Archive for June, 2010

Details about the up-and-coming version of Android have been released. Android 3.0, nicknamed Gingerbread, has been revealed by a developer at Google. Not only will Android 3.0 set the bar even higher than it currently is, but it will also have minimum hardware requirements.

Android 3.0 Gingerbread will be compatible only with handsets equipped with at least a 1 GHz Processor, 512 MB RAM, and a display of at least 3.5″. The OS will support a 1280 x 760 resolution is displays of 4-inches and above. This looks to be Google’s way of evening out the user-experience of Android users across the band, and perhaps even better the video and gaming on their OS as well.

Google has recently acquired Palms former webOS interface designer, so we can expect a new experience as well as a new interface with Android 3.0 Gingerbread. Although none of this information has been confirmed by Google itself, Google did state at it’s I/O Conference this year that exciting things were in store for Android. Gingerbread will likely be the last major update for Android in the next 6 to 9 months, as Google is planning on slowing down releases to just 1 major release per year. [informationweek]

If you’re on the T-Mobile network, and growing increasingly envious of your AT&T friends who will have access to the Captivate – AT&T’s rendition of the Galaxy S – fret not. T-Mobile will be receiving a Galaxy S based device as well, and it will be called the Samsung Vibrant. The Vibrant is a Android 2.1 device which will feature a 4-inch WVGA Super AMOLED display, a 5-Megapixel camera with the ability to shoot 720p HD video, as well as a zippy 1 GHz Samsung Hummingbird Processor.

The Samsung Vibrant is a HSPA capable 3G device which will be shipping with a 2 GB microSD card. The device will be available on the T-Mobile network for $199.99 with a 2-year contract starting on July 21st, 2010. [mobileburn]

Unexpected by most, at least not on the radar – Cisco has unveiled the Cius, an Android-powered tablet that they are planning on releasing next year. They are joining in with the tablet racers right now – being both Apple, with the iPad, and Asus with their Eee Pad. The Cisco Cius will come aptly equipped with a 7-inch high-res touchscreen display, and Android with business-aimed applications selectively placed on the device will be featured as well.

With Cisco Telepresence, 720p HD Video has been enabled in order to achieve lifelike communication. A 5-Megapixel rear-facing camera has also been included onboard the Cius. Also supported with this device are Wi-Fi a/b/g/n, 3G, 4G, Bluetooth 3.0, and USB Peripheral compatibility. The Cisco Cius will be available in the first quarter of 2011. [techtree]

If you’re an owner of an Android smartphone, and you’ve been waiting for Amazon to release a Kindle Application for your device, then rest assured that you can finally stop waiting and start reading! The new application features the WhisperSync technology which allows the syncing of books and bookmarks across devices so you never have to worry about repaying for a book that you already downloaded, or losing your bookmarks as you change devices. Just like other Kindle Apps, the Android version allows users to search over 620,000 ebooks, the majority of which are priced at $9.99 or less. Sample chapters even allows curious readers to try a book before they buy it, just as you would a real book in a bookstore.

It is said that future updates on the Kindle App for Android will include additional features. Plans out currently allow users to purchase books directly from the application as well as provide full text searches within each book. The Settings for the app enable users to change background color, font color, and font size to allow maximum comfort and minimal eye-strain. You can download the Amazon Kindle app for Android on the Android Market. [pcmag]

Recently announced Samsung SCH-r880 Acclaim is powered with a reliable and stable Android 2.1 operating system. As always, developers promise us a fast and painless update to Froyo but none knows if it is “the unquestionable truth” or something less promising. Anyway, among Samsung SCH-r880 Acclaim’s features we can point out its vertically oriented slide-out QWERTY keyboard with the accented numeric keys, 3.2-inch touch-screen with good characteristics of brightness and so on, 3.0 megapixel camera with a LED flash, microSD card slot that can support up to 32GB formats and already attached 4GB microSD card (as a gift), Wi-Fi connectivity, Bluetooth connectivity, corporate and personal email support, such Google services as Google Maps, Google Talk, Gmail and so on. U.S. Cellular should offer this device at the end of summer season for $99.95 after a mail in rebate on a 2-year contract bases. Also, in case of purchasing Acclaim you’ll receive a $20 Android Market gift card for applications and that is just great considering the fact that without applications any device is not worth the money spent on him.

