Hasta La Gadget!

The HTC Thunderbolt uses Google’s Android platform, which is making huge strides in popularity despite developer complaints. Photo: Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Google’s Android platform has been growing steadily since its release in 2008. Now, one out of every three U.S. smartphone owners is using an Android-based device, according to a recent report.

So why aren’t developers more excited about the platform?

Of the 69.5 million Americans who owned smartphones as of the end of February, 33 percent used Android devices, according to a report from ComScore. It’s a leap of 7 points in a period of only three months.

The growth of Apple’s iOS remained stagnant, seeing only a 0.2 percent increase over the same period of time. Competitors Microsoft, HP and RIM were the ones who suffered as Android grew, with drops of 1.3 percent, 1.1 percent and 4.6 percent, respectively. The five companies’ smartphone market share is shown in the table below.

The growth is partly a numbers game. One of Google’s advantages is the sheer number of phone models running Android. Hardware makers have announced more than 10 different Android devices in the first three months of this year, far more than those running Google’s competitors.

By contrast, HP announced two new phones in February (the first mobile phone hardware release from the company in far too long), only one Windows Phone 7 device has appeared in 2011, and we’re probably not going to see the iPhone 5 anytime soon.

For all of Android’s success, however, the platform has yet to fully satisfy its application developer base. Baird Research shared the results of a recent developer survey with Wired.com, showing that more than 50 percent of developers questioned “view fragmentation” — the disparity in software versions across device manufacturers and handsets — to be a “meaningful or serious” problem. Developers also expressed concern over the fragmentation of the app ecosystem on Android, saying they generally preferred a “unified, single-store experience like Apple’s App store.”

For customers who enjoy Android’s openness, the lack of a single app store is hardly a problem. Those who wish to go outside the walled garden of Apple’s iOS (but don’t necessarily want to jailbreak their phones) can do so fairly easily on an Android device — or they can use alternative app stores, like Amazon’s.

But for developers who wants their programs to make serious money, a nonunified app ecosystem may be less than desirable. Fully 74 percent of respondents said developing for Apple’s iOS gave the best opportunities for paid-app revenues, and twice as many developers claimed their apps were more visible in Apple’s app store than they were in the Android Market.

We may see a shift in developer attitudes as Android continues to mature and further improve its app ecosystem. Google launched the Android Market web store in February, and just last week it officially enabled in-app billing, allowing developers to charge customers for items purchased within an application.

In addition, a several developers have made six-figure revenues from Android apps, with a couple scoring million-dollar paydays.

With the promise of big money, and a huge base of customers to target, developers have a strong incentive to continue coding for Android. Indeed, despite the complaints, 71 percent of respondents said that they have developed apps for the platform.

Whether they’re currently satisfied with Google’s OS or not, it looks like developers will continue writing code for it.

See Also:

• Google Launches Android Market Web Store, Improves Payment System
• Amazon Launches Its Own Android App Store
• Independent App Stores Take On Google's Android Market
• Android Market Apps Hit With Malware
• Google Pulls PlayStation Emulator From Android Market
• Google Removes Flash App From Android Market

A Windows Phone 7 handset is running an automated program to find bugs in Microsoft's test lab. Photo: Mike Kane/Wired.com

Microsoft’s first series of Windows Phone software “updates” have been a mess, to say the least.

Some Windows Phone 7 customers can upgrade the software now. Some can get it later. And weeks ago, a few unlucky owners of a Windows Phone 7-powered Samsung phone bricked their handsets when they downloaded an update.

What the hell’s going on?

It turns out that delivering one substantial software update on multiple phones made by different manufacturers, on different carriers, isn’t a simple task at all, and Microsoft is still figuring out a solid process.

Microsoft’s not alone. The smartphone industry is controlled by a tangled web of interests, with hardware manufacturers and carriers holding sway. While mobile operating system vendors like Google and Apple have managed to wrest some control from the carriers, their moves aren’t easily repeatable.

