Author: Raphael Savina

Looking to add another Android-related t-shirt to your complete collection from Android Swag?  You’ll want to check out what graphic artist Garry Booth has created.  He has a designed a shirt that gives a beautiful exploded view of our beloved Andy the robot.

You can get it on a 100-percent cotton American Apparel T-shirts, printed with soft-hand ink cost only $19.00 (+$6 shipping). Customers can pay with Google Checkout (U.S. Only) or PayPal (International).  There is also a poster version, 18 inches x 24 inches, hand-pulled screenprint on 80lb. Wausau Astrobright Eclipse Black. Rolled and shipped in crush-resistant tubes for $19.00 (+$8 shipping).

What a great gift this would make for that person who has everything!  Oh, I have a birthday coming up, too.  (Hint, hint)

WeFi, which bills itself as “the world’s largest free Wi-Fi network,” gathered data during Q1 2010 from users of their app from over 220 countries and territories. It includes data from laptop, netbook, Symbian and Android devices (all the platforms on which the WeFi app is available). By crunching all these numbers, they were able to compile an interesting report. Bearing in mind that reports like this should not be taken as a complete picture, WeFi found that Android use outside the U.S. has taken off in the past year, among other nuggets of information.

“As internet use becomes increasingly mobile, with smartphones, netbooks, and new devices being used in libraries, coffee shops, universities and hotels, there is an increased interest among mobile operators, wireless internet providers, as well as average users in studying just how and where users are connecting. Leveraging our number of users and our large database of Wi-Fi access points in over 220 countries, WeFi has been analyzing the available data and we are excited to share this information with the public.”

Zur Feldman, Chairman and CEO of WeFi

The report includes a distribution of Android devices by country that shows 40% of WeFi’s Android users are from the U.S., leaving 60% shared between European and Asian countries. WeFi notes that as of mid-2009, U.S. devices represented 90% of the sample, indicating significant growth outside the U.S. since then. The chart also highlights the fact that Android devices are now used across nearly all of the “industrialized” world.

WeFi also found that average Android users don’t consume more than 500 Mb each month through wifi, much lighter than what average laptop users go through. This seems to make sense, since most Android users use wifi to supplement another data connection.

Another interesting analysis is of wifi usage by Android model. Which one was the most popular? The European HTC Hero. The fact that it has been available from many European providers helped it to take this spot. The close second was the G1, unsurprising given that many people still use the trustworthy original Google phone. Number three in the list, also not a surprise, was the Droid. A big marketing campaign (thank you, Verizon) was the key for its quick success. You’ll also see in the list below that despite the Nexus One’s lackluster sales, it managed to grab nearly 5% of wifi usage, nearly as much market share as the Sprint Hero.

As promised by Google when they announced they were closing down the online shop, the Nexus One is becoming available with some new providers.

Right now you can order a Nexus One online from SFR, (French provider part of Vodafone group) as it will be soon available in their stores (from the 25th May).  The cost will be between 129 euro on a 12 month contrat to 419 euro on pay as you go offer. The latter is really a good deal as this Nexus One is sim-free and has no SFR customization, no extra apps. It is the same model as the one that was offered initially online by Google. SFR has obtained an exclusivity for 6 months.  The Nexus One is also available with Vodafone UK for free but only with a contract.

Juicy Development released Police Scanner for Android handset market. This is based on the iPhone version (one of the Top 100) and will allow you to listen to live audio feeds from RadioReference.com. With over 2,300 national and international EMS streams, Police Scanner offers a large selection of police, fire, and emergency services streams.

“We partner with RadioReference.com, who provides a large number of our streams,” said David Kyle, project manager. “But we take it a step further, and have a research team constantly adding new streams that no one else has.”

Police Scanner runs on wireless LANs, 3G, or EDGE and is compatible with all Android devices. The application can be bought from the market for $2.99 USD, you can scan the QR code below to find it.

While it’s true that there are already few ebook readers for Android (Aldiko), they fundamentally lack the access to Amazon’s ebooks Kindle editions library. Soon it will be possible because Amazon is set to release the long awaited free Kindle for Android app. You can register now to be notified of the release.

The features sound promising. For example, you’ll be able to view the annotations you created on your Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible device. Yes, you’ll be able to read a ebook on multiple devices which is a great news. The bad news is that Kindle newspapers and magazines will  not be available on Kindle for Android.

