herring

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1
Jun 10

iPhone claws web share back from Android

New updates from Net Applicationstoday show that the iPhone may be overtaking Android in actual use online. Despite talk of the gap closing in April, Apple’s phone grew faster in May as it jumped from 30.3 percent the month before to 32.8 percent of the mobile web; Google has just 6.2 percent.

…Browser share and sales volumes are very different beasts. Sales volumes are very, very seasonal and are extremely misleading (Droid may be selling extremely well, while iPhone is in the down season, in anticipation of the new model).

Browser stats can be a fairly reliable indicator of the current platform market share. And while the market share indication may not be so reliable (depending on which sites are used for the data), trends will be much more reliable.

And the trends indicate that, while both iPhone and Android are growing (at the expense of Symbian and others), for every…

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iPhone claws web share back from Android

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27
May 10

Counterpoint: fragmentation won’t destroy Android after all

The common belief — and a belief we’ve generally shared here at Engadget — is that Google’s breakneck pace of development and lackadaisical stance toward heavily-customized versions of Android is slowly undermining the platform from the inside out.

…ashleythehottiestYou do realize that this is all talking about the consumers getting fed up with the fragmentation right? A little business knowledge for all of you nerd techs out there. The quickest way to die as a business is to expand to big to fast. People want the biggest and the best, but that never happens with Android because things are only biggest and best for a couple weeks until the the come out with some new software to put on new devices. They then forget about other devices. Simple answer here would be to build a couple devices that can plan atleast a year in advance for new software coming out. Google has been building there android launches for years. They know exactly what is coming out a year from now. So build it into the software that can adapt. Soon everything will just been another android phone if they cannot figure this out. Think logically about what the average consumer knows about a cell phone before you start blurting out your random nerd talk. You know what people outside of the…

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Counterpoint: fragmentation won’t destroy Android after all

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