What you see here is a combination of a tablet, multimedia center, regular phone and something else that I do not remember its name. Cisco Cius is an Android powered device for wide usage. If I am not mistaken, you’ll be ale to use it as a regular tablet but also it supports a function of video calling and can be attached to a specially designed wire phone somehow. Among its features we can point out a 7-inch touch-screen display with a super VGA resolution, a front-mounted 720p HD video camera that shows video at 30 frames per second, Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n connectivity, 3G networks support and so on. As I’ve mentioned before, Cisco Cius can be attached to the special device. This device is known as “HD audio station with a phone handset for video phone calls.” Also, Cisco developers promise to provide their tablet with 4G network support. By the way, on its battery Cisco Cius is believed to “stay alive” for up to 8 hours and that is pretty awesome. At the end of summer you will be able to enjoy all the beauties of this gadget.

I was very surprised about the name that this phone received from its creators. The only thing that makes him related to the term “interception” is its ability to intercept people’s time (in a good sense, of course). First of all, we should say a few words about its features: 3.2-inch touch-screen, 3.2 megapixel camera and a very comfortable horizontal slide-out QWERTY keyboard. Samsung Intercept is powered with the Android 2.1 operating system but, unfortunately, we know nothing about the possible upcoming update because developers keep silence like mice. Samsung Intercept will be available in Target markets carried by Virgin Mobile with the price tag of $249.99. Also, if you are a bit lazy and have no intentions to visit your Target just around the corner, than do not forget to check Virgin Mobile’s website for online purchase. I have to admit that when I got my first QWERTY device, I was a bit displeased with the keyboard. But it appears to be very useful and comfortable if you are an active messenger and prefer Sending SMS-messages instead of calling.

So Adobe has FINALLY launched Flash 10.1 for Android after so much speculation had surrounded the topic for months. All Andid users who are running 2.2 Froyo will be able to download Flash 10.1 from the Android Market. Unfortunately, for everybody else, you’re going to have to wait, although Adobe has stated that they will be expecting more to come for other Android headsets, including Flash player 10.1 even for decidedly lower-grade Android headsets.

In Adobe’s announcement, they mentioned Palm’s WebOS, Symbian, MeeGo, BlackBerry, LiMo, an even a Windows Mobile phone. This is an exciting break in cellphone technology, as many mobile users such as you and I have waited long enough to have the ability to use Flash – watch flash videos, play interactive games, and use flash applications to help us throgh  everyday and business tasks. I’d give Flash a definite 2 thumbs up, and I’m confident that you enjoy this new technology everyday after you receive the update. We’ll keep you up to daye with all of the latest and greatest cell phone news here at AndroidTrek.com. [theregister]

In case you aren’t familiar with the Interface, MotoBlur is Motorola’s custom Android UI which helps to integrate your social networks with your contacts’ information. It does, indeed, have some good features, such as adding the numbers of all my facebook friends to my address book on my phone. The problem that I see, and what thousands of other ‘Blur users see, is that when a new version of Android is released, it is never released for our phones. You would expect that after 8 months of the device being on the market, the Motorola CLIQ would have at least upgraded to a slightly improved version of Android.

This however, is not the case. The Motorola CLIQ is still stuck with Android 1.5. This brings me to my main point – why is Motorola integrating ANY version of MotoBlur on the Droid X? They’re advertising the heck out of this phone, and everyone is anticipating it to be a leader in the pack of top-rated devices. Why would Motorola risk having such a great phone being stuck in the current, albeit new, version of Android, for the rest of it’s existence. The Droid X is supposedly going to feature a ‘revamped’ version of MotoBlur – something that I find irrelevant regarding whether or not it will be updated more often than the current version – which has NEVER been updated. I just hope that eventually the MotoBlur programmers figure out a way to quickly update the UI in order to allow the newest version of Android to be used on the Droid X, and other Blur devices. I suppose we’ll just have to wait and see how this all works out when Android Gingerbread is released.

With the recent release of IBM’s flagship enterprise collaboration software for devices running Android OS, the company has made a statement saying that it sees Android smart phones as being suitable business tools. A beta release of Lotus Notes Traveler, released by Big Blue for Android, was built specifically for the Google Nexus One and Motorola Droid, according to IBM’s John Beck. The free software can be downloaded by Lotus Notes users, who are able to sync Lotus Domino mail, calendar, and contacts and view data on devices running Android 2.0+.

IBM has said that with 100,000 Android-based devices now being sold weekly, the company has been receiving an overwhelming amount of requests for suitable business software to run on Android. It is obvious that IBM’s plan is to expand further into the mobile computing industry when you consider that Lotus Notes Traveler is also available on Nokia Symbian, Windows Mobile, and the Apple iPhone and iPad. IBM has stated that they have no intentions to entering the smartphone market, but instead will continue to develop business oriented software for all devices so people can realize the convenience of using it on their smartphones. [theInquirer]