Got one of Google's new Android Honeycomb tablets? All signs suggest you'll be seeing a software update soon.
While there's been no formal announcement so far, Verizon briefly posted info about an update for the Motorola Xoom on its website yesterday. The update fact-sheet (archived here) listed a handful of system fixes and improvements, including added proxy support, enhanced support for SSL data transfers, and added Bluetooth support for Google Talk and wireless mouse devices.
Motorola, meanwhile, recently posted a note in its official Xoom software forum saying an update would roll out in waves beginning Thursday night. The link for additional info, however, now points to a document with details about the last software update -- from March -- so it's quite possible the timing has changed.
Finally, Adobe launched a new version of its mobile Flash Player into the Android Market last night. The update includes the following note:
Read more: http://blogs.computerworld.com/18217/android_honeycomb_update?source=rss_blogs
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Adobe unwittingly outs Android 3.1 Honeycomb
We're starting to look back fondly on those days when Android fragmentation meant choosing between Donut, Eclair and Froyo.
Because as Google's OS has grown more popular, its fragmentation problem has turned into a bit of a sweet-toothed orgy, and it looks like we can now add Android 3.1 Honeycomb to the confectionary-based confusion.
News of the latest addition to the Android flavour-fest comes not from Google itself but from Adobe, and at least provides us with a solution to the question of how to get the new Flash 10.2 player running at full potential on Android Honeycomb tablets.
At appears that Android's slate-based OS could be set for a minor 3.1 upgrade not significant enough to warrant a whole new name, but with one notable feature missing from the ordinary Honeycomb v3.0 – support for full hardware accelerated 720p video.
The tip-off comes in the form of the latest spec for version 10.2.157.51 of the Flash Player, although it's worth noting that Adobe has now changed the spec to simple read “requires an upcoming release of Android 3” rather than specifically “requires Android 3.1”. But we suspect the cat may be well out of the bag on this one.
Because as Google's OS has grown more popular, its fragmentation problem has turned into a bit of a sweet-toothed orgy, and it looks like we can now add Android 3.1 Honeycomb to the confectionary-based confusion.
News of the latest addition to the Android flavour-fest comes not from Google itself but from Adobe, and at least provides us with a solution to the question of how to get the new Flash 10.2 player running at full potential on Android Honeycomb tablets.
At appears that Android's slate-based OS could be set for a minor 3.1 upgrade not significant enough to warrant a whole new name, but with one notable feature missing from the ordinary Honeycomb v3.0 – support for full hardware accelerated 720p video.
The tip-off comes in the form of the latest spec for version 10.2.157.51 of the Flash Player, although it's worth noting that Adobe has now changed the spec to simple read “requires an upcoming release of Android 3” rather than specifically “requires Android 3.1”. But we suspect the cat may be well out of the bag on this one.
What happened to Android 2.4 Gingerbread? It's 2.3.3 instead
There's no such thing as Android 2.4 Gingerbread -- yet, says Google. The latest version of Android, which has already appeared on the Google Nexus S and HTC Desire S, is Android 2.3.3. Stick with us as we explain what happened.
The outing of Android 2.4 appears to have been due to manufacturers jumping the gun about the name of Android's next iteration, when announcing their new smart phones and tablets in advance of Mobile World Congress last February.
When HTC, for example, unmasked its new smart phones and tablet -- the Wildfire S, Desire S and Flyer -- it also said they would have the latest version of Android for smart phones, called Android 2.4.
This minor upgrade to Android 2.3 would have the same nickname -- Gingerbread -- and include a handful of bug fixes. ViewSonic also said version 2.4 would include one new feature -- the ability for single-core phones to run apps designed for dual-core processors.
Since then, the Desire S has arrived in our hands -- without 2.4 on board. It turns out the update was officially released by Google with a number that more accurately reflected its incremental status -- version 2.3.3.
So will there ever be an Android 2.4? Google's Andy Rubin let slip that the next version of Android for smart phones will be nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich. Google isn't saying how the numbers fit the name, however.
Version 3.0 is already taken -- it's Honeycomb, the release of the operating system for tablets such as the Motorola Xoom. Google says it's currently working on bringing the smart phone and tablet streams of Android together. But it's not saying what version number that combined OS will have, if that happens -- or if there will be more iterations between now and then.
We think Google should've straightened out the 2.4 naming confusion right off the bat. It's hard enough to sort out the messages from the networks and manufacturers about what Android updates are coming, and when, without having to guess at the latest version. At least we know ice cream is involved.
Are you as sick as we are of Android updates, or is variety the spice of life? Let us know in the comments.