It will work on all devices from Android 1.6 and will required a SD card, probably to store the ebooks. Features include:

Read Kindle books on your Android phone

• Get the best reading experience available on your Android phone. No Kindle required
• Access your Kindle books even if you don’t have your Kindle with you
• Automatically synchronizes your last page read and annotations between devices with Whispersync
• Adjust the text size, add bookmarks, and view the annotations you created on your Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible device
• Read in portrait or landscape mode
• Tap on either side of the screen or flick to turn pages

Shop for books in the Kindle Store optimized for your Android phone

• Buy a book from the Kindle Store optimized for your Android phone and get it auto-delivered wirelessly
• Search and browse more than 500,000 books, including more than 96 of 110 New York Times bestsellers. If you are a non-U.S. customer, book availability may vary
• Find New York Times® Best Sellers and new releases from $9.99
• Get free book samples. Read the beginning of books for free before you decide to buy
• Books you purchase can also be read on a Kindle, computer, or other Kindle-compatible mobile devices
• Kindle newspapers, magazines and blogs are currently not available on Kindle for Android

As you might have heard, today lots of early adopters are going to get their hands on the new Apple iPad. As Android fans we should not care about it but if you think about it, it is a great news for Android.

A while back (late 2007), Apple released a new type of phone that marked the start of a new era with touch screen phones.  Now the general consumer is using their phone to check email, look at web pages, install apps, etc.   Prior to the Phone there was not that much going on in smart phones.  Well, there are a few early attempts by Microsoft to fit Windows in mobile devices.

Since the iPhone, each Android handset reviewed gets compared and looked at as potential “iPhone” killers in the mainstream media.  Verizon clearly used the iPhone to promote the Droid with their iDon’t campaign.  As Android fans, it is easy for us to do the comparison to explain what our phone can do to non-techies. You can just start by saying “It is like an iPhone but it also can run apps in the background, you can remove the battery, it has a keyboard…” and so on.

Thanks, again, to Apple, the same thing will happen with the iPad. There are few tablets already released and upcoming running Android: Asus,Kogan, Archos, Google, WePad (my favorite!) and all of them will benefit from the hype surrounding the iPad. Even if they might never sell in the same volume of units as Apple (like the iPhone), overall they will do well just because the iPad will do well. I know that I would never own (certainly not buy!) an iPad but I would certainly consider a WePad and if I have one and need to explain to non-techies, I would be able to start by: “It is like the Apple iPad but better because…”.

Do you agree? Will Apple’s iPad help usher in an era of tablets?  Will Android benefit?  I would like to read your comments…

Motorola has started to roll-out the Android 2.1 update for the Milestone. They have posted this shot on their Facebook page with the following message:

So the Hong Kong version is available, but as ever we would recommend you waiting your specific country/operator version update of Milestone for best results. Whilst we cannot provide the specific dates of each of these, hopefully this initial release demonstrates that Milestone 2.1 upgrade is a reality and the updates are starting to roll….please be patient, we think the update will be enjoyed by many….

That’s a great news for Milestone’s users who have been waiting for an update to come for months. Very soon, they all will be able to enjoy all the good things 2.1 has to offer.

Following the saying “The more the merrier,” I am pleased to announce that Kyocera revealed the launch of a new Kyocera (and Sanyo) branded Android device at CTIA 2010 today. The Kyocera Zio M6000 will be released in Q2.

There are not many details yet on the Zio (pronounced Zī -O), but from the press release we know it will have a 3.5 inch WVGA screen, a 3.2 MP camera with 30fps video recording/playback and a dedicated camera key. A surprisingly small amount (only 256MB) of internal memory is added to the expected microSD slot (up to 32 GB). It will also have, like most Android devices, a light sensor, accelerometer, media player, Google Maps and a web browser.

The phone is using CDMA2000 and right now there is no information on carriers or price. The press release mentions Google Goggles, so it is fair to assume it will have at least Android 1.6, if not better. I think 2.1 should be mandatory.

New figures published few days ago from AdMob told us few things about ourselves. They told us that we are males, aged between 25 and 34 and we prefer not to pay for apps…

I will guess that there is a good chance you will be reading this and say: No, I am not!

First, this has not taken into account the thousands of thousands of Android devices that have been offered for Saint Valentine. I am sure the next report will show way more female users.

Then, is there really only 21% of users buying at least one app every month? This seems very low and it doesn’t sound great if you are (or want to be) a developer on Android. Could we, the Android community, do something about this… I think  we can, this is very easy. What I am suggesting is that each of reader buy one or two apps in March. You know this game you like, you’ve been playing with the free version for a while now, maybe it is time to buy it and be able to access more levels. You know this nice tool that is helping you every day in your life, maybe you want a better version. I don’t want to point you to just one app of my choice, this is for you to decide. Also keep in mind that most apps don’t cost a fortune, can you really not spare $4 or $5 in March and buy 2 apps?

