Europe Opens Probe of Google’s Android

European regulators opened a second front in their antitrust probe of Google Inc., launching a formal investigation of whether the U.S. Internet company used its position as the maker of Android, the most popular software operating system for smartphones, to favor other Google apps and services.

“Smartphones, tablets and similar devices play an increasing role in many people’s daily lives and I want to make sure the markets in this area can flourish without anticompetitive constraints imposed by any company,” said the European Commission’s antitrust chief, Margrethe Vestager.
The new investigation of Android came as the commission filed formal charges against Google for allegedly abusing its position as the leading search engine by favoring its own Shopping service, after a separate five-year investigation.

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5 Things to Know About the Nexus 4 Android 5.1 Update

Google’s Android 5.1 Lollipop update is missing for a number of Nexus devices though it looks like we can finally take the Nexus 4 Android 5.1 update off of the list. With an OTA in sight, we take a look at what users need to know, right now, about the Nexus 4 Android 5.1 Lollipop update.

In March, Google released an Android 5.1 update for its Nexus smartphones and tablets. The update, the third incremental update for its new Android 5.0 Lollipop operating system, brought feature tweaks and a collection of bug fixes for select Nexus users. Owners of the Nexus 6, Nexus 5, Nexus 7 2012, and Nexus 10 were the first in line though the Android 5.1 update is finally starting to make its way to other devices.

Earlier this month, Google started rolling out Android 5.1 to the cellular version of the Nexus 7 2012, also known as the Nexus 7 3G. Up until today though, the Android 5.1 Lollipop update remained missing for the Nexus 4, Nexus 7 2013, Nexus 7 LTE, and Nexus 9. Today, we can confirm another Android 5.1 roll out, this one for a popular Nexus smartphone called the Nexus 4.

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Google Inc’s Android for Work partners up to crack the enterprise market

As BYOD becomes more entrenched in the enterprise, the Android operating system becomes more of a challenge. Android devices are often the phone or tablet of choice for consumers, and they’re bringing those choices into the office.

Google’s February launch of Android for Work showed businesses that Google was finally taking their needs seriously. “We want to make Android great for the enterprise,” said Rajen Sheth, director of product management, Android and Chrome for Work.

Until now, he acknowledged, there was no way to say “yes” to Android in the enterprise. But Google couldn’t go it alone – it had to look to its partners.

“The strength of Android is the people building on it,” said Mr. Sheth. “Devices don’t matter unless people can do great things with them. Partnerships bring enterprise apps to Android.”

With Android for Work, added Nicholas Barretta, Android sales engineer at Google, the company is making Android a first-class citizen in the enterprise.

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One Android fan’s righteous rant: He owns 6 Android devices and none of them have Lollipop yet

We all know there are good reasons why Android will never be rolled out as efficiently as the way Apple rolls out new versions of iOS. That said, surely the process can be better than it is right now… can’t it?


TechRepublic’s Jack Wallen recently published a righteous rant about the state of upgrading on Android devices that basically boils down to this: It’s been nearly half a year since Google released Android 5.0 Lollipop and none of his six Android devices have received the update.

This isn’t just a problem with one Android fan, either — the latest numbers show that only 3.3% of Android devices worldwide run on Lollipop while 42.6% of active Android devices still run on 2012’s Jelly Bean release. Even the positively ancient Gingerbread release still accounts for more than twice the number of Android devices than Lollipop does.

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Apple iOS 8 v Android 5.1 – which is best?

The phrase “Android vs. iOS” is usually linkbait fodder, quickly dissolving into an argument amongst warring factions who who put way too much emotional investment into their favorite mobile operating system.

There’s a better approach. Both iOS 8 and Android 5.1 are compelling platforms, offering both divergent and similar approaches in design, utility, and function. A nuanced analysis of both operating systems reveal where both Apple and Google are headed.

With mobile devices, smartwatches, connected TVs, and soon extensions to the car, choosing a platform is an important decision. So whether you’re on the fence or just want to find out more about what Apple and Google are up to, here’s our deep dive into.

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11 of the best Android apps from March

With voice calling on WhatsApp, the first sighting of Meerkat on Android and a number of other notable names hitting the virtual shelves, March was a busy month in the the Google Play store.

Here, we’ve got the best new and updated apps from last month in one place for your easy perusal. We’ve split this story over two pages to make it easier for you, but if you’d rather read it all as one, just click here.

Caviar

Square’s food delivery app for people living in certain US cities has been available on iOS for a while now, but it was only last month that it made the jump across to Android.

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ARC Welder Lets Devs (And You) Test Android Apps in Chrome

Strictly speaking, ARC Welder was designed as a developer tool, but as we’ve mentioned before, packaging Android apps for Chrome isn’t the most complicated affair in the world. It also simplifies much of what our previous guide covered. As a bonus, when you download ARC Welder, it will automatically install the app runtime that’s needed to make Android apps work. This process will work on any platform Chrome is on, including Windows, OS X, Linux, and Chrome OS (obviously).

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