This semester 25 students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology will gather in a classroom with one particular purpose: playing with cell phones.
The students are taking a class geared around Android -- the first fully open mobile operating system developed by Mountain View, Calif.-based Google Inc. (Nasdaq: GOOG). The class will cover the ins and outs of the Android platform and build applications to run on the operating system.
The class, which at least 50 students tried to enroll in, is being offered to students in the computer science major at MIT and is designed to give them an early edge in what could soon become a dominant platform among cell phone operating systems. As smart phones and cell phones with Web functions have grown in popularity, there is growing interest among computer science pupils to learn how to create and launch applications and software for mobile operating systems, said Andrew Yu, mobile devices platform coordinator for MIT.
"It's definitely something that captures students' interest," he said. "Given the fact that they actually have the devices, they want to do something with it."
Source: Boston Business Journal
Thursday, January 31, 2008
Google And Dell Set To Reveal First Android Phone
According to reports, Google is currently working with Dell to
create the first Android mobile phone, bringing back the rumors that
the Gphone is on the way.
create the first Android mobile phone, bringing back the rumors that
the Gphone is on the way.
The expectation is that Dell and Google could reveal the world’s
first Android-powered mobile phone next month at the Mobile World
Congress.
The 3GSM telecoms conference is in Barcelona next month and could be the stage for a huge announcement.
Google and Dell are rumored to be working together and neither have denied that this is not reality.
It has been rumored that Google has been working on their own Gphone
for months now, but nothing was ever confirmed outside of the Android
OS.
[Via: dbtechno.com]
Wednesday, January 30, 2008
Deadline extension for the Android developer challenge
Message from Quang Nguyen, Developer Advocate:
Source: Android Developers Blog
We'd like to let you know that we are extending the submission deadline for the first Android Developers Challenge to 14 April 2008. Based on the great feedback you've given us, we've made significant updates to the SDK that we'll be releasing in several weeks. In order to give you extra time to take advantage of these forthcoming UI and API enhancements, we've decided to extend the submission deadline. In addition, a fair number of developers have also asked for more time to build and polish their applications.
Of course, you can stay the course and submit your applications using any version of the SDK that you'd like. We're looking forward to seeing some great apps, especially after we've had a chance to incorporate some of your feedback into the Android platform.
Here is the updated time line:
April 14, 2008: Deadline to submit applications for judging
May 5, 2008: Announcement of the 50 first round winners, who will be eligible for the final round
June 30, 2008: Deadline for the 50 winners of the first round to submit for the final round
July 21, 2008: Announcement of the grand prize winner and runner-up
For additional details on the Android Developer Challenge, please visit the ADC page.
Good luck and good coding!
Source: Android Developers Blog
Dell to reveal Android-based handset next month?
Dell has long been rumored to be working on a handset, and the latest speculation is that Google will be part of those plans.
MarketingWeek reported Wednesday that the two companies are teaming up on a handset based on Google's Android mobile platform, and the official announcement will come at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The report cites "senior industry sources," but notes that Google insiders are denying any such announcement is imminent.
Dell isn't talking either. Company spokesman David Frink told CNET News.com that the Marketing Week report is "speculative" and that the company has "no comment at all."
While rumors about a possible Dell handheld have been swirling since the hiring of Ron Garriques from Motorola a year ago, Google's name hadn't yet been thrown into the mix. Dell and Google do have an established relationship through the Google Toolbar that's available on Dell PCs, notes industry analyst Roger Kay. "Google has already done the work on Android. A more formal partnership would certainly be easy enough to establish," he said. Considering that, Kay says he judges the likelihood of a coming Google/Dell announcement to be "fairly high."
Dell hasn't done anything in the red-hot handheld market since it killed its Axim line of PDAs last April, and its recent moves toward a flashy design of its PCs and putting its products in retail outlets show it wants to court consumers. A nicely designed handset with multimedia functionality would do more to achieve that goal and show what kind of technology the company has up its sleeve.
Source: NewsBlog
MarketingWeek reported Wednesday that the two companies are teaming up on a handset based on Google's Android mobile platform, and the official announcement will come at next month's Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The report cites "senior industry sources," but notes that Google insiders are denying any such announcement is imminent.