Read more: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/what-happened-to-android-24-gingerbread-its-233-instead-50003452/#ixzz1LAFxYUwy
The outing of Android 2.4 appears to have been due to manufacturers jumping the gun about the name of Android's next iteration, when announcing their new smart phones and tablets in advance of Mobile World Congress last February.
When HTC, for example, unmasked its new smart phones and tablet -- the Wildfire S, Desire S and Flyer -- it also said they would have the latest version of Android for smart phones, called Android 2.4.
This minor upgrade to Android 2.3 would have the same nickname -- Gingerbread -- and include a handful of bug fixes. ViewSonic also said version 2.4 would include one new feature -- the ability for single-core phones to run apps designed for dual-core processors.
Since then, the Desire S has arrived in our hands -- without 2.4 on board. It turns out the update was officially released by Google with a number that more accurately reflected its incremental status -- version 2.3.3.
So will there ever be an Android 2.4? Google's Andy Rubin let slip that the next version of Android for smart phones will be nicknamed Ice Cream Sandwich. Google isn't saying how the numbers fit the name, however.
Version 3.0 is already taken -- it's Honeycomb, the release of the operating system for tablets such as the Motorola Xoom. Google says it's currently working on bringing the smart phone and tablet streams of Android together. But it's not saying what version number that combined OS will have, if that happens -- or if there will be more iterations between now and then.
We think Google should've straightened out the 2.4 naming confusion right off the bat. It's hard enough to sort out the messages from the networks and manufacturers about what Android updates are coming, and when, without having to guess at the latest version. At least we know ice cream is involved.
Are you as sick as we are of Android updates, or is variety the spice of life? Let us know in the comments.
Read more: http://crave.cnet.co.uk/mobiles/what-happened-to-android-24-gingerbread-its-233-instead-50003452/#ixzz1LAFxYUwy
Google's Android now has more free apps than Apple's iPhone
Google's Android Market now offers more free apps for download (134,342 apps), than Apple's App Store for iPhone (121,845 apps). This is great news for Android consumers, although Android developers probably aren't too thrilled. Furthermore, the number of paid apps on the Android Market is about one third of the total number of paid apps available in the Apple App Store for iPhone, according to app store analytics provider Distimo.
The analytics firm predicts that in five months, the Android Market will be the largest store in terms of number of apps, followed by the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Windows Phone Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, and Nokia Ovi Store, assuming all the app stores maintain their current growth rate. Interestingly, Windows Phone Marketplace will pass Nokia Ovi Store and BlackBerry App World before it even celebrates its first birthday – that is quite an achievement given the saturation of the app market.
The analytics firm predicts that in five months, the Android Market will be the largest store in terms of number of apps, followed by the Apple App Store for iPhone and iPad, Windows Phone Marketplace, BlackBerry App World, and Nokia Ovi Store, assuming all the app stores maintain their current growth rate. Interestingly, Windows Phone Marketplace will pass Nokia Ovi Store and BlackBerry App World before it even celebrates its first birthday – that is quite an achievement given the saturation of the app market.
Motorola: Future Atrix devices as 'Android alternative'
Future versions of Motorola's Atrix smartphone-laptop combo will be rolled out as Android "alternatives" to tablets and other newfangled devices, Motorola's chief executive said this week.
The phone maker's first crack at the Atrix smartphone-laptop convergence wasn't perfect. CNET Reviews said the lack of Google's Chrome operating system hurts (Atrix uses a FireFox-centric "Webtop" operating environment). And performance in the laptop configuration (i.e., the 'lap-dock") is sluggish.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20058739-64.html#ixzz1LAFJnY1W
The phone maker's first crack at the Atrix smartphone-laptop convergence wasn't perfect. CNET Reviews said the lack of Google's Chrome operating system hurts (Atrix uses a FireFox-centric "Webtop" operating environment). And performance in the laptop configuration (i.e., the 'lap-dock") is sluggish.
Read more: http://news.cnet.com/8301-13924_3-20058739-64.html#ixzz1LAFJnY1W
Virtual Dogfighting App is Back on Android Market
They may only be virtual dogs engaged in virtual fights to the death -- but somehow even virtual dogfighting seems really creepy and wrong. Last week. a new app available for the Google Android, called Dog Wars, created quite a bit of controversy for its realistic depiction of dogfighting, spurring animal rights advocates to urge Google to drop the app. And they did -- but not for the reason you might think; the game was "removed based on a trademark infringement complaint." Well, the game's makers seems to have sorted out that issue: dogfighting is back on the Android market, just under a different name.
