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Sep 18

Electronic Arts ready to embrace Android, but wishes it had an App Store

Posted in: Android, android market, AndroidMarket, AndroidOs, apps, AppStore, Games, gaming, Today's Chili

Thought EA had no love for Android or Windows Phone 7? Not quite — it’s just the existing market opportunities that the company doesn’t seem to enjoy. CFO Eric Brown told the Deutsche Bank 2010 Technology Conference that the game publisher is actually quite bullish on Google’s rapidly popularizing mobile OS and plans to ‘position its mobile business’ accordingly, but first he said this: “I think the next big positive way to push better growth in mobile will be the deployment of an App Store equivalent for the Android operating system.” Since we’re fairly certain Brown would be aware of a little thing called the Android Market, we figure he’s talking about the same mysterious reason that caused Gameloft (which produces a number of Android titles already) to circumvent the Market in favor of their own online store. One thing’s for certain on the EA Mobile front: the company really needs to update their smartphone games page to support a wee bit more than the “Google Android-Powered T-Mobile G1.”

Electronic Arts ready to embrace Android, but wishes it had an App Store originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 19 Sep 2010 01:01:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 15

Google music service might offer subscriptions as well as digital downloads

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, content, Google, Music, Online, search, streaming, Today's Chili

We know that Google’s been thinking about launching a music service, and now the crazy kids at Billboard are reporting details of a proposal that the search giant’s been circulating among the major labels. Apparently the company is pursuing a sort of hybrid digital download store / cloud-based locker service, with the store offering individual tracks or albums, while the “locker” would scan the user’s hard drive for music files and, upon finding tracks that Google is licensed to offer, allow the user access to them on the cloud (presumably you won’t be actually uploading your MP3s to the service, just streaming their content once it’s determined you have a copy of your own). And since you can’t offer any service without a little “social networking” on the side these days, Google would like to give users the opportunity to send each other tracks, which they could listen to once — and then either purchase or preview (um, review) in thirty second snippets, similar to Lala. There’s no word yet on which — if any — labels are willing to take the bait, but we’ll let you know as soon as we hear anything else. Promise.

Google music service might offer subscriptions as well as digital downloads originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 18:43:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 15

HTC launches the Desire HD: an EVO for the rest of world

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, breaking news, BreakingNews, HTC, launch, Today's Chili

The Desire HD is official, folks, finally bringing a 4.3-inch LCD to European Android fans. The handset is made from a solid block of aluminum and comes packing a 1GHz 8255 Snapdragon processor, 8 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and 720p video recording, Dolby Mobile, and HSPA+ data with 802.11n WiFi when it lands in Europe and Asia sometime in October. It’s also one of the first HTC devices to feature the enhanced HTC Sense experience with HTCsense.com services.

Gallery: HTC Desire HD

Continue reading HTC launches the Desire HD: an EVO for the rest of world

HTC launches the Desire HD: an EVO for the rest of world originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 15

HTC Desire Z is the QWERTY slider your Android’s been waiting for

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, breaking news, BreakingNews, HTC, launch, qwerty, QwertySlider, slider, Today's Chili

HTC has just announced the Desire Z, an Android-friendly QWERTY slider. Like the T-Mobile G2, the Desire Z features a “pop-out” (don’t call it a slider) QWERTY keyboard with user assigned keys and system-wide shortcuts that let you quickly launch your favorite apps. Around back you’ve got a 5 megapixel camera with flash that’s HD video capable while an 800MHz Qualcomm MSM7230 processor pumps away efficiently inside with HSPA+ and 802.11n radios providing the data. Unlike the US G2, however, the Deisre Z comes loaded with HTC’s enhanced Sense UI and new HTCSense.com services. Look for it to land in major European and Asian markets in October before hitting North America sometime later in 2010.

Gallery: HTC Desire Z press pics

Gallery: HTC Desire Z

Continue reading HTC Desire Z is the QWERTY slider your Android’s been waiting for

HTC Desire Z is the QWERTY slider your Android’s been waiting for originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:26:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 15

HTCSense.com will backup and remotely locate / wipe HTC devices

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, HTC, HtcSense, launch, sense, Today's Chili

HTC’s announcing more than hardware this morning, it’s also announcing an enhanced HTC Sense experience. At the heart is HTCSense.com, a series of dashboard-connected services for backup, security, and control of your HTC handset. A new locate feature triggers the handset to ring loudly (even when set to silent) while flagging its location on an online map. If the phone was lost or stolen, owners can remote lock and/or wipe the phone. Backups will automatically archive your contacts, text messages, call history, customizations and data. Sense is also adding advanced multimedia capabilities to help ease the way we capture, share, and upload our content. HTC’s also added on-the-fly capture effects and filters to manipulate depth of field or for adding distortion and vintage effects.

Update: We’ve got a gallery’s worth of interface shots from the new Sense experience!

Gallery: HTC’s New Sense Experience

Continue reading HTCSense.com will backup and remotely locate / wipe HTC devices

HTCSense.com will backup and remotely locate / wipe HTC devices originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 15 Sep 2010 07:25:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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Sep 12

Android 2.x now on 70 percent of all active Android phones

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, froyo, Google, statistics, stats, Today's Chili

Time to get down and boogie if you think the Android fragmentation issue is overblown. Google has dropped its latest platform version stats and Android 2.2, aka Froyo, has managed to corner a healthy 28.7 percent of all active Googlephones (those that accessed the Market within the two weeks leading up to September 1), rapidly closing the gap on version 2.1 and nearly matching in number the handsets still stuck on the Cupcake or Donut diet. When you consider that back in May those pesky 1.5 and 1.6 versions were on a whopping 62 percent of Android mobiles, you’ll probably agree that phone makers seem to be getting their act together in terms of delivering Google’s latest wares in a timely fashion. Who’d have thought it, the more practice they have, the better they’re getting at their jobs!