Dell isn't talking either. Company spokesman David Frink told CNET News.com that the Marketing Week report is "speculative" and that the company has "no comment at all."
While rumors about a possible Dell handheld have been swirling since the hiring of Ron Garriques from Motorola a year ago, Google's name hadn't yet been thrown into the mix. Dell and Google do have an established relationship through the Google Toolbar that's available on Dell PCs, notes industry analyst Roger Kay. "Google has already done the work on Android. A more formal partnership would certainly be easy enough to establish," he said. Considering that, Kay says he judges the likelihood of a coming Google/Dell announcement to be "fairly high."
Dell hasn't done anything in the red-hot handheld market since it killed its Axim line of PDAs last April, and its recent moves toward a flashy design of its PCs and putting its products in retail outlets show it wants to court consumers. A nicely designed handset with multimedia functionality would do more to achieve that goal and show what kind of technology the company has up its sleeve.
Source: NewsBlog
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Why Android will be the next big thing
Google created a lot of buzz about a month back over the introduction of its Android technology. Android will be the first open and free mobile platform for developing applications. Its going to be big...but why? Well, currently developers for mobile phones face a plethora of issues including:
* Applications for browsers on mobile phones are based on the Javascript based Ajax. This has many limitations for dynamic storage based applications as there is no way to store data on the mobile phone being dynamically updated.
* The browser based applications cannot access the different core functions of a mobile phone (e.g. the camera).
* No customization options for a mobile phone's GUI. Most people have to stick with the look which ships with the mobile phone's operating system. (Honestly a lot of the GUIs in modern phones look horrible and I have always wished to customize them)
* Applications designed for specific mobile phones won't work on low end phones because of different programming architectures as well as features.
* No operating system on mobile phones is open source and the programmers are limited to only what the operating system allows them to do and volunteers cannot modify it according to their needs.
Here is why Android will change all the above issues:
* Andriod is open source, anyone who wants to contribute to interface improvements or core changes can do so.
* Andriod is scalable, it will have its high end features reserved for higher priced mobile phones while lower end mobile phones can benefit from its basic features as well.
* Everything about it will be customizable so you won't be stuck with the GUI which shipped with the mobile phone for the rest of your damned life!
* Database support to dynamically store and retrieve data on a mobile phone.
* Dozens of hardware manufacturers will support Android. Thus HTC based mobile phones will be able to run the same applications as Samsung mobile phones which will all support Andriod in the future.
Andriod opens a whole new set of possibilities for the mobile market. I think Nokia did a major blunder by not supporting the Android platform. Sure, Apple's IPhone is a short term threat to Nokia...but it won't last forever, I think they should have thought harder over it. Android will one day be run on the majority of mobile phones all over the world developed by multiple mobile phone manufacturers. Today, Nokia is in the majority, but once the smaller companies unite and take down the bigger fish by using a unified platform, then Nokia won't have time to look back and correct its mistake. Android is the future ladies and gentlemen!
Source: SkullTrail
* Applications for browsers on mobile phones are based on the Javascript based Ajax. This has many limitations for dynamic storage based applications as there is no way to store data on the mobile phone being dynamically updated.
* The browser based applications cannot access the different core functions of a mobile phone (e.g. the camera).
* No customization options for a mobile phone's GUI. Most people have to stick with the look which ships with the mobile phone's operating system. (Honestly a lot of the GUIs in modern phones look horrible and I have always wished to customize them)
* Applications designed for specific mobile phones won't work on low end phones because of different programming architectures as well as features.
* No operating system on mobile phones is open source and the programmers are limited to only what the operating system allows them to do and volunteers cannot modify it according to their needs.
Here is why Android will change all the above issues:
* Andriod is open source, anyone who wants to contribute to interface improvements or core changes can do so.
* Andriod is scalable, it will have its high end features reserved for higher priced mobile phones while lower end mobile phones can benefit from its basic features as well.
* Everything about it will be customizable so you won't be stuck with the GUI which shipped with the mobile phone for the rest of your damned life!
* Database support to dynamically store and retrieve data on a mobile phone.
* Dozens of hardware manufacturers will support Android. Thus HTC based mobile phones will be able to run the same applications as Samsung mobile phones which will all support Andriod in the future.