When animal rights advocates caught wind of a new app available on the Android market called "Dog Wars" it seemed inevitable that it would be taken down rather swiftly -- after all, the game has been described as a way to learn "how to breed, train, fight, medicate and kill virtual dog." Even Michael Vick, a former dogfighter himself, offered a statement to condemn the game which he says attempts to "glorify this form of animal cruelty."
Sure enough, Google pulled the game citing copyright issues. Just a few days later, however, the game was made available once again on the Android market, but this time under the name 'KG Dogfighting'.
The game's creators, Kage Games LLC, told the Los Angeles Times in an email that the app is intended to be some sort of education tool -- not just a grisly way to pass the time on your smartphone.
When animal rights advocates caught wind of a new app available on the Android market called "Dog Wars" it seemed inevitable that it would be taken down rather swiftly -- after all, the game has been described as a way to learn "how to breed, train, fight, medicate and kill virtual dog." Even Michael Vick, a former dogfighter himself, offered a statement to condemn the game which he says attempts to "glorify this form of animal cruelty."
Sure enough, Google pulled the game citing copyright issues. Just a few days later, however, the game was made available once again on the Android market, but this time under the name 'KG Dogfighting'.
The game's creators, Kage Games LLC, told the Los Angeles Times in an email that the app is intended to be some sort of education tool -- not just a grisly way to pass the time on your smartphone.
Smartphone users try to preserve privacy in the digital age
Privacy — in the good old days, it meant you didn't have to let soldiers freeload in your own house. In 2011, it means that you take Apple to court for tracking your location without your consent via your smartphone.
Following the revelation that the iPhone was tracking users' locations, Android users discovered last week that their phones were tracking their locations as well. Android users brought a lawsuit against Google, after a group of iPhone users had done the same. A little over a week ago, iPhone users found a location-tracking application in an unencrypted file in the backup directory of the iPhone 4. The data tracked the iPhone's location using imprecise longitudes and latitudes. This discovery provoked a firestorm of debate with netizens as well as international lawsuits over privacy violations.
In an attempt to clear up the controversy, Apple released a Q&A about the location-tracking device stating that it was not, in fact, collecting users' location data, but rather crowd-sourcing Wi-Fi hotspots. The fact that the phone has been shown to collect over a year's data is a bug in the system that will be fixed in later updates, the company said.
Many iPhone owners in the NYU community seem satisfied with this explanation.
"I really don't think it matters," CAS junior Vivian Xia said. "If they are just using it to help users get better Wi-Fi, that's fine."
Meanwhile, Aneline Amalathas, who currently owns a iPhone 3, said that it is suspicious that Apple should react so drastically to complaints from irate customers.
"I think it's a little fishy that they would decide to roll out an update just because something like this was discovered," she said. "I mean, what do you need a year's data for? And isn't that a pretty big bug in the system if you really don't need that much data? I personally don't think that I'm worth paying attention to in the grand scheme of things."
Stern IT Professor Aninyda Ghose, meanwhile, said that debates about violations of privacy are irrelevant in the digital age.
"My own personal opinion is that we have near zero privacy anyway in today's world," he said. "Just be aware of this, and move on. In other words, to me, online privacy is just a seven-letter word."
Following the revelation that the iPhone was tracking users' locations, Android users discovered last week that their phones were tracking their locations as well. Android users brought a lawsuit against Google, after a group of iPhone users had done the same. A little over a week ago, iPhone users found a location-tracking application in an unencrypted file in the backup directory of the iPhone 4. The data tracked the iPhone's location using imprecise longitudes and latitudes. This discovery provoked a firestorm of debate with netizens as well as international lawsuits over privacy violations.
In an attempt to clear up the controversy, Apple released a Q&A about the location-tracking device stating that it was not, in fact, collecting users' location data, but rather crowd-sourcing Wi-Fi hotspots. The fact that the phone has been shown to collect over a year's data is a bug in the system that will be fixed in later updates, the company said.
Many iPhone owners in the NYU community seem satisfied with this explanation.
"I really don't think it matters," CAS junior Vivian Xia said. "If they are just using it to help users get better Wi-Fi, that's fine."
Meanwhile, Aneline Amalathas, who currently owns a iPhone 3, said that it is suspicious that Apple should react so drastically to complaints from irate customers.
"I think it's a little fishy that they would decide to roll out an update just because something like this was discovered," she said. "I mean, what do you need a year's data for? And isn't that a pretty big bug in the system if you really don't need that much data? I personally don't think that I'm worth paying attention to in the grand scheme of things."
Stern IT Professor Aninyda Ghose, meanwhile, said that debates about violations of privacy are irrelevant in the digital age.
"My own personal opinion is that we have near zero privacy anyway in today's world," he said. "Just be aware of this, and move on. In other words, to me, online privacy is just a seven-letter word."
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