Continue reading Android 2.x now on 70 percent of all active Android phones

Android 2.x now on 70 percent of all active Android phones originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Sep 2010 07:31:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Arena | Android Developers | Email this | Comments

Sep 04

Android accounts for one-quarter of mobile web traffic, says Quantcast

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, ios, market share, marketshare, statistics, stats, Today's Chili, web

It’s terribly difficult to get reliable statistics, as numbers tend to vary drastically depending upon whom you ask, but if you’re inclined to believe that Android is mopping up Apple and RIM’s declining mobile mindshare in the US, you’ll find nothing but corroboration from Quantcast. The analytics firm reckons a full one-quarter of mobile web traffic stateside comes from devices running Google’s OS, though it’s important to know that the iOS tallies apparently don’t include the web-friendly iPad. You also might want to note that this is mobile web traffic here — these days, we spend an increasing amount of our internet time in apps — and since we’re on a roll with the disclaimers, let’s just add that these numbers have nothing to do with a company’s financial success. Nokia can attest to that.

Android accounts for one-quarter of mobile web traffic, says Quantcast originally appeared on Engadget on Sat, 04 Sep 2010 19:02:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Apple Insider | Quantcast Blog | Email this | Comments

Sep 03

NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, arduino, bluetooth, controller, diy, gaming, hack, hacking, homebrew, mod, modding, nintendo, Today's Chili, video

Perhaps the worst, and least repairable, shortcoming of touchscreens is their failure to act as viable game controllers. Keyboard-equipped smartphones alleviate that pain a little (particularly if you pair them with a Game Gripper), but ultimately we’d all prefer real controllers for our real games. Such was clearly the thinking behind the homebrewed setup here, which combines an HTC EVO 4G — with Android and an NES emulator inside — with an Arduino board, a BlueSMiRF Bluetooth module, and a classic NES control pad. The result might look like a mess of wires, but who cares when you can rock Super Mario 3 the way Nintendo surely intended?

Continue reading NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video)

NES controller pressed into service to Android overlord (video) originally appeared on Engadget on Fri, 03 Sep 2010 03:07:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Hack a Day | sketchsk3tch (YouTube) | Email this | Comments

Sep 01

T-Mobile G2 priced at $199 with contract, $499 without, by latest leak

Posted in: Android, AndroidOs, hspa, leak, price, pricing, qwerty, rumor, slider, speculation, t-mobile, Today's Chili

Been wondering how much T-Mobile’s first HSPA+ phone will set you back? Why, it’s that most generic of all smartphone prices: $199 with a two-year commitment or $499 without. To be fair to T-Mo, the G2 was one phone that it could plausibly have upmarked to, say $249, as Sprint has done with the Epic 4G, but nope, it’s landing squarely in the middle of the well beaten path to smartphone sales. There is the dreaded specter of a $50 mail-in rebate to deal with, but we doubt it’ll be enough to dampen anticipation for what’s looking like the next great Android slider phone.

T-Mobile G2 priced at $199 with contract, $499 without, by latest leak originally appeared on Engadget on Wed, 01 Sep 2010 16:29:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink Phone Dog | TmoNews | Email this | Comments

Sep 01

Motorola Milestone 2 arrives, 720p HD video, Android 2.2, and Motoblur Enhanced in tow

Posted in: 720p, Android, AndroidOs, breaking news, BreakingNews, flash, froyo, hands-on, launch, motoblur, motorola, Today's Chili, video

Even without yesterday’s premature video promo, you had to know Motorola wouldn’t leave its international audience without a successor to the Milestone, so today — surprise, surprise — we’re being treated to the Milestone 2’s launch. The first thing to be said here is that if you’ve handled a Droid 2, you’ve also handled a Milestone 2 — the new phone follows Moto’s tradition of being a simple rebadge away from the Verizon-friendly Droid naming scheme, which means it retains the same 1GHz OMAP SOC, 512MB of RAM, 5 megapixel camera, 8GB of integrated storage (plus an included 8GB MicroSD card), and Android 2.2 as the default, albeit Motoblured, OS. Also, we got this straight from the Motohorse’s mouth: Motoblur’s not going anywhere, it’s the company’s “Android solution” and is here to stay.

One advantage over the Droid 2 here is the addition of 720p video recording. It’s still the exact same imager as on the back of the first Milestone, but now you can catch moving visuals in HD resolution. Moto were keen to point out the 5-device hotspot capabilities (courtesy of Froyo) on the Milestone 2, but they showed it off using a wired connection since the demo handset’s O2 SIM card wouldn’t permit wireless tethering. Well, that was a grand demonstration of how vulnerable our Android 2.2 goodness will be to the whims of mobile carriers. The Milestone 2’s expected to launch around Europe in Q4, with carrier-dependent pricing as per usual.

Update: Hands-on video now available after the break.

Gallery: Motorola Milestone 2 hands-on