EA Mobile Will Wait to Release Games on Android

August 30th, 2008 Admin No Comments »

EA Mobile, a division of EA Games, states:

“EA will support the Android platform, as any platform that can deliver a robust game experience is good for introducing new consumers to mobile games,” they say. “EA Mobile has elected to wait for the launch of a content billing solution to bring their premier IP to market.”

This obviously doesn’t come to a surprise to us, since EA is big business and we all know big business loves money. The more interesting thing to note is that this might affect other developers who would also loved to get paid for their efforts, something that Android currently doesn’t support.

So will we see a lack of earth-moving apps because the current system only supports free apps? Are us early adopters going to have to wait until Google figures out how to monetize Android Market?

Hopefully not but probably so.

Source: androidcentral.com

Samsung and LG to release Android phones in Q3 2009

August 25th, 2008 Admin No Comments »

Well it looks like everyone is eventually going to join the Android Party. Samsung and LG are expected to take a wait and see approach with Android and will probably come out with Android Devices in the second half of 2009 “at the earliest”.

Though we at AndroidCentral would absolutely love a Samsung Instinct or LG Dare to run Android, it’s a safe move on Samsung and LG’s part, waiting almost a year to see how Android shapes up and let HTC and T-Mobile take the first hit on bugs, problems, and the like.

We can see more and more phone makers announce future Android plans but they’ll likely keep a close eye on the T-Mobile G1. As for the T-Mobile G1, it’ll likely succeed considering it’s going to be the only Android device on the market.

source: unwiredview.com and androidcentral.com

VISA to Offer Applications For Android

August 20th, 2008 Admin No Comments »

VISA has announced that they are going to offer an application in Android that will deliver notifications about Chase Visa Customers and Android Users. The plan is to give account activity updates, transfer money, show merchant offers, and also a unique location-based service that will allow Android Users to see where the merchants are offering specials.

If it succeeds, Visa will extend this type of relationship with other banks. Hey, pretty soon all we would have to carry is just an Android Device right?

Motorola Building 350-Person Android Team

August 10th, 2008 Admin No Comments »

Having not been able to capitalize on the success of the original RAZR (has it been 4 years already?), Motorla is obviously in need of some shaking up. With sales declining and fewer and fewer capable models left in the pipeline, it should come to no surprise that Motorola is betting on the Android (after all, they are a member of the Open Handset Alliance). What is a surprise is how big they are betting.

TechCrunch is reporting that they have 50 people already on the Android Team and are planning to expand the Android division to 350 people strong. Obviously, Motorola needs to plan for the future and with Android looking like the next biggest thing, it isn’t surprising that Motorola is hinging their success with Android. Motorola is already heavily involved in the Windows Mobile Game, so making a phone for Android (with no licensing costs) is a no brainer.

After all, Motorola still makes pretty phones..it’s just that shoddy software that has disinterested folks.

Source: androidcentral.com

Google Publishes New Android Roadmap

August 1st, 2008 Admin No Comments »

For months, Google stayed mum on all things Android. Developers were beginning to wonder how ‘open’ Android was really going to be and with no updates to the Android SDK how could we blame them? Luckily, Google became aware of the situation and published an Android roadmap that detailed the plan that will lead to launch of 1.0.

android-beta

The Current Android Timeline:

* 12 November, 2007 – “Early Look” SDK released
* January to August, 2008 – Android Developer Challenge I
* 18 August, 2008 – Android 0.9 SDK beta released
* September 2008 – additional Android 1.0 (pre) SDK releases made available, as necessary
* Q3 – Q4 2008 – Android 1.0 SDK release 1 available (first actual 1.0-compatible SDK)
* Q4 2008 – Android 1.0 devices available at retail
* Q4 2008 – Source code released
* Q4 2008 – Key Announcement on Android Developer Challenge II

Installing Eclipse with Android plugin

July 14th, 2008 Admin 1 Comment »

To start developing Android Applications, you need to download the SDK (Software Development Kit). At the moment, the best IDE (Integrated Development Environment) for Android is Eclipse. Below is a step-by-step installation guide to get you ready to start developing.