Andriod opens a whole new set of possibilities for the mobile market. I think Nokia did a major blunder by not supporting the Android platform. Sure, Apple's IPhone is a short term threat to Nokia...but it won't last forever, I think they should have thought harder over it. Android will one day be run on the majority of mobile phones all over the world developed by multiple mobile phone manufacturers. Today, Nokia is in the majority, but once the smaller companies unite and take down the bigger fish by using a unified platform, then Nokia won't have time to look back and correct its mistake. Android is the future ladies and gentlemen!
Source: SkullTrail
Monday, January 28, 2008
Nokia agrees to buy Trolltech
Nokia has agreed to purchase Trolltech (creators of the QT cross platform GUI Toolkit that KDE is based on, as well as the Qtopia cell phone platform) for $150 million.
This is an interesting move as all the hub-bub surrounding Google’s announcement of the Open Handset Alliance and the new cell platform, Android, was surprisingly devoid of Nokia’s name anywhere on it (along with Apple, AT&T, Microsoft, Palm, RIM, Symbian, and Verizon).
It seems that Nokia has other plans for the cellular device market and those plans are firmly planted around their own proprietary platform based on Qtopia.
How will Nokia compete with the attractiveness of the unified Android platform to software developers? The idea being that an app written for a Motorola Android-based phone will also work just fine on a HTC Android-based phone and again on an LG Android-based phone. While a Qtopia app (a native platform) will only run on other Qtopia devices, which looks like Nokia will be the only major hardware player in? Of course you have Apple out in left field with their own sandbox that is doing quite well also.
I’ll be curious to see if Android takes off, if Nokia will either join the OHA or run the Android platform on top of Qtopia to offer compatability for some of the more popular apps out there? Either way, it doesn’t look like we’ll see Nokia joining the OHA anytime soon as they just spent $150 million to draw their own line in the cell-platform-market sand.
(BTW, Congratulations to Trolltech! That’s a lot of hard years of engineering paying off)
Source: BreakItDownBlog
This is an interesting move as all the hub-bub surrounding Google’s announcement of the Open Handset Alliance and the new cell platform, Android, was surprisingly devoid of Nokia’s name anywhere on it (along with Apple, AT&T, Microsoft, Palm, RIM, Symbian, and Verizon).
It seems that Nokia has other plans for the cellular device market and those plans are firmly planted around their own proprietary platform based on Qtopia.
How will Nokia compete with the attractiveness of the unified Android platform to software developers? The idea being that an app written for a Motorola Android-based phone will also work just fine on a HTC Android-based phone and again on an LG Android-based phone. While a Qtopia app (a native platform) will only run on other Qtopia devices, which looks like Nokia will be the only major hardware player in? Of course you have Apple out in left field with their own sandbox that is doing quite well also.
I’ll be curious to see if Android takes off, if Nokia will either join the OHA or run the Android platform on top of Qtopia to offer compatability for some of the more popular apps out there? Either way, it doesn’t look like we’ll see Nokia joining the OHA anytime soon as they just spent $150 million to draw their own line in the cell-platform-market sand.
(BTW, Congratulations to Trolltech! That’s a lot of hard years of engineering paying off)
Source: BreakItDownBlog
SkyFire Announces New Mobile Browser for Smartphones
Skyfire has announced a new web browser for smartphones that is
designed to make it faster and more user-friendly to browse the web on
a smartphone. Skyfire uses proprietary technology to deliver web
content to mobile phones quickly, while maintaining the site's desktop
look and feel.
Support for web technologies such as AJAX, Java, and Flash video
suggest that the Skyfire browser could open up a new level of mobile
web browsing for consumers. Skyfire claims it is the fastest loading
mobile browser on the market, and offers features such as the ability
to bookmark particular areas of a web page so they can be quickly
accessed again at a later time.
Skyfire is currently in private beta for Windows Mobile 6
Professional and Standard, with a Symbian-compatible version planned in
the next month. Users can sign up for the beta at www.skyfire.com.
Technorati Tags: skyfire, dotsis.com, mini opera, juegos para nokia 6131, cankarjev dom
Friday, January 25, 2008
Friday, January 18, 2008
Google declares $10M Android competition open
The race to develop applications for Google's new Android mobile phone platform is officially on after 'cross-platform bugs' in the submission system were fixed.
