Android and Me

Preheat the oven, Google’s mixin’ up a batch of Gingerbread

Clark Wimberly — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:34:22 +0000

With Froyo still frosty and yet to be released comes the announcement of Gingerbread, the next major update to the Google Android platform. Brian Swetland, Android’s Kernel guru, recently blogged to clear up some confusion surrounding the Android Kernel and dropped mention of the new codename:

This week we’re finalizing our move to 2.6.32 for the Android “Froyo” release, and we’ll likely be on .33 or .34 for “Gingerbread”.Brian Swetlandlwn.net

I’m not sure why but the new update names always get me excited. Maybe we should start up a pool where we all take guesses at the future names. H seems like it might be a tricky one…

Droid does updates: Android 2.1 coming to a Droid near you

Sean Riley — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:14:22 +0000

Motorola has announced via their Facebook Wall that beginning later this week the Droid will be receiving the long-awaited Android 2.1 update. All is not lost Cliq and Devour owners, the post goes on to say that “we will have more information to share on other device upgrades later this week as well.”

But before everyone runs to get their party hats and balloons there is a slightly worrisome rumor over on Engadget regarding the contents of the Droid’s forthcoming update. Their tipster indicated that while many of the Android 2.1 updates were present (multitouch enabled browser, news widget, and weather widget), some of the eye candy was lost. The presence or absence of the new Gallery was not mentioned, but notably missing from the update were the 3D icon grid which replaced the existing “drawer” interface and the active wallpapers.

Now while it would probably be understandable if some of the less powerful Android devices presently on the market were unable to fully incorporate all of the 2.1 updates, the Droid was released as the top dog just 3 months ago and yet could find itself by the end of the week unable to run Android’s full operating system. Clearly these graphical touches are not integral parts of the OS, but nonetheless it would seem a bit early for the Droid to be put out to pasture unable to run with the big boys any longer.

Droid owners will find out in just a few short days if they get to enjoy the whole Eclair or if it’s missing its creamy center.

Get a glimpse of a physical HTC Legend

Angie Strickland — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:03:00 +0000

Some renders of the HTC Legend have been floating around for awhile, but now the folks over at Engadget have some actual photos. See for yourself – the device looks about as expected with no new details beside these photos.

The aluminum casing is looking pretty nice, and I know it’s a small detail, but what looks to be the speaker has a nice dot pattern. We’ll keep a lookout for any more sightings.

Two Minute Drill – Flight Director

Clark Wimberly — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 20:00:48 +0000

Taylor gives us the Two Minute Drill on Flight Director, a click and drag plane controlling arcade romp from Camel Games. The game play is pretty simple, planes and helicopters fly onto the screen and it’s up to you to land them. Each aircraft can land in different zones on the map making the action is quick and frantic.

The game features multiple difficulty settings and levels with maps taken from various satellite imagery. Each map and difficulty has a high score table where players can compete for the top score online.

Lego Mindstorms robot controlled by Android

Clark Wimberly — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 19:48:44 +0000

Last year at Google I/O we came into the keynote hall and found Lego blocks in every seat. Lego opened the day with a speech about innovation as it pertained to Lego and independent developers.

It must have struck a cord with someone because today a video surfaced of an Android phone controlling a Lego Mindstorms robot. The controls use the accelerometer and work over wifi. For more information visit the Enea blog or check the video below:

Live wallpaper roundup, testing 12 animated home screens

Clark Wimberly — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:26:12 +0000

One of the biggest surprise hits of the Nexus One seems to be the live wallpapers. Everywhere I go with this thing someone is asking me to show them the live wallpapers. To that end, Taylor and I have rounded up a dozen live wallpapers available in the Market and filmed them all.

Interested in making your own live wallpaper? Romain Guy recently posted some helpful information over on the Android Developers blog.

What are your favorite live wallpapers? Are there any you can’t live without? Some awesome ones we missed? Sound off in the comments.

Droid running SholesMod 2.0.1 on video

Dylan Andersen — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 21:11:35 +0000

The moment the Nexus One update hit, us Droid owners felt partially jealous and partially anxious for our forthcoming update. We can now get multitouch natively in three apps, the Gallery (borrowed from 2.1), the Browser and Maps. Here’s a quick walkthrough of the freshest ROM out of the kitchen of the Sholes.info team with SholesMod 2.0.1. Check the video below:

For more information or to participate, check out Sholes.info.

Warning: Do not try this at home with your Nexus One

Taylor Wimberly — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 01:55:04 +0000

I didn’t want to repost every single video from the story of the Google Nexus One, but I find some of them fascinating. The latest episode in the series gives a behind the scenes look at HTC’s testing process for new phones.

We get to see to see a variety of stress tests that the Nexus One had to endure including:

Button test: simulates lifetime use of trackball
Tumble test: multiple drops probe phone’s structural integrity
Drop test: drops device from multiple angles based on tumble test results
Compression test: simulates interaction stress caused by objects in pocket
Bend test: simulates maximum bend stress phone can withstand

A reader mentioned in some previous comments that these would make for a great TV commercial. Google has generally kept away from television ads in the United States, but a recent Tweet from their CEO indicates a change in strategy.

Can’t wait to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. Be sure to watch the ads in the 3rd quarter (someone said “Hell has indeed frozen over.”)Eric SchmidtCEO of Google

What do you think Google has in store for the big show?

Android-powered Dell Mini 5 approved for AT&T 3G

Taylor Wimberly — Sun, 07 Feb 2010 00:37:30 +0000

Would you buy a phone with a 5 inch screen? Some say bigger is better, but what crosses the line for a mobile display?

Dell is set to push the limit with their new Android-powered Mini 5. Some call it a mobile internet device or a mini tablet, but it appears Dell will refer to it as a phone.

AT&T told us they would launch five Android phones in the first half of the year, including one from Dell. Engadget has spotted the Dell Mini 5 on FCC’s site with support for AT&T 3G.

Michael Dell said the Mini 5 would be launching in the United States in the next couple of months so look for an official announcement soon.

Rumored specs of the Mini 5 include:

5-inch 800×480 touchscreen
1 GHz Snapdragon processor
5 megapixel camera with dual-LED flash and front facing camera
WiFi, Bluetooth, and 3G support
1530mAh battery
Android 1.6

How much would you be willing to drop on this big boy? 500? 600? 700?

Father of Linux is a happy camper with his Nexus One

Taylor Wimberly — Sat, 06 Feb 2010 23:28:17 +0000

Linus Torvalds is a Finnish software engineer best known for starting the development of the Linux kernel. He generally hates phones, but he just blogged that he purchased a Nexus One and is a happy camper so far. He loves the concept of having a phone that runs Linux and thinks the N1 is a winner. Linus admits he was hesitant about purchasing the phone online, but made the jump after reading about the recent pinch-zoom upgrade.

The chief architect of the Linux kernel also addressed the recent removal of Android from the Linux tree as of the 2.6.33 kernel release.

I don’t worry about out-of-tree development for odd devices too much. I wish we could merge Android, but I also accept it likely being a few years away. We had similar out-of-tree issues with the SGI extreme scalability stuff, and it took quite a while before the standard kernel merged all of that.Linus Torvalds

Linus also purchased the G1 when it came out, but he hardly ever used it. He confesses to prefer the N1 because it is thin-and-light. When addressing the lack of a keyboard he said, “I did like having a physical keyboard on the G1, but voice search for the navigation actually seems to work pretty well.”

[Thank you Ian for the tip]

Android and Me

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