Author: Ray Walters

Kongregate, a web site featuring tons of Flash-based indie games that are free to play is joining the Froyo goodness with a new mobile site. It should a a good ay for those of you who are enjoying your 2.2 Android update can to waste some time.  M.kongregate.com is officially launched and ready to go with 100 games accessible to your Flash-enabled Android device.  (Is there an app for that on the iPhone, Steve?)

Kongregate, who teamed up with Adobe during the completion of the beta phase of Flash 10.1, is considered a valuable partner in pushing Flash 10.1 forward.

“Kongregate is a key contender in web-based gaming and a valuable partner in helping us demonstrate the capabilities of next-generation Flash technology for devices,” said Ricky Liversidge, vice president, Product Marketing, Flash Platform at Adobe. “Kongregate has been critical to delivering rich and compelling Flash-based game experiences for the rapidly expanding mobile games market.”

With Froyo being dropped (whether officially or not), we are going to see an explosion of sites geared towards mobile Flash gaming, as it opens up a huge door of ad revenue for site owners.  Check it out with your Nexus One and leave comments on how it runs!

That’s what Ry Guy and ben1010 from Google are saying anyways.  According to these Google employees, the 2.2 build of Android that Nexus One owners are sporting right now isn’t the official release from the search giant.

An article over at Slash Gear references information provided by the two Google employees on the Nexus One support forums,  reporting  that the build that Nexus One owners are manually upgrading to is not the official release. Though it was from Google, it was a test pre-release. The article does not state whether the official OTA release will be any different than the test build that’s floating around, but the Google employees do recommend waiting for the official release. On the other hand, they also say that those who manually update are not voiding their warranty and that they will still get the official release when it rolls out.

The OTA update of Froyo is supposed to drop in a few weeks, so it will be interesting to see if there is any difference in the build that is out now, and the one that rolls out via carriers in the future.

If you have ever wanted to level the playing field with information on business contacts or people you are meeting for the first time, then perhaps you might want to look in to Gist for Android.  As described in the video below, Gist is an application that unifies your inbox with the web.  The app goes out to the net and searches the different social media outlets along with blogs and news posts written by your contacts so that you can read them with one touch, giving you an edge when meeting with business contacts.

You can check out all the features of the Gist app, along with it’s parent site by visiting this link.  How would you use Gist?

Endgadget is reporting this morning that webOS design expert Matias Duarte has left Palm for Google to be their User Experience Director for Android.  This move is a reunion of sorts for Duarte as he previously worked with Android head Andy Rubin on the Sidekick project.

Duarte was without a doubt one of the big boys over at Palm, but recent rumors that his rigidity with design and the fact that he is a bit of a control freak caused some friction amongst the team he was working with.  The good news for Android lovers out of that rumor is that he may be coming to Google to help bring some cohesion to the fragmentation issues with Android.

Will a Rubin/Duarte reunion bring Android forward in big ways?  I can’t imagine doing anything but that.  It will be interesting to see what this team up will bring to the Android platform.

The graphic pictured to the left is part of a leaked T-Mobile corporate presentation and it pertains to  the upcoming June 2nd launch of the My Touch 3G Slide.  Engadget Mobile has what appears to be the complete roll out plans from T-Mobile corporate are laid out in an interactive slideshow. Especially interesting in the graphic to the left is the statement that during all the launch activities for the MT3G Slide, June 19th is a big day.  Could this be the day that Froyo rolls out to its first handset?

It would certainly fit what we have been hearing about the official OTA, and it would certainly add the excitement of the launch of this handset if it would be getting Android 2.2 so soon after launch.Stay tuned as we explore this and hear more about what is so big about June 19 for this device.

The long and short of the rest of the article talks about how much time and money T-Mobile is pouring into this latest iteration of the My Touch series.  They are planing a major media push, along with recruiting 2200 “champions” that will be super educated on the handset.  Their demographic is families, especially dads as they are launching near Father’s Day. They are also making a major play to make sure that their store employees are pushing the special branded accessories to sell along with the handset.

What is interesting is that Endgadget points out the fact that perhaps the My Touch line is T-Mo’s effort to replace the Sidekick line that they lost when the Danger team went to work on the Kin device.  This has long been thought to be the case, that is until the whole Project Emerald rumor mill started up.  Project Emerald is rumored to be a new Android powered Sidekick device, one that has some pretty cool specs and would help to put T-Mo back on the map as far as the handset game goes.

Either way, we are going to be inundated with My Touch 3g Slide info as the launch window approaches.  Stay tuned as we get closer to launch date.