Google has allocated $10m to the competition which has been split into two parts. Challenge 1 will be accepting entries until March 3rd with a total prize pool of $5m.
The Android competition is designed to generate lots of apps, not just a few good ones, as the total prize available to any one entry is only $275,000.
This is as 'real' as Android gets right now - an emulatorThis is as 'real' as Android gets right now - an emulator
The March 3rd deadline is interesting timing indeed given Apple's recent announcement that they'll be releasing an iPhone/iPod Touch SDK in 'late' February. It also raises questions for coders - commit to a platform that is essentially unproven (remember, Google has really only had major success with search and advertising, and not with most of their other products) or develop for iPhone, Windows Mobile or BlackBerry with proven platforms and substantial installed bases.
If you want to win some of that prize money you'll need to fulfill a few important criteria. Firstly, your application will need to be or do something original. Google is looking to the development community for the killer app -- the one that's going to make people switch to Android. While Android's base features should be good, Google knows that it'll take more to get their new phone into users hands, especially with competition in the smartphone space ramping up significantly against the iPhone.
A sample 'Lunar Lander' game: is this a killer app?A sample 'Lunar Lander' game: is this a killer app?You'll also need to make effective use of the Android Platform. That means your application will need to access core Android functionality like location-based services, accelerometer and always-on networking.
Google is also placing particular emphasis on the UI and usability of the application, not just functionality. Google knows that for Android to succeed, applications need to look as good or better than the iPhone (which is the gold standard in visual UI design and usability at the moment).
Is $10m enough to encourage developers to jump ship and develop for Android? Time will tell, but as other platforms mature and grow their customer base it will be harder and harder to encourage developers to write great apps for Android.
Also, with the imminent arrival of the iPhone SDK where developers will probably get a chance to sell their wares, is the maximum prize of $275,000 enough to get developers to build something great?
Source: APCMag
Google has allocated $10m to the competition which has been split into two parts. Challenge 1 will be accepting entries until March 3rd with a total prize pool of $5m.
The Android competition is designed to generate lots of apps, not just a few good ones, as the total prize available to any one entry is only $275,000.
This is as 'real' as Android gets right now - an emulatorThis is as 'real' as Android gets right now - an emulator
The March 3rd deadline is interesting timing indeed given Apple's recent announcement that they'll be releasing an iPhone/iPod Touch SDK in 'late' February. It also raises questions for coders - commit to a platform that is essentially unproven (remember, Google has really only had major success with search and advertising, and not with most of their other products) or develop for iPhone, Windows Mobile or BlackBerry with proven platforms and substantial installed bases.
If you want to win some of that prize money you'll need to fulfill a few important criteria. Firstly, your application will need to be or do something original. Google is looking to the development community for the killer app -- the one that's going to make people switch to Android. While Android's base features should be good, Google knows that it'll take more to get their new phone into users hands, especially with competition in the smartphone space ramping up significantly against the iPhone.
A sample 'Lunar Lander' game: is this a killer app?A sample 'Lunar Lander' game: is this a killer app?You'll also need to make effective use of the Android Platform. That means your application will need to access core Android functionality like location-based services, accelerometer and always-on networking.
Google is also placing particular emphasis on the UI and usability of the application, not just functionality. Google knows that for Android to succeed, applications need to look as good or better than the iPhone (which is the gold standard in visual UI design and usability at the moment).
Is $10m enough to encourage developers to jump ship and develop for Android? Time will tell, but as other platforms mature and grow their customer base it will be harder and harder to encourage developers to write great apps for Android.
Also, with the imminent arrival of the iPhone SDK where developers will probably get a chance to sell their wares, is the maximum prize of $275,000 enough to get developers to build something great?
Source: APCMag
Tuesday, January 15, 2008
Startup Shows Software For Android Smartphone
Google (NSDQ: GOOG)'s Android handset project got its first stack of open source Linux software Monday, according to an announcement from A La Mobile, a startup company that said it has successfully demonstrated its platform on HTC's Qtek 9090 smartphone.
The announcement was made by A La Mobile's president and CEO, Pauline Lo Alker, a West Coast high-tech serial entrepreneur. The software includes a browser, phone dialer, audio player, maps, camera, games, calendar, contacts manager, calculator, tasks manager, and notes.