  1. Download the newest Android SDK from the Google Android Page.
  2. Download Eclipse Classic Ganymede from the Eclipse website. (To run Eclipse, you also need to have the Java Runtime Environment (JRE) installed)
  3. After downloading the SDK unpack the archive to a folder on your computer.
  4. Do the same for Eclipse
  5. To install the ADT (Android Development Tools) plugin for Eclipse, startup Eclipse and select Help > Software Updates….
  6. In the dialog that appears, click the Available Software tab.
  7. Click Add Site…
  8. Enter https://dl-ssl.google.com/android/eclipse/ (if you are getting an error about the site not responding, change https into http.
  9. Back in the Available Software view, you should see the plugin. Select the checkbox next to Developer Tools and click Install…
  10. On the subsequent Install window, “Android Developer Tools”, and “Android Editors” should both be checked. The Android Editors feature is optional, but recommended. If you choose to install it, you need the WST plugin mentioned earlier in this page.
    Click     Finish.
  11. Restart Eclipse
  12. After restart: Select Window > Preferences… to open the Preferences panel.
  13. Select Android from the left panel.
  14. For the SDK Location in the main panel, click Browse… and locate the SDK directory.
  15. Click Apply, then OK.

Google denies report of Android phone delay

June 22nd, 2008 Admin No Comments »

Google denied that phones using its Android software have been delayed to 2009. The Street reported the delay, citing an unnamed source. But Google denied the report.

“We’re still on track to announce Android-powered phones this year. Some of our partners are publicly stating that they plan to ship Android phones in the fourth quarter,” Google said in a statement.

That’s little surprising, given that Android leader Andy Rubin said that phones using the soon-to-be-mostly-open-source software will be “available in the second half of this year”  at the Google I/O conference.

T-Mobile plans to ship an Android phone later in 2008, Chief Executive Hamid Akhavan said in February. T-Mobile confirmed  that its Android-based phone is still on track to arrive in the fourth quarter.

One source of possible Android confusion could be that although Google and various partners are collectively writing the Android software, Google isn’t the only one supporting it.

Android software overseen by Google will appear in the first Android phones, but Android software overseen by partner Wind River Systems will appear in later models expected in the first quarter of 2009, said John Bruggeman, chief marketing officer of Linux seller and Android partner Wind River.

“They (Google) did the first phone. They carefully handheld it all the way through,” Bruggeman said. “We’ve got the rest.”

Wind River supports Linux in embedded computing devices but will support the full Android software “stack,” which extends to higher-level software as well.

“When Android is open-sourced, we will support the entire stack,” Bruggeman said. “We’ve ramped up our infrastructure. We are resourced to be able to support Android and not just Linux–the messaging and telephony and e-mail and browsing.”

Android Running On Nokia N95 Video

June 9th, 2008 Admin No Comments »

Following on from the recent Android installation on the Nokia 810 Internet Tablet comes this demonstration of a similar port to the Nokia N95.

Other than this somewhat grainy YouTube video little is known about this latest Android port, although judging from the footage it does seem to be gathering data from Google Maps although it is questionable whether the call dialer actually makes a connection. Judge for yourself below.

If you’ve managed to get Android up and running on a similar device, drop us a line and let us know!

4 Android Applications That Will Make Your Friends More Annoying

June 1st, 2008 Admin No Comments »

Here is 4 of the best/scariest mobile social networking applications currently in development for the Android platform.

NavXS

Navigation Exchange Service (NavXC) enables you to build a network of online contacts who’s positions are continuously tracked and exchanged between each client. This allows the user to track the movements and whereabouts of their contacts at all times – in real time and in relation to their own movements.

Other options include the ability to define ‘Locations’ and share them with other users on your contacts list. These shared locations can be used for example to ‘Map Bookmark’ a new bar you’ve just found enabling you to both share this new discovery with others and also to keep a note of its location for the future.

Nanvxs

Nanvxs

Read more on: navxs.com Read the rest of this entry »

Google Announce AndroidGlobalTime

May 21st, 2008 Admin No Comments »

Over on the official Android blog, Google have announced a new open source application that will be part of their apps-for-android project.

AndroidGlobalTime, developed by a Google engineer is a simple 3D world clock. The application serves as a solid illustrative example of how to properly use the OpenGL API’s in Android apps.

Apps for Android is basically a sample collection of open source applications, that will allow them to demonstrate the many aspects and possibilities of the Android platform.

The first of these apps to be announced was Wikinotes.

« Older Entries
Newer Entries »
RSS FeedSubscribe to our RSS feed!