Bloomberg is reporting that computer chip maker Via is saying that there are $100 tablets coming to the US in the second half of 2010 that contain their chips.  Richard Brown, Vice- President of Marketing, says that there will be 5 models ranging from the low of $100 to the- high of $150.

Developers are rushing to the tablet market following Apple selling 1 million iPads during it’s first month of availability.

A $100 price point seems tempting, but what will a C-Note get us for hardware, my hopes are not incredibly high.  An Android tablet is needed, but one that can actually compete with the iPad in terms of functionality and usability.

Let’s hope these tablets that are coming are not pieces of junk that will weaken Android coming to a tablet in a powerful way.

Engadget is reporting that the handset in the picture above is none other than the same Motorola Shadow we’ve been hearing about this week.  The image comes courtesy of the very same person who released the “Getting Started” manual for said handset.  User ‘wnrussel’ of Howard Forums allegedly has the Shadow in hand and is leaking some specs of the phone to the public.  Remember, these are unconfirmed but match some of the rumors about the handset:

• 4.1 Inch Screen, no word on type from wnrussel
• Ti Omap 3630 processor, in otherwords a 720 MHz Arm
• 8 gig internal storage
• 8 MP Camera

We’re also pretty excited over the HDMI-out port found on the handset in the bottom side corner.

BTW: This looks almost exactly like the renderings that first popped up backed in January, don’t they?

Click here to view the embedded video.

In a press release put out today, Entourage systems, creator of the world’s first Android powered “dual book,” announced that they have partnered with The Douglas Stewart Company to bring the “dual book” to colleges and schools.  It seems that both Entourage Systems and The Douglas Stewart Company want to integrate the “dualbook” with educational media when selling it to educational institutions. Seems like a good idea.

Besides running Android, the interesting thing about this device is that it is both a netbook and e-reader in one.  On one side of the device you have an e-paper read out, capable of displaying electronic ink files, and on the other side, you have a fully functional Android tablet. How well it runs is yet to be seen.

Overall, the “dualbook” seems like an interesting concept, which has quite a bit of promise.  I really hope it succeeds..  Take a look at the video and let us know what you think! Go Android!

As an avid user and supporter of Boxee for my HTPC needs, the announcement of Google TV left me wondering how I was going to be able to combine both the best interface for an HTPC hands down with my beloved Android platform.  The guys over at Boxee are WAY ahead of me it turns out!

A blogger over at the Candler Blog had an email conversation with Andrew Kippen of Boxee, asking him what he thought about the announcement of Google TV, and the implications it might have for Boxee.  The following is Andrew’s response taken from said article:

We obviously followed the [GoogleTV] announcement and the demo. We think that it would be great to see an open OS such as Android gain market share in the living room. It would enable users to download Boxee on their TV (we will be building an Android-based App) and start using it without the hassle of connecting their computer to the TV.

We have somewhat of a different view of browsing the web on TV. While it was a big part of the Google Demo we believe browsing the web as-is makes more sense on laptops and mobile devices (due to their personal nature, the screen size and the input device) than it does on TV. We look forward to playing with the TV and working with them to bringing Boxee to Android devices.

You read correctly.  if there’s a TV platform running on TVs that can deliver a great Boxee experience then we want to be there. That means we’re looking at developing an Android App version of Boxee for the upcoming Google TV. [emphasis added]

I wanted to make sure I read that correctly. I’ve heard they are working on an Android remote app similar to the one they have on the iPhone, but this sounds like something different:

You read correctly.  if there’s a TV platform running on TVs that can deliver a great Boxee experience then we want to be there. That means we’re looking at developing an Android App version of Boxee for the upcoming Google TV. [emphasis added]

It will be interesting to see what this Boxee app is going to look like.  It sounds like Boxee is going to leverage the Sony TV’s that are going to have Android built into them so people can run thier Boxee app without any computer necessary.  This would be a major step forward for Boxee, and sounds like an incredible idea to capitalize on all the risk that Google is taking with Google TV, at no risk to themselves.

I am getting more and more excited about Google TV, especially as I see useful, practical applications being thought about.  Stay tuned for more details as they come out.

A new cloud-based application called PhoneTell was announced today that allows you to see Caller ID info from any caller in the world, even if you do not have the information stored in your contacts list.

Along with this pretty cool feature, PhoneTell also gives you the ability to set some different response messages to incoming phone calls.

From the press release:

Managing High-Quality Connections While on the Move

It happens to you every day; you’re at lunch, in an important meeting or on another call when your phone rings, and it’s just NOT a good time.  But you would still like to acknowledge and respond to your caller.  This is when you most appreciate PhoneTell.  Here are some situations where PhoneTell would come in handy!