Despite decades of experience delivering software updates for the PC platform, Microsoft is still learning the ropes in the mobile world.

With the Windows-powered Samsung Focus, some phones got an error when trying to install a minor update that updated the update mechanism, according to a Microsoft representative. Yes, it was an update that changed the way that phones are updated.

A technical glitch caused some phones to be interrupted in the middle of updating the update process. As a result, some Samsung Focus phones were bricked.

After that initial snafu with the Focus, Microsoft decided to proceed more cautiously and “deliberately” with a major update called “NoDo,” which brings copy and paste to Windows phones.

Some Windows Phone 7 handsets get to download the update now, while others have to wait. That’s partly because whenever a company such as Microsoft, Apple or Google wants to put out a software update, it has to allow the phone carrier to test the software on the network first for quality.

Only after the testing is complete can Microsoft begin deploying the software updates to Windows Phone 7 customers, a spokesman told Wired. Microsoft posted a chart showing which updates are available for each Windows phone model.

Notably, the chart lacks specific delivery dates.

“This table is what Microsoft and its partners are comfortable with committing to right now,” the representative said.

So, long story short, there were some technical difficulties with the first minor update, and now Microsoft is being careful to ensure the major update deploys properly, so the scheduling for now is inconsistent between devices.

However, Microsoft said that after the smoke clears, Windows Phone customers can expect to receive updates more smoothly and evenly.

It seems like a mess, but it’s understandable considering this is a brand-new phone platform that’s barely even been on the market for a few months. Keep in mind that Apple has also had issues tied to carriers and software. When the iPhone 3GS launched, some people who bought the device couldn’t activate their phones all weekend, and Apple’s e-mail to customers suggested it was an issue related to AT&T.

With smartphones, many spinning plates are involved in pushing software updates — carriers, manufacturers and the software maker. When one plate shatters, everybody likes to point fingers at the software maker — in this case, Microsoft.

It’s worth noting, however, that despite these early stumbles, Microsoft’s software update strategy appears to be less chaotic than Android’s.

Android carriers and device manufacturers get to decide when they want to push out updates. As a result, many Android phones are running different versions of Android; some have cool features that the others don’t.

That’s the problem with Google’s “open” strategy: It relinquishes control to the carriers and manufacturers, who aren’t always up to speed with Android. And indeed, it’s why Google has started reining in its manufacturing partners and exerting more control over the OS.

With Windows Phone 7, Microsoft is still the party that gets to decide when each handset gets a software update, and ideally in the future they’ll all get it at the same time after initial network testing. We’ll just have to wait and see whether the update process gets better in the next year.

See Also:

• Why Windows Phone 7 Will Make Android Look Chaotic
• Curious Ask: “Will Windows Phone 7 Have Apps For That?”
• How Microsoft Hit CTRL+ALT+DEL on Windows Phone

Android users who go outside the official Android Market must be careful which apps they install. Photo (of an HTC Droid Eris) by Jon Snyder/Wired.com

Android enthusiasts have long championed Google’s “open” philosophy towards the smartphone platform. The recent appearance of a new Trojan horse in unofficial Android app venues, however, may cause users to think twice about how open they want the platform to be.

The app in question, Android.Walkinwat, appears to be a free, pirated version of another app, “Walk and Text.” The real version is available for purchase in Google’s official Android Market for a low price ($1.54).

If you download the fake app (from unofficial markets for Android apps) and install it, it redirects you to the actual app on the Android marketplace — but in the background, it sends the following embarrassing SMS message to your entire phone book:

Hey,just downlaoded [sic] a pirated app off the internet, Walk and Text for Android. Im stupid and cheap, it costed only 1 buck. Dont steal like I did!

Egregious spelling and grammatical errors aside, the text message serves as a reminder of the risks to those willing to go outside of the official Market for apps.

“Someone downloaded the app, inserted their malware, and uploaded it onto other non-official marketplaces,” Symantec mobile team product manager John Engels told Wired.com in an interview.