I know what some will say, I am with you on this, I can’t buy apps where I am (using Market Enabler helps but you need a rooted phone). However, there are alternatives. Some developers have web pages with PayPal’s donate button, you could use that. There are also many apps that are ads supported, clicking on these ads from time to time will help the developers and, who knows, you might be interested by what the advertisers want you to see.

So, what do you say? Can Android users be known are a generous bunch, willing to pay for good apps and help developers? Please share your opinion in a comment, I want to hear it.

During my time at Mobile World Congress, I took the time to seat and talk with few companies involved with Android.  To kick things off, I spoke with members of Astraware and am only happy to share my takeaway with you.

History

Astraware, a UK-based games studio, started over 10 years ago developing games for the Palm (over 70 titles). One of their biggest hits on Palm was the multi-award-winning Astraware Sudoku which is now also doing well for Android.  Other platforms under development are Windows Mobile, Blackberry, and iPhone. As with most Android developers, this is an early stage for them as they have only 5 games today.  However they already have 2 more are in development (see below) with more to come.   They’ll continue their push with Android as they view it an easier market than other platforms, more games oriented than Blackberry, and less competitive and crowded than iPhone.

Astraware and Handmark

Although Handmark and Astraware formed a business relationship in January 2008, they act as 2 separate companies, working closely but as partners.

Team

Astraware has a team of 6 developers working on the different platforms they support. They also have 3 artists, one producer and a QA team. The marketing team is involved during the development, just before release, to make sure the games are conformed to the restrictions of each markets.  With Android, this part is easy being that there is not that much to comply with.

Availability of games

The games are available through Handmark market, Android market but also online from their web site, about 85% of the games are downloaded from the Android market. The released of the Motorola Droid helped at the end of 2009 to bring the numbers up by making up 60% of these 85%. Also, they acknowledge that the new version of Market app from 1.6, with the screen captures, helped as it is easier for users to see good games.

They also found that, contrary to latest Admob figures, a good part (almost half) of their customers are female.

New games coming?

Odd Blob is a strategy game with very nice graphics. The aim is to go from the bottom of the screen to the top by moving on tiles, some of these tiles will have actions that would help or hinder your progress.  It will be released in Q2 for all versions of Android and all resolutions.  This should look great on high resolution devices like the Droid and Nexus One.

Police Range, this is an action game, already available on iPhone. You are at a shooting practice range or in an alley and need to shoot at the bad guys but not at civilians. This game is still in development but watch this space for the review when it will be released (or soon to be released).

You probably know already everything there is to know on the latest Android devices from HTC, the Legend and the Desire.  I’d like to add some more information as I was able to spend few minutes on Tuesday with HTC. Obviously we talked about the new devices but also about the updated Sense UI,  their market share and their relationship with Google.

Updated Sense UI

Many HTC Hero owners have been waiting for this update since Android 2.0 was released.  HTC has put plenty of effort into Sense as they want this interface to be their trademark. This is why it is also the interface on the new HTC Smart, a Qualcomm Brew (entry level phone) and most of their Windows phones.  Owners will be able to grow with HTC from Brew to Android, without learning new UI’s.

This new version take advantage of multitouch, for instance the eye-candy helicopter effect called Leap that let you see all 7 screens on one page. It also includes the new Friends Stream feature that will let you aggregate your friends, colleagues and family’s information from different social networks. Even the weather widget has been improved. It is obvious that they have spent time polishing this update and didn’t rush it to be ready soon after 2.o was released. They confirmed that it will be available for the HTC Hero in March. Unfortunately, the Tattoo will be left out, simply because this new version rely heavily on multitouch, which is not possible on the Tattoo resistive screen.

Relation with Google

If you have watched the video of the press conference, you might have notice that there was little word about Google or Android but in the other hand HTC CEO Peter Chou confirmed their commitment to continue to work with Microsoft so I’ve asked if there were any “couple” issues with Google… No, they are still in a close and healthy relationship. HTC has the largest group of Android developers after Google and they acknowledged that they would not be in this leading position they are know without Android. By the end of 2009, they had shipped slightly more Android devices than Windows Mobile devices.

New devices: the Design and the Performance

To come back on the Desire (could be called “Performance”) and Legend (could be called “Design”), the common feature is the new optical trackpad. It is working well and make a great pair with the capacitive screen to let you control the phones. One thing to notice is that HTC has finally let go their special Mini-USB port for the European Union required Micro USB.