• You’re having lunch with an important client and get a call from the nanny.  You simply click on PhoneTell, which instantly sends a text saying, “I can’t talk right now, but text me or call again if this is urgent.”
• Your newly-licensed teenager is driving and receives a call from a friend.  He simply clicks on PhoneTell and a text is sent instantly saying, “I’m driving; can’t talk right now.  Will call you back.”
• You’re in an important meeting and get a call from a headhunter who has an update on a new career opportunity.  With one click, you send him an SMS saying, “I can’t talk now, but will call you back in 30 minutes.” You can even tell PhoneTell to remind you with the caller’s phone number, so you are sure to connect.

You’re at a movie when you receive a call from the doctor’s office.  You’ve been waiting for test results, but it would be rude to answer in the theatre.  With PhoneTell, you can instantly send a message saying, “I can’t talk right now, but please call me back in an hour.”

PhoneTell is available for Android Handsets rocking a 2.0+ version of Android, and is a free download available in the Market now. Give it a try and leave feedback on the app in the comments!

The world’s largest browser based games network, Mochi Media, is announcing that they will be launching a Flash 10.1 based site that will allow Froyo users to play 25 browser based games on launch.

From the press release:

The site, m.mochigames.com will feature more than 25 games and will be available upon the release of Google’s next version of Android (“FroYo”) phones. The site features mobile-optimized versions of puzzle game Biomass, card game Magic Towers Solitaire and strategy game Wheekling, as well as other puzzle, strategy and shooter games

This is an exciting development as we near the time that Flash is finally going to be a viable reality for Android users, and a MAJOR leg up on iPhone users who will not be able to use flash based sites. The site mentioned above is live now, so those Nexus One owners who have already gotten Froyo should be able to play the games there. Leave some comments and let me know how it works! As I am still rocking the G1, so I am relying on you all to let me know how awesome it is!

Android Police reports that they received a tip about upcoming changes in the Android Market, giving some exciting details about some possibilities that could be in the works.

According to their source, Google flew in a focus group from around the country, and asked them about a variety of topics, including social networking integration in the Market, “guru/expert ranks” for certain developers, the ability to follow or favorite certain developers, app recommendations, filters, and the ability for developers to respond to comments. (Android Police has a full run down of what was discussed– click over there for more detail.)

Remember, this is all rumor, so take it or leave it as it comes, but it seems like we have the following possibilities for the Market:

• Allowing Devs to leave feedback to feedback received
• Giving rankings to Devs, declaring them experts or the such.
• A better way to filter Apps, PRAISE THE ANDROID GODS
• Recommending apps to friends, A LA HTC Wildfire.

Android Police is saying that they have good word that the above WON’T be in the next update of the Market, but could be possibilities for the future.  Here’s to the future then!

“Hi all – it’s Osama Bedier here, PayPal’s VP of platform, mobile and new ventures, with good news for our Android developers.

We know you want a quick and easy way to integrate payments into the Android apps you’re building, and we’re pleased to announce that our Mobile Payments Library is now available for the Android.”

Hopefully those words are music to your ears if you are an Android Dev!  One of the things that we have heard time and time again from software developers is that it is not easy to get paid or make money with their apps on the Market, but also with micro transactions WITHIN applications, which can be a major source of revenue.

The article from the Paypal blog talks about the different solutions that Paypal is giving developers through the PayPal X Toolkit for Google App Engine (GAE).

Anything that will allow devs to create more revenue, and with more ease at that, is a good thing in my book. It may spurn some growth in the Market, giving incentive for the bigger, better apps to be created there.

Devs can download the Tookit through the Paypal Developer Portal, and those of you lucky enough to be at Google I/O can see a demo at PayPal’s booth.

If you have ever wanted to be able to use Android’s voice recognition to translate your spoken word to text message, then this is the app for you! Promptu, a software developer for both Android and the iPhone, has developed a speech recognition software application that will tie with Android’s messaging capability to allow you to speak your texts.

In a nutshell, ShoutOUT now lets users address their contacts by voice and listen to incoming texts instead of that boring, old reading them of days gone by.   This latest version includes a notification bubble that pops up whenever a new text arrives.  From there, users can playback and listen to the message, but they can also reply by voice with the tap of a button.

“ShoutOUT is the most accurate speech recognition app for text messaging on Android phones,” said Giuseppe Staffaroni, Promptu’s CEO. “We’re thrilled Verizon has selected ShoutOUT to be one of their featured applications.”

From the developer’s web site:

• Fast—voice transcription appears within seconds
• Complete SMS application—includes threaded discussion, thumbnail contacts, full editing features and landscape mode
• Voice addressing on Droid—speak the name of the person you want to contact
• Private—automated speech recognition means there’s no-one behind the scenes listening to your messages

ShoutOut is the name of the App, and is only available for those of you on Android 2.0.1, so those of you on 1.6 are kind of out of luck until you get upgraded, (or upgrade yourself via cyanogenmod). Use the barcode below to download the app!