A La Mobile, which had been developing Linux mobile software for handsets before the founding of the Android Open Handset Alliance last year, is not a member of the 30-member, Google-inspired Android. But HTC is a member.
Alker said that A La Mobile's platform will cut the time to market of Android handsets in half.
"We believe it is our responsibility to take the initiative to allay the 'mystery' and dispel any skepticism surrounding Android by first demonstrating a complete mobile Linux system stack, including drives, middleware, and a suite of Android-based applications," Alker said in a statement.
A La Mobile indicated it will fill gaps in the Android program by providing framework and application programming interfaces that will attract third-party developers to create unified applications. A La Mobile noted that the Android effort's planned release of source code bodes well for the alliance, but that Android has lacked a complete off-the-shelf software stack.
A La Mobile is backed by Venrock Associates, a venture capital firm that has funded several successful high-tech companies. Alker has led a series of successful startups including Counterpoint Computers, which was acquired by Acer. She had several positions at Acer, including president of Acer America's sales and marketing. She is a director of Tektronix.
Source: InformationWeek
The announcement was made by A La Mobile's president and CEO, Pauline Lo Alker, a West Coast high-tech serial entrepreneur. The software includes a browser, phone dialer, audio player, maps, camera, games, calendar, contacts manager, calculator, tasks manager, and notes.
A La Mobile, which had been developing Linux mobile software for handsets before the founding of the Android Open Handset Alliance last year, is not a member of the 30-member, Google-inspired Android. But HTC is a member.
Alker said that A La Mobile's platform will cut the time to market of Android handsets in half.
"We believe it is our responsibility to take the initiative to allay the 'mystery' and dispel any skepticism surrounding Android by first demonstrating a complete mobile Linux system stack, including drives, middleware, and a suite of Android-based applications," Alker said in a statement.
A La Mobile indicated it will fill gaps in the Android program by providing framework and application programming interfaces that will attract third-party developers to create unified applications. A La Mobile noted that the Android effort's planned release of source code bodes well for the alliance, but that Android has lacked a complete off-the-shelf software stack.
A La Mobile is backed by Venrock Associates, a venture capital firm that has funded several successful high-tech companies. Alker has led a series of successful startups including Counterpoint Computers, which was acquired by Acer. She had several positions at Acer, including president of Acer America's sales and marketing. She is a director of Tektronix.
Source: InformationWeek
Friday, January 11, 2008
CES: Spotted, First Possible Android Smartphone
A Chinese OEM was showing off a Phone at CES 2008 that will be running Android by March.
Here is what PCMag said about the specs of the Phone:
Here is what PCMag said about the specs of the Phone:
The GW4 (aka the PDA Dual Net Phone) is a
slab-style smart phone with a touch screen and QWERTY keyboard, that
was running a version of MontaVista Linux 2.6 when we saw it at the
event. But according to Wistron spokeswoman Molly Lin, the GW4 will be
running Android by March, when Wistron will start selling it to more
prominent firms for branding. As a manufacturing house, Wistron has
made desktop and laptop PCs for Dell, HP, IBM and other top brands.
The GW4 we saw had surprisingly low specs, but that's a testament to
the efficiency of Linux, Wistron execs said. The GW4 is based on a TI
OMAP 1710 chipset with a 216-MHz processor and only 64 MB of program
memory, yet the model we saw ran the Opera Web browser, played video
and flipped between a range of Web widget applications like weather and
stocks. The user interface was very responsive.
The phone will come in two tri-band GSM/GPRS versions, one for the U.S.
and one for Europe and Asia. The very slow cellular GPRS (not EDGE)
network will be complemented by 802.11g Wi-Fi with a built-in SIP VOIP
client for Internet calling. A higher-speed 3G version will come out by
the end of 2008. The GW4 also has a 2.5-inch, 320x240 touch screen and
2-megapixel camera.To read the whole Article just click the PCMag link above.
Technorati Tags: android, google phone, gphone, ces 2008, ces, GW4
Thursday, January 3, 2008
Wi-Fi Army Game for Google Android
Giving you a peek at what kind of gaming platform Google's Android will host is the Wi-Fi Army developed by W2Pi Entertainment. The company hopes to win funds from the Android Challenge. This shooter game involves the 3 technologies - GPS, Google Maps, and camera phone. Instead of using video graphics, you can engage real people in a (gun) phone fight. The camera phone functions as your scope to hunt other players. The GPS is used to locate other players within 300 feet radius. Once another player is detected within the range, you will be notified about this new found enemy. Google Maps provides support to find other players. Sounds cool! Presently this game allows only 500 people to play per city. The icing on the cake is that this game is Free!