Here is a video with an overview of the Desire and Legend

Click here to view the embedded video.

For this second day at Mobile World Congress here is an overview of some of the Android devices presented on the show by manufacturers (not in any special order). Rather than giving again details of the specs, possible released dates I will just give my impression on each devices I was able to see or touch.

HTC: As you know HTC announced this morning 2 new devices. I have a meeting with HTC tomorrow so you will have more details on both devices. First impression, the HTC Legend is a very nice update of the Hero, the aluminum body makes it very sturdy and of a quality level we are expecting from HTC. The HTC Desire is really a twin brother of the Nexus One with just slight differences, a very good device.

Motorola: We already had a video yesterday on the latest from Motorola but to come back on their latest models, the Motoblur enhanced devices, probably because of Android 1.6 don’t seem as good as the MOTOROI and the XT800 and MT710. These three, only available in Asia, have been polished by Motorola to be better than the devices from their competition on the Asian markets and you can feel it.

Samsung: Lots of space on Samsung’s booth is (sadly) reserved for the Wave… but hidden in corners they had the Galaxy Spica, a great looking phone that will have different colors back covers (red, white, black and a beautiful Android green). It is a very well made device. The other very interesting device is the i8520 (Beam), which includes a Pico projector and an AMOLED screen, to be released middle of 2010. I personally think this is a great idea to have a projector in a phone.

LG: The LG GT540 is another Android 2.0 device released in few colors. It has a nice form, slightly different from other brands though and it does not look as solid as for example a HTC Legend.

Acer: There were 3 devices presented by Acer, The affordable beTouch E110, the beTouch E400 and the new Acer Liquid e. The Liquid e, looked much faster and snappier than the other two mostly because it has a capacitive screen and you will get less missed swipes that you would on a resistive screen.

Sony-Ericsson: 3 devices presented, one we almost know everything about… the X10, it is going be released in March, so they said and the new X10 mini and mini pro. Now, all 3 devices are high quality, as expected from Sony-Ericsson and the choice would be on the type of devices you like: large device with big screen, small and light device/with or without a keyboard but still with all the features you will find on the larger model.

On the subject of the keyboard on the X10 mini, it is small so if you consider this device rather than the version without keyboard I will suggest to try it before to make sure you will be able to use it. In terms of price, without giving any specific details, Sony-Ericsson said that the prices of the X10 mini and X10 mini pro will be very similar and should not become a factor of choice.

ZTE: They had a number of Android devices, not many differences between each other than the usual camera and screen sizes. Some had resistive screens, others capacitive. They are really offering a great range, but they didn’t have many details on pricing and availability. See the photos in the gallery below for a better overview.

Huawai: 3 Android smartphones presented by Huawai, Razor, Smooth and Blade. Again, same as with ZTE, very little details on these devices. The build quality felt a bit lower compare to other brands.

General Mobile: Some nice devices, they have for example, a dual-sim cards device, apparently there is a great demand for these in Eastern Europe. All their phones are running a customized version of Android. Also, General Mobile has its own apps store, again to fill a need for their Eastern European clients who don’t like credit card payments and prefer to get billed for the apps on their provider monthly bills. I will give more details on these in these in the next few days.

Conclusion: This is only an overview and there are plenty of devices I haven’t mentioned. You will quickly realize that, apart from few exceptions, they are all the same and the choice you have is more down to the availability in your country and with your carrier.
Then, as you can see from this list, the predictions that have been made for the numbers of Android devices to be released in 2010 is getting very real.

Here below is a gallery of photos from today with few extra not related to Android but interesting to see. If you have any questions, please add a comment and I’ll do my best to answer.

Mobile World Congress is a huge event in terms of information to cover. A good part of the show is related to hardware, applications and services targeted towards phone manufacturers, carriers,… so not really related to Android but even with most parts of the floor unrelated to it, there is a lot to see and report related to Android, both hardware and software. Here a short summary of what I’ve seen today.

Compaq Airlife 100: I hope this notebook will quickly be available to all and not strictly in Spain with just one operator (Telefonica). It is a very nice looking device with a fantastic battery life. The keyboard has fairly large keys for a device of this size.  Showing true focus on Android, it has all the specific keys for the platform (Home, Menu, Back).  You can tell that this is not simply an adaptation of a Windows notebook but really an Android device. The touch screen is easy to use but I imagine this will not be the first way to interface with the device, it would be  with the keyboard or the touchpad.

