Archive for March, 2010

Lately it is apparent that the enthusiasm for the Apple iPad by developers has dropped due to it’s lack of multitasking and a camera. Appcelerator surveyed over 1,000 developers earlier this month, and found that 80% of them stated that they intended on creating an iPad application within the next year. When compared to a similar poll which was taken 2 months ago, right before Jobs introduced the iPad, 90% of surveyed developers said that they would create an iPad application in the next 12 months.

Scott Schwarzhoff, head of marketing for the Mountain View, Calif., stated that, “After, it was clear that a couple of key features wouldn’t make it in the first round, including a camera and multitasking. That’s nothing that can’t be fixed down the road, but it did temper enthusiasm.”

Out of all the developers who were polled, 53% of them said that they were “very interested” in developing with the iPad platform, 5% down from January’s promising 58%. These statistics put the iPad in 3rd place, behind the iPhone with 87%, and Google’s Android platform, with 81%. The up side to this is that the iPad is significantly ahead of BlackBerry, with 43%, and Windows Phone 7, with 34%.

Schwarzhoff admitted, “There’s no way that the iPad can not do well.” [via Computer World]

HTC has finally just issues a press release about the lawsuit that Apple has going against them. From a legal standpoint, there are no details on how they are going to respond to the charges. From a PR perspective, the key points mentioned are that HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions, and they will be fully defending themselves.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation.”

HTC continues to lay out a long list of firsts that they have established in the cell phone world, as to better re-establish their credibility and make them more noteworthy of the innovators that they have made themselves throughout the years. Whether or not this stands very strong in a courtroom, I’m not too sure about, but all we can do is sit around and wait to see what happens as this case unfolds.

Here’s the Full Press Release from HTC:

HTC DISAGREES WITH APPLE’S ACTIONS

Seattle – March 17, 2010 – HTC Corporation today outlined its disagreement with Apple’s legal actions and reiterated its commitment to creating a portfolio of innovative smartphones that gives consumers a variety of choices. Founded in 1997 with a passion for innovation and a vision for how smartphones would change people’s lives, HTC has continually driven this vision by consistently introducing award-winning smartphones with U.S. mobile operators.

“HTC disagrees with Apple’s actions and will fully defend itself. HTC strongly advocates intellectual property protection and will continue to respect other innovators and their technologies as we have always done, but we will continue to embrace competition through our own innovation as a healthy way for consumers to get the best mobile experience possible,” said Peter Chou, chief executive officer, HTC Corporation. “From day one, HTC has focused on creating cutting-edge innovations that deliver unique value for people looking for a smartphone. In 1999 we started designing the XDA

The O2 XDA by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the world in 2002. and T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition The T-Mobile Pocket PC Phone Edition by HTC was the first 3.5-inch color touch screen smartphone in the United States in 2002., our first touch-screen smartphones, and they both shipped in 2002 with more than 50 additional HTC smartphone models shipping since then.”

The industry has recognized HTC’s contributions through a variety of awards including Fast Company’s 2010 Top 50 Most Innovative Companies and MIT Technology Review’s 2010 50 Most Innovative Companies. The GSMA also recently awarded the HTC Hero as the “Best Phone of 2009.” Some of HTC’s technology firsts include:

• First Windows PDA (1998)
• First Windows Phone (June 2002)
• First 3G CDMA EVDO smartphone (October 2005)
• First gesture-based smartphone (June 2007)
• First Google Android smartphone (October 2008)
• First 4G WIMAX smartphone (November 2008)

In 2009, HTC launched its branded user experience, HTC Sense. HTC Sense is focused on putting people at the center by making phones work in a more simple and natural way. This experience was fundamentally based on listening and observing how people live and communicate.

“HTC has always taken a partnership-oriented, collaborative approach to business. This has led to long-standing strategic partnerships with the top software, Internet and wireless technology companies in the industry as well as the top U.S., European and Asian mobile operators,” said Jason Mackenzie, vice president of HTC America. “It is through these relationships that we have been able to deliver the world’s most diverse series of smartphones to an even more diverse group of people around the world, recognizing that customers have very different needs.”

For more information on HTC’s history of innovation, please visit: www.htc.com/history.

About HTC

HTC Corporation (HTC) is one of the fastest growing companies in the mobile phone industry. By putting people at the center of everything it does, HTC creates innovative smartphones that better serve the lives and needs of individuals. For more information about HTC, please visit www.htc.com.

