Archive for 'Google Android'

Music applications for G1 mobile

New Android app is a fully featured Last.fm radio application that supports the open nature of the Android OS. It allows you to stream your Last.fm stations, view friends’ profiles and watch out for up coming events. LastFM takes all the features from the website and crams into the little screen on the G1. Users can save stations, find the top 100, view their library of music, find items recommended by LastFM, start new stations, and the many profile tweaks and settings that the website allows you. It keeps you notified of what you are listening to via the notification tab in Android. Fans of LastFM may be pleased with all this and the fact that the app can run in the background while your doing other things, like checking your email.

MemoryUp application controversy on Android Market

An Android Market application has become the center of a fire storm of controversy after users accused it of wiping data from memory cards and spamming contacts. MemoryUp Personal, distributed by eMobieStudio, is meant to optimize system memory by taking control of the Java Virtual Machine to reclaim unused memory. Whether it actually achieves that goal has been a matter of discussion on the Android Community forum for a few weeks; forum members have not been convinced of its actual efficacy. This past weekend, however, reports started appearing that MemoryUp was erasing files. According to a post at geek.com, users complained that their SD cards “were wiped totally clean.” Other accusations grew, suggesting that MemoryUp was sending spam using onboard contact information, removing calendar items, corrupting memory and placing adware onto the G1.

Android-based Movit tablet displayed at CES

Movit tablet is a WiFi-enabled device which allows watching streaming videos, browse the web and share content on  social networks like Facebook and MySpace.  Movit device presented at Las Vegas was running the Cupcake development branch of Android or whether the Giinii developers had backported the Cupcake keyboard into a more stable Android release.

Skyhook positioning support for Android platform

Skyhook Wireless has updated its software developers kit (SDK) to add support for Android, the Open Handset Alliance operating system initially developed and still backed by Google. Skyhook offers a combination of WiFi, GPS, cellular tower, and sensor-based positioning data for determining approximate geographic coordinates and an error range.

While the first Android-based device, the T-Mobile G1, includes Wi-Fi, 3G, and GPS radios, part of what makes Android appealing is the low-level access to hardware that cellular handset makers typically restrict access to via hardware abstraction layers or higher-level application libraries.

G1 unlocked for developers

Google has just announced the availability of a developer phone that can be purchased by registered Android Developers. Costing $399 (roughly the same price as a contract-free G1 phone from T-Mobile), the phone offers an unlocked bootloader and allows easy flashing for the installation of custom Android builds. It is available for purchase in 18 international markets. You must join the $25 Android Marketplace program in order to purchase a device. Regular users interested in an unlocked phone are being warned that these units are intended for developers only and are to be used at your own risk.
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