Garmin-Asus Nuvifone N50: A phone for a niche market, naturally the main usage would be in your car but the interface developed by Garmin is rather nice. It will be first distributed by O2 Germany with more carriers to come.

Skype: There were no Android phones to demo in Skype booth (plenty of Nokia, iPhone) but there should be some announcement tomorrow during the joint press conference with Verizon. I’ve been told to come back so, it is fair to assume that a better version of Skype is coming to Android very soon.

Endomondo: This is community based sports tracking application, available for free on the market. What is interesting in this product is the list of sports.  Besides the classic running and cycling you will find skiing, kite surfing, sailing and many more.

Adobe Flash and AIR: Adobe have announced that AIR will be available on Android and they had few devices on demo with applications. These few AIR apps look identical to how they would on a desktop browser.  Adobe’s aim is to bring all these apps directly to Android (and other mobiles platform) without the need for the developers to adapt their source code.

I have been meeting many other companies so expect posts about each after the show.  Be sure to come back for more!

Here is a short overview of the latest Motorola Android phones, including the QUENCH/CLICK XT and the BACKFLIP. The QUENCH looks OK but not as good as the model for the Korean (MOTOROI) and Chinese (XT800 and MT710) markets. The BACKFLIP is a very odd design choice with the keyboard facing down when in desk mode and the trackpad on the back.

Click here to view the embedded video.

As part of Mobile World Congress, Motorola had setup sessions to fast track new developers who are willing to start developing on Android. They had brought few companies to showcase their work and answers questions. This is great to see that Motorola is heavily involve into helping developers with forums, tools and expertise.

Of the companies present this morning, there are two that were  particularly interesting. The first one, Xtify has an very interesting ASP/Notifications Platforms that delivers notifications and messages directly to users. Developer can incorporate and compile the Xtify SDK into their application. Then they have a console with complete campaign management capabilities. Xtify technology will alert your app when a user is within the paramaters you have define. There are 3 different packages available depending on the features you will need in your app. You can get more details on their website.

The second product was the new version of TuneWiki that will be included on the new Motorola QUENCH/CLICK XT. See below for a video of this new version, with an extra feature that they didn’t want to show (looks like some tune recognition option!).

Click here to view the embedded video.

ShowStoppers is a special event where companies can showcase their products in advance of a show. They had one for CES and there was one this evening in advance of Mobile World Congress. If this event give any indication of the trends for this year MWC, it will be rich for Android, here is an overview of the most interesting.

Nuance: They’re especially known for the Dragon Dictation for iPhone but they have also released speech recognition for Android. They are working mostly directly with operators but you will see their products very soon. They have a booth on the show so I will get more details on their work on Android.

Otter Box: A well known company that provides rugged boxes and covers. They have few Android devices covered (no pun intended) by their Commuter Series with more to come. They showed me the cover for the Droid/Milestone, it offers a good protection with each port (3.5 jack, USB) cover by rubber traps.

Opera Software: They were showing their browser Opera Mobile 10 on few devices but more notably for us on a Nexus One… This is still an early version, it won’t be available for a while, there is still lots of work to do but it looks great already, believe me!
It will have all the bells and whistles from the desktop version: tabs, speed dial,…

Skyfire: They’ve made the headlines few days ago when they bought Kolbisoft. They confirmed that they will have an Android version of their browser very soon. Nothing ready to show today but they mentioned that their app, when released, should work from Android 1.5 up to 2.1.

SugarSync: SugarSync is a system to backup, sync and access all kind of files (documents, music, photos,…) on the cloud, they have Windows and Mac clients but also one for Android devices. We had mentioned them a while ago but the application is now available on the market. A 2GB Free plan will allow to test the service but you have solutions from 30GB up to 250GB.

Dial2Do: Dial2Do is a number you can call (in handsfree mode) and request commands via voice. From simply sending a text message to tweet or listen to the weather. They have now an Android application which lets you listen to text messages (free version) or access to all services with a paid subscription.

Powermat: This is an ingenious system that will let you recharge your phone when placed on a mat. To do so you need a special battery and an adapted cover. They had few devices at ShowStoppers, for example a GSM HTC Hero, but more will be visible in their booth so I’ll make sure to pay them a visit to get more details for you.

ooVoo: ooVoo offers a solution for video chat with up to 6 persons. They aim to be better than Skype with a focus on call quality. The interesting news for Android is that they are going to have a partnership with one of the US carrier to have their solution embedded with an Android phone. They would not give more details for now but we’ll try to know more.