[AndroidCentral]

We’ve just gotten wind that the Google Nexus One will be heading to the Sprint Network. At this point in time, it is hard to judge whether or not the device will still be called the Nexus One or not at the time of the launch, or whether the color scheme of the phone will still stay the same, we do know for sure that the phone will be landing on the Sprint Network. As of now, we don’t have a pricetag or a date on the arrival, but it seems like everyone is gaining their share of the Nexus One these days, huh? Look for more updates during CTIA. Here’s a bit of the press release surrounding this story:

Nexus One from Google Coming to Sprint; Availability Date Announced Soon

Nexus One is planned for the Sprint Mobile Broadband Network with twice the network coverage of AT&T and ten times the network coverage of T-Mobile, both by square miles; Expands Sprint’s Android portfolio

OVERLAND PARK, Kan., – March 17, 2010 – Nexus One, the first wireless phone sold through Google’s web store, is planned for Sprint’s 3G Mobile Broadband Network. Sprint (NYSE:S) will announce pricing and an exact availability date soon. Nexus One will benefit from Sprint’s 3G network with twice the coverage of AT&T and 10 times the coverage of T-Mobile, both based on square miles. [DroidDog]

Good news hath arrived for the people of the fair land of Canada. Its a slowly developing event, but our Canadian Android consumers are finally beginning to see paid apps being listed for purchase and download OTA on the Android Market. In case you’re not Canadian, this was a long, frustrating occurrence that was stopping Canadian Android users from downloading paid applications, which started quite some time ago. Yesterday seems to be the turning point, as members in the AF Rogers Forums were reporting that they were now seeing the paid applications as being available for their purchase and download. Android users with different carriers and different phones with varying OS versions have been experiencing varying results, but in the big picture – paid apps have arrived in Canada. Now it is only a matter of time until the rest of the Canadian networks receive the updates as well. Now go forth and purchase your favorite paid application. [Phandroid]

We have recently seen some potential issues arise with Nexus One multitouch. It seems now that the touchscreen itself is not actually “broken,” but is limited by the hardware. The ClearPad 2000 is the screen  used on the Nexus One. It is certainly meant to handle multitouch functions as we see in Google Maps or the gallery – these features work very well. These issues tend to arise in situations where third party developers use much more complex motions within their games. Although it doesn’t seem that there will be an immediate fix to the issue, we can just sit around and hope that HTC will eventually upgrade their choice of screen ClearPad 3000. We’ll bring you more information as Android News develops, only at AndroidTrek.com. [AndroidCentral]

If you’re wondering how fast the connection on your iPhone or Android phone is, then you’re in luck. The FCC has just recently released the Mobile Broadband test, and this app measures your download speed, upload speed, and your latency, as well as telling you the location of the server it was tested with. This application is going to allow the FCC to measure discrepancies between what broadband companies advertise, and their real-world results. When I used this app on my Motorola CLIQ on the T-Mobile Network while sitting in my office, my download speed was 0.78 Mbps, my upload speed was 0.42Mbps, and the latency was 158ms. This is a nifty little app that is fun to tinker with, and helps the FCC to get their results, so look for it in the Android Marketplace, or you can find out more about it by going to Broadband.gov. [Engadget]

We’re all asking the same question… How is mySpace the number one social networking application on Android? It is very strange, but when mySpace announced in cell phone news earlier this week that they had established themselves as the number one social networking application on the Android platform, I had to dig deeper into how exactly this could be true. After all, there are more Facebook users than there are mySpace users (I am not biased – I use both), so how can this be possible? One possibility is the fact that this popularity contest doesn’t count how many times all of the Facebook apps have been downloaded (there are over ten) in comparison to the one and only mySpace app… it only includes one Facebook application. Another possibility is that people aren’t downloading a Facebook application because it is already pre-installed. So although mySpace is  saying that they’re the most popular, this really isn’t the case. [ReadWriteWeb]

It is now official… the Google Nexus One on Verizon will not be sold in any stores, and the phone will only be available through the google site www.google.com/phone. In the graphic we can see Verizon’s Equipment Guide online, and it shows us, right underneath the description, this fact. Of course, this isn’t news to us, it has been the plan of Google the entire time to keep the Nexus One available only through their website. Something interesting in this picture is that it says that the Verizon Wireless version of the Nexus One will have the Sense UI – exciting! Still no word on an exact date that Verizon will receieve the phone, but we’ll keep you posted here at AndroidTrek.com. [AndroidCentral]

If you want to download a quality note-taking program to work on your Android Phone, Evernote is a great App that does much more than just take notes…

Evernote for Android is a free application that allows individuals to create notes, snap photos, and record audio. Users can instantly find any notes that were created on their phone, desktop computer, or the web. In addition, Evernote automatically makes snapshots containing printed or handwritten text searchable — great for business cards, whiteboards and wine labels.

Evernote has joined forces to be with Samsung and many of it’s Android Devices will come with Evernote pre-installed. Evernote CEO, Phil Libin, made the following comment of this development:

“We’re incredibly excited to be working closely with Samsung on their line of Android phones. Android represents Evernote’s fastest growing mobile platform. This partnership helps Evernote reach a huge new audience with our promise of perfect memory for everyone.”

Evernote is definitely one of those useful programs that anyone can look forward to having in their Application Repertoire.  [PressRelease]