Asad's Blog: Android

Showing posts with label Android. Show all posts

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Richard Stallman: Chrome OS is "careless computing"

Richard Stallman, one of the computer industry's most outspoken defenders of open software, doesn't like Chrome OS.

Stallman, founder of the Free Software Foundation, continued to speak out against the notion of cloud computing today, telling The Guardian that the notion of Chrome OS' cloud model might better be described as "careless computing" than as cloud computing. Chrome OS is loosely based on a project near and dear to Stallman's heart--GNU/Linux--but "it is delivered without the usual applications, and rigged up to impede and discourage installing applications," he said.

That's developer Google's point: it believes that a Netbook that can't install external applications will be inherently more secure than one that could install malware, and that a system without a lot of preinstalled applications will boot much faster. The consumer launch of Chrome OS Netbooks has been delayed about six months past its original launch target, but CR-48 test units are percolating out to reviewers.

Stallman is particularly concerned about the loss of control of one's data with such a computing model, citing the example of a government official being able to confiscate your data without having to actually show a warrant at your front door. He's been sounding this alarm for several years, though there's disagreement as to just how seriously his warnings should be heeded.

He's not the only one voicing concerns about Chrome OS today: Paul Buchheit, the former Google engineer who created Gmail, predicted on Twitter that the project will get killed or merge with Google's other operating system, Android, at some point over the course of next year. No less of an authority than Google co-founder Sergey Brin has suggested that such a combination could be in store for Android and Chrome OS, though Google's tendency to set up competitive projects, such as Buzz and Wave, appears to have been the strategy behind the two operating-system projects.

Source: CNET

Friday, November 5, 2010

Google Instant goes mobile

Google Instant, unveiled for the desktop in September, is now ready for iPhone and Android users

Google Instant has made its way to the mobile phone--at least two of them.

Google searchers in the U.S. using the iPhone and Android phones will start seeing Google Instant show up on their devices over the course of today, Google said in a blog post. It's a beta release, meaning Google doesn't want you to get mad at them if it doesn't work exactly right, and unlike the desktop version, you have to turn it on in order to see results as you type. It only works at Google.com in your mobile browser, but not in any of the other search boxes.

This is theoretically a boon to mobile searches, because typing on a mobile device is far more annoying than typing on a full-size keyboard. However, as TechCrunch notes, the limited screen real estate on a mobile device may make the service less useful. The keypad on several touch-screen mobile phones takes up nearly half the screen on its own, and the drop-down box that produces suggested Google Instant results further reduces the page available for the search results page itself.

You'll need to be running iOS 4.0 or Android 2.2 in order for this to work, Google said.

Firefox gets a new look on the Android

We have to hand it to Mozilla; their mobile team has recently been hauling out tweaks and updates to its mobile Firefox browser for Android and (two) Nokia Maemo devices.

Mozilla unveiled the hotly-anticipated Firefox for Android app(called Firefox 4 beta) early last month. It was a good first effort, but we balked at the beta software's huge installer, slower performance, and scrolling inefficiencies. We weren't the only ones, and Mozilla has gone to lengths to redesign its app in this second attempt.

Android-like interface
Although we'll get around to the backend changes, what really stands out is the app's visual overhaul on its default start screen. The design has remained static for so long, since its early days as the Fennec alpha for Nokia's Maemo platform in fact, that we can't help but blink.

The app, as viewed on a Droid Incredible Android phone, still retains the "Awesomebar" up top, but now opens with an all-new start page that carries a similar look and feel as other Firefox pages online. There's space to show previously-visited tabs, promoted add-ons, and tabs from your other computers, assuming you use Firefox Sync. The start screen will henceforth be your first browser tab by default, though you can change this in the settings.

You'll also notice that pages are now organized differently to provide combined or separate access to your bookmarks, browsing history, and synced computer tabs. Mozilla has also added favicons, small icons that can help you visually identify a URL by a thumbnail representation of its site logo. The multiple search engines (like Google, Wikipedia, Amazon, and Twitter) have moved from the bottom of the interface into the search bar; you'll be able to switch among them after you start typing a query.

In addition to all we've mentioned above, the Firefox mobile team has polished up design to make it better fit in to the Android look and feel. That means reshaped toolbar buttons, bubbly popups, and reworked context menus.

The new mobile Firefox has an Android-like feel.

(Credit: Mozilla)

New features
A few new features also find their way to the new Firefox for Android (and Maemo as well.) One is being able to resurrect an accidentally closed tab. Swiping left into the tab management gutter in Firefox Mobile will