In other words, if you go outside the official Market, things may not be what they seem, and there’s no guarantee that what you download is what you actually want.

Google maintains clear content policies on all apps that are uploaded to the official Android Market, and developers know well enough in advance what those policies are, and how not to break them. Whenever an app in clear violation of Google’s policies shows up in the Market — like, say, a piece of malware — Google’s Android engineers are often quick to quash it.

But if you’re not one for pesky rules and regulations and want to see what the non-Google-sanctioned markets have to offer, all it takes to access them on an Android device is for you to uncheck a box on a settings page, allowing your phone to install apps from “unknown sources.”

To a certain degree, this isn’t a huge issue for the novice user. Many outside applications are hosted on file sharing websites that users like your grandmother probably aren’t frequenting. And unless they’ve tried to install these outside applications by sideloading them, they’ve probably never unchecked the unknown source’s permissions box to begin with.

But last week’s debut of Amazon’s new App Store may have changed that. In order to install Amazon’s App Store on an Android device, you first must uncheck that permissions box. While there may be no immediate risks associated with downloading apps from Amazon’s App Store, it opens the door for users to allow other unofficial — and therefore riskier — apps to be installed on their devices, from other sources.

“As soon as you flip that switch and go away from the Android Market, which is the one place where most people go, then you are putting yourself at some risk,” security researcher Charlie Miller told Wired in a previous interview.

“The threat will persist so long as people continue to download pirated software from peer-to-peer networks,” Webroot threat research analysts Armando Orozco and Andrew Brandt told Wired.com.

They say sticking to the Android Market is your safest bet, but if you’re still compelled to go outside the official box for your apps, whether it be to Amazon’s App Store or another unofficial market, you should “scrutinize the permissions the App requests, and don’t install it if it wants access to certain functions (like the ability to send SMS messages) that the app shouldn’t need to access.”

But doesn’t staying within the confines of the Android Market defeat the purpose of choosing a platform with such an “open” philosophy? If you want a stricter, closed system with stringent regulation on its apps via a review process, you might as well buy an iPhone.

“Android users enabling sideloading doesn’t necessarily lead to piracy or installation of apps from unsafe sources,” says Alicia diVittorio, a spokewoman for Lookout Mobile Security. “In fact, it’s great to have another source for consumers to download apps from a reputable brand like Amazon.”

Indeed, Amazon’s Appstore isn’t a great deal different from Apple’s App Store: Both companies require an intense review and approval process before making any developer’s submitted applications available for purchase.

Essentially, there’s an inherent risk that comes with downloading apps for a device with an attitude of openness like the Android. Even the official Market is susceptible to infiltration by malware, as evidenced by the swath of malicious apps pulled from the store earlier this month.

But in a relatively free and open domain such as Android’s, the risk remains the price of admission.

See Also:

• Google Launches Android Market Web Store, Improves Payment System …
• Google Pulls PlayStation Emulator From Android Market
• Your Froyo Tablet Probably Won’t Support Android Market
• Google Removes Flash App From Android Market
• Android Market Apps Hit With Malware
• Independent App Stores Take On Google’s Android Market

Google has pulled an app that ran PlayStation games. The app's creator blames the release of the upcoming Xperia Play phone (above), which plays PlayStation games.

By Ben Kuchera, Ars Technica

Google has yanked a PlayStation Emulator from the Android Market and the developer is claiming his program is being targeted due to the upcoming release of the Sony Ericsson Xperia Play. After all, why would someone pay for official copies of PlayStation games when they can download and play pirated, or legal backups, for free?

“PSX4DROID v2 was pulled by Google due to ‘Content Policy violation’ as noted here. Trying to determine what can be done,” the emulator’s developer wrote via Twitter. “Sony’s Xperia Play must be coming soon.”

The developer also complained that he was working on an update for the program, and is looking for ways to allow those who have already downloaded the program to access the improved version of the emulator. He thinks this is a larger issue, however. “This isn’t about emulators. This is about Google letting Sony rule their ‘open’; marketplace,” he continued. What’s odd about this argument is that, as of this writing, the FPSE emulator is still available.