Google today has released on their developer site an updated chart showing the percentages of which flavor of Android are making up what is out in the wild on Android handsets.  This is for devs to be able to develop appropriately for the percentages of users out there.

One has to feel for the Android devs out there.  I know I do.  With this kind of fragmentation it is almost as bad as developing for the web with the many different browsers out there.  Notice in the chart below that most of Android users out there are still running 1.5 or 1.6.  An interesting fact considering that we are starting to see many apps come out that are 2.1 only.  Checkout the chart below to see the breakdown.

The breakdown is as follows:

Engadget is reporting that the handset pictured to the left is yet another leaked piece of upcoming hardware, this time from Motorola. Called the Moto MT820, this handsets appears to be a potentially exciting piece of equipment for the China telecom market.  head to Engadget for a full gallery of images but long story short, here’s what you’ll find – This unit has a forward facing camera, physical home, power, camera and volume buttons as well as a microSD slot hidden under the cover of the phone.

While all of that seems a bit ho-hum, you may be asking yourself what is so exciting about this handset?  That’s when I call your attention to the odd flip cover you can see in the pic.  It is rumored that this flip cover is the first implementation of the 3D screen patent that Motorola applied for a while back. 

The premise is simple – When the cover is open, the screen shows normal 2D images and operates like a normal touch screen.  When you close said flip cover, the images from the screen take on a “3D-like appearance” which you can interact with.  The flip cover also operates as a touch sensor for the handset.

I have to admit that I am sucker for new tech, and the idea of a 3d mobile handset intrigues me.  I know that it is gimmicky to say the least, but man I want to see it.  This handset as mentioned above is for the China Mobile network.  It will be interesting to see if indeed it is going to have the 3d capability built in, and what it will operate like.

Androidpolice.com is reporting that with the recent huge push from Adobe, application and game developers are having a breeze of a time porting over their Air and Flash apps to Android.  Most of the feedback of the process has been positive from devs, some even saying that their apps are porting over in 10 minutes!

This comes, of course, after the whole drama surrounding the fact that Apple has shut Adobe and Flash out of the iPhone for the time being.  Adobe has decided to push its platform to Android in a big way and we’re about to see the fruits of this effort.

This is good news for Android as a whole being there are tons of AIR apps out there that could be ported over to our mobile devices running later versions of Android.

It has certainly been a huge leak day dealing with new Dell products!  The latest deals with their new tablet, called the Looking Glass which is pictured to the left. In a report on Engadget, the new Dell tablet is described as a bigger version of the Streak 5 that is due out in November.  The unit is geared to be pretty slick at launch, with Android 2.1 running  on a Tegra 2 processor.  There is reportedly also an optional TV tuner you can connect to the unit to watch ATSC programming, which is a nice touch.

An interesting tidbit that may go along with this option is the fact if you look closely at the screen shot to the left, you will see an AT&T U-Verse button on the top of the shot.  There is no additional info on this but it certainly is interesting.  It will be cool to see if and how this would be implemented and rolled out to users.

The memory on the unit is listed at 4gb, with another 4gb of flash memory for storage.  There is a SDHC slot which will allow up to another 32gb of expansion room.  The camera on the unit is only 1.3 MP, which seems a bit low for a unit like this. But overall, it could be an exciting unit, and another option in the tablet category.

Ever want to play movies, show pictures and give presentations from your Android handset via a TV screen or projector?  Well your wish has been granted in the form of the HTC Droid Incredible, as it has the capability with an optional composite video cable to do all of those things.

Anything you do on your handset screen will show up on your TV screen simultaneously.  This is a pretty impressive feature that obviously has a lot of uses.

The guys over at Wirefly have this awesome video of the TV Output functionality that the Droid Incredible has built into it’s little frame, check it out below.

Click here to view the embedded video.

An enterprising soul wanted to know if a Lava lamp would function on Jupiter given it’s different gravity, so he created a homemade centrifuge using a Nexus One as a g-force meter.  Check out the video to see a mildly entertaining science experiment. Lava lamp lovers can rejoice, it seems that they indeed will work in Jupiter’s atmosphere.

Click here to view the embedded video.

The maker of the video does point out that the accelerometer in the N1 are badly calibrated as they gave false readings the faster the unit went.  This seems to be a documented bug, but I don’t think the fix is coming quickly since using the phone at those speeds is not a typical application.

Either way, now we know that we can take our hot pink Lava lamps with us on our next trip to Jupiter!