Wi-Fi Army takes virtual reality to the next level by adding mobility and location-based services to it.
http://www.mobilewhack.com/wi-fi-army-a-google-android-game/
Wi-Fi Army Game for Google Android - Newlaunches.com
Android Developer Challenge Submission Delay
Delay in Android Developer Challenge leaves coders unsure....
This is taken right from the Android Challenge Group
Not only is there a Delay for the $10 Million Prize there is also word that Android was pushed out too soon and might experience trouble in 2008.
We will keep everyone updated.
Edit: Here is a link to the Google Group Posting.
This is taken right from the Android Challenge Group
From: "Dan Morrill" ...@google.com>
Date: Wed, 2 Jan 2008 22:45:22 -0800
Local: Thurs, Jan 3 2008 1:45 am
Subject: Android Developer Challenge Submission App
As you probably know, the Android Developer Challenge submission period for
the first round is scheduled to run from today, 2 January, through 3 March.
Unfortunately final testing revealed some cross-browser bugs in the
application we'll be using to allow you submit your work. We're fixing
those now, and will have the site up and running as soon as we possibly
can. At the same time that the submission application becomes available,
we'll also make the final Terms and Conditions of the competition available.
We apologize for the delay, and thank you for your patience!
Not only is there a Delay for the $10 Million Prize there is also word that Android was pushed out too soon and might experience trouble in 2008.
We will keep everyone updated.
Edit: Here is a link to the Google Group Posting.
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Test your Android app on a real phone!
Framebuffer VNC server specifically for the emerging Android platform. Forked from an old version of fbvncserver originally released for the Zaurus and iPAQ devices.
This project is largely a hack to facilitate testing of the Android user experience on real handsets with full screen VNC clients running. The current test framework is ideally suited for Windows Mobile based handsets running .NET VNC Viewer.
The subversion repository contains instructions for advanced users to build the package from source, but I admit it is a pain. You will need to custom build an Android kernel, the libvncserver library, etc. For your convenience, I have supplied a statically linked fbvncserver binary to install onto the emulator as well as the kernel you will need to boot. For the brave, check out the subversion sources and read the README file for complete instructions.
Here is a link to the Developer's website.
http://devtcg.blogspot.com/2007/12/android-vnc-part-deux.html
Google powered phones to debut in Feb 08?
First came the fervent and persistent rumours of a Google mobile phone.
Then, just six short weeks ago, the search supremo (and just-about-everything-else-online supremo) announced there would not be a ‘Google phone' per se, but rather dozens of them from a raft of mobile manufacturers, and all built on an open Linux-based mobile phone platform named Android.
Now things are picking up steam, with Gizmodo posting a snap of one of the rumoured score of prototype phones circulating around the Googleplex and in the r&d labs of the mobile makers.
The device looks very much like it's been cobbled together from existing chassis designs by Taiwan's HTC, which is responsible for a estimated 80% of the world's Windows Mobile smartphones (not just under its own brand but through badge-engineering for dozens of carriers and exclusive OEM/ODM contracts with several tech companies).
(HTC is also one of the leading partners in the Open Handset Alliance, which Google created as a hothouse for Android -- the consortium's roster of 34 tech companies also includes handset makers Samsung, Motorola and LG.)
And yes, this big drab-looking device is dog ugly - but this isn't a slick made-for-media concept phone, it's merely a functional prototype on which the developers and engineers can tinker (and we all know that as rule, they're not big on elegant design).
Right now, it's what sits inside the phone that is most important. You can bet that if Google's handset partners lift the covers on their Android phones during the Mobile World Congress expo, which kicks off on February 11th in Barcelona - or if Google itself trots out a flock of phones to impress this annual powerhouse gathering of the global mobile industry (the company has booked two stands on the expo floor) - that these will be shiny snazzy models endowed with a very high ‘cool' factor.