Here are the reasons Google may remove your application from the Market:

• Illegal content
• Invasions of personal privacy or violations of the right of publicity
• Content that interferes with the functioning of any services of other parties
• Promotions of hate or incitement of violence
• Violations of intellectual property rights, including patent, copyright (see DMCA policy), trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary right of any party
• Any material not suitable for persons under 18
• Pornography, obscenity, nudity, or sexual activity
• Emulators themselves don’t run afoul of any of these policies, and they’re certainly not illegal. It’s a different story if you include copies of games with your for-pay application, but as long as the program is “bare” and it’s left to the user to find and play legally copied titles, the application should be acceptable.

We’ve contacted Google for comment, and will update this post if there is a clarification. This could be a misunderstanding, but the charges that Google is manipulating the Market in order to create a better environment for Sony’s for-pay games are serious and troubling.

See Also:

• Google pulls PlayStation emulator PSX4Droid from Android Market (pocketgamer.co.uk)

Google's flagship NFC phone, the Nexus S.

Google wants to do away with your wallet.

The Mountain View, California, company is working on a partnership with credit industry giants MasterCard and Citigroup that would allow you to make real-world purchases at stores using your smartphone, according to a report from The Wall Street Journal.

If the partnership materializes, buying groceries may require little more than a wave of your smartphone across an installed card reader at the checkout counter.

The partnership would allow for cardholders to pay for retail items after activating an app on Android NFC-enabled smartphones. The phones could then be swiped liked credit cards across card readers enabled with near field communication, or NFC, at participating retailers.

As Wired’s Epicenter blog reported earlier Monday morning, Google will begin testing the mobile payments service in key markets — New York and San Francisco — within the next four months. Other test markets include Los Angeles, Chicago and Washington D.C., according to a report from Bloomberg.

Google would pay for the installation of thousands of NFC terminals in the major cities. The terminals will be built by VeriFone Systems, a manufacturer of point-of-sale electronic payment technologies.

As with many other Google experiments, the push into mobile payments would serve as a loss-leader for the company’s advertising business, sources told the Journal.

Google would be able to offer retailers more data about customers and purchasing habits, while tailoring its ad targeting and promotional offerings to smartphone users. The company isn’t expected to take a cut of the transactions.

The mobile payments initiative faces some challenges. Currently, only one NFC-enabled smartphone is on the market — Google’s Nexus S (above). Samsung’s successor to its popular Galaxy S smartphone, the Galaxy S II, boasts NFC capability, but isn’t slated for release until the summer of 2011.

Also, it’s been difficult to imagine a major disruption of a massive industry like that of the credit industry that’s already established. One big reason: companies like Visa rely on trunks — shared lines that provide network access to a series of endpoints rather than providing them individually — and leased lines to provide retailers with reliable credit card terminal service.

One attractive option to companies like Google and other mobile-payment startups would be to cut out the credit card companies completely. Instead of using the card companies’ private networks, mobile payment could be made over a given smartphone carrier network.

But any attempt to circumvent the credit card companies’ private networks over 3G or 4G access runs into the problem of network reliability. A wealth of frustrated customers unable to pay for a meal because of spotty network service is less than ideal for any mobile-payment initiative.

That’s most likely the reason why Google is teaming up with the major credit card companies, instead of trying to bypass them. And Google isn’t alone in doing so. Joint mobile payment venture ISIS — which finds AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile partnering up with Discover Financial Services — is Google’s main competition in the mobile payments arena. ISIS is reported to begin testing its payments network this year, according to Bloomberg.

Google did not respond to our requests for comment.

See Also:

• Report: Google to Test Mobile Payments This Spring in NY, SF …
• Visa Seeks to Extend Retail Dominance With Pay-With-iPhone Service …
• Paying by Phone Slowly Coming to the U.S.
• Will the iPhone Become Your iWallet?
• Why Your Phone Can’t Really Replace Your Credit Card