None the less, they'll still be concept models to capture and ignite the attention of the market, the media and the public at large. Android isn't expected to hit 1.0 stage until the second half of 2008, so right now it's still a work in progress.
What we already now about Android is that its foundation is the Linux 2.6 kernel, onto which Google has assembled sufficient components to create a phone-centric OS.
With a small icon selection strip running across the foot of the screen the UI looks somewhat similar to that of prototype mobile internet devices from Intel's ultra-mobile platform, as both are designed with very small screens in mind.
In that regard, Android's interface also takes some cues from the Sidekick and Hiptop family of devices. This is not surprising, considering that the one of the founders of Android (which Google acquired in July 2005) is Andy Rubin, who also founded Danger, the company behind the Sidekick/Hiptop line. Rubin now leads the Android team.
A demo of Android posted on YouTube's Android Developer Channel shows the top level UI menu, in which the user scrolls horizontally through a carousel of icons to launch the relevant application. However, later iterations could spawn limited sub-menus, so that a generic mail icon could contains the selections for email and SMS/MMS messaging, or a ‘chat' icon could include SMS/MMS plus the instant message client.
The inbuilt browser is based on the Apple-developed WebKit open source project which underpins the iPhone's impressive implementation of Safari. As a result, Web pages viewed on Android appear with the same fidelity as if viewed on a full-blown desktop client.
The demo also shows an innovative ‘visual history' that represents recently-visited sites not as a test list but a series of thumbnail images of the actual pages you viewed.
Android also appears capable of some sweet graphics, with Open GL software to provide basic 3D capabilities out of the box plus hardware acceleration if the device is fitted with a graphics processor chip.
The YouTube video showcases smooth rendering and manipulation of a ‘virtual Earth' globe in Android's world time applet, then hammers home the point with a quick demo of Quake running on Android. And with NVIDIA having also signed up to the Open Handset Alliance, you can bet that Android's graphics capabilities will come in for plenty of attention.
Google Maps on the move: as you'd expect, Android plays nicely with all Google services such as Google MapsGoogle Maps on the move: as you'd expect, Android plays nicely with all Google services such as Google Maps
Central to the Android architecture is the SQL Lite database engine, which is made available to all applications - it could also be worth noting that SQL Lite is used for Google Gears, the offline implementation of online-only Web apps.
While open source provides the heart of Android, its brain is a surprisingly modest ARM 9-series processor running at 200MHz. By way of comparison, the BlackBerry Pearl and Curve run a 312MHz processor, Nokia's flagship smartphones hover around 300-350MHz, the Motorola RAZR2 beefs up with a 500MHZ chip while the iPhone packs a 620MHz engine.
The ARM processor is also the x86 of the mobile phone landscape, being used by most mobile makers, so it makes perfect sense for the OHA to set this as the processing platform for Android.
However, given that Intel is a member of the OHA and in June 2006 offloaded its own ARM-based XScale PXA silicon to Marvell (also an OHA signatory), we expect Intel will push to put its forthcoming Menlow 2008 and Moorestown 2010 mobile device platforms on the Android menu.
While designed from the ground up for small low-power devices, both run Intel's IA architecture and thus come with an army of developers primed to churn out software. The OHA would be unlikely to axe ARM, but could easily broaden the Android spec to include Intel's silicon would provide manufacturers with a choice of chips.
But that's all in the future, and right now the job is getting to Android 1.0. Central to that is the Android software development kit, which allows programmers to start coding.
Google has added a small incentive: a cool US$10m in prize-money for the best Android apps!
Source: APCMag
Then, just six short weeks ago, the search supremo (and just-about-everything-else-online supremo) announced there would not be a ‘Google phone' per se, but rather dozens of them from a raft of mobile manufacturers, and all built on an open Linux-based mobile phone platform named Android.
Now things are picking up steam, with Gizmodo posting a snap of one of the rumoured score of prototype phones circulating around the Googleplex and in the r&d labs of the mobile makers.
The device looks very much like it's been cobbled together from existing chassis designs by Taiwan's HTC, which is responsible for a estimated 80% of the world's Windows Mobile smartphones (not just under its own brand but through badge-engineering for dozens of carriers and exclusive OEM/ODM contracts with several tech companies).
(HTC is also one of the leading partners in the Open Handset Alliance, which Google created as a hothouse for Android -- the consortium's roster of 34 tech companies also includes handset makers Samsung, Motorola and LG.)
And yes, this big drab-looking device is dog ugly - but this isn't a slick made-for-media concept phone, it's merely a functional prototype on which the developers and engineers can tinker (and we all know that as rule, they're not big on elegant design).
Right now, it's what sits inside the phone that is most important. You can bet that if Google's handset partners lift the covers on their Android phones during the Mobile World Congress expo, which kicks off on February 11th in Barcelona - or if Google itself trots out a flock of phones to impress this annual powerhouse gathering of the global mobile industry (the company has booked two stands on the expo floor) - that these will be shiny snazzy models endowed with a very high ‘cool' factor.
None the less, they'll still be concept models to capture and ignite the attention of the market, the media and the public at large. Android isn't expected to hit 1.0 stage until the second half of 2008, so right now it's still a work in progress.
What we already now about Android is that its foundation is the Linux 2.6 kernel, onto which Google has assembled sufficient components to create a phone-centric OS.
With a small icon selection strip running across the foot of the screen the UI looks somewhat similar to that of prototype mobile internet devices from Intel's ultra-mobile platform, as both are designed with very small screens in mind.
In that regard, Android's interface also takes some cues from the Sidekick and Hiptop family of devices. This is not surprising, considering that the one of the founders of Android (which Google acquired in July 2005) is Andy Rubin, who also founded Danger, the company behind the Sidekick/Hiptop line. Rubin now leads the Android team.
A demo of Android posted on YouTube's Android Developer Channel shows the top level UI menu, in which the user scrolls horizontally through a carousel of icons to launch the relevant application. However, later iterations could spawn limited sub-menus, so that a generic mail icon could contains the selections for email and SMS/MMS messaging, or a ‘chat' icon could include SMS/MMS plus the instant message client.
The inbuilt browser is based on the Apple-developed WebKit open source project which underpins the iPhone's impressive implementation of Safari. As a result, Web pages viewed on Android appear with the same fidelity as if viewed on a full-blown desktop client.
The demo also shows an innovative ‘visual history' that represents recently-visited sites not as a test list but a series of thumbnail images of the actual pages you viewed.
Android also appears capable of some sweet graphics, with Open GL software to provide basic 3D capabilities out of the box plus hardware acceleration if the device is fitted with a graphics processor chip.
The YouTube video showcases smooth rendering and manipulation of a ‘virtual Earth' globe in Android's world time applet, then hammers home the point with a quick demo of Quake running on Android. And with NVIDIA having also signed up to the Open Handset Alliance, you can bet that Android's graphics capabilities will come in for plenty of attention.
Google Maps on the move: as you'd expect, Android plays nicely with all Google services such as Google MapsGoogle Maps on the move: as you'd expect, Android plays nicely with all Google services such as Google Maps
Central to the Android architecture is the SQL Lite database engine, which is made available to all applications - it could also be worth noting that SQL Lite is used for Google Gears, the offline implementation of online-only Web apps.
While open source provides the heart of Android, its brain is a surprisingly modest ARM 9-series processor running at 200MHz. By way of comparison, the BlackBerry Pearl and Curve run a 312MHz processor, Nokia's flagship smartphones hover around 300-350MHz, the Motorola RAZR2 beefs up with a 500MHZ chip while the iPhone packs a 620MHz engine.
The ARM processor is also the x86 of the mobile phone landscape, being used by most mobile makers, so it makes perfect sense for the OHA to set this as the processing platform for Android.
However, given that Intel is a member of the OHA and in June 2006 offloaded its own ARM-based XScale PXA silicon to Marvell (also an OHA signatory), we expect Intel will push to put its forthcoming Menlow 2008 and Moorestown 2010 mobile device platforms on the Android menu.
While designed from the ground up for small low-power devices, both run Intel's IA architecture and thus come with an army of developers primed to churn out software. The OHA would be unlikely to axe ARM, but could easily broaden the Android spec to include Intel's silicon would provide manufacturers with a choice of chips.
But that's all in the future, and right now the job is getting to Android 1.0. Central to that is the Android software development kit, which allows programmers to start coding.
Google has added a small incentive: a cool US$10m in prize-money for the best Android apps!
Source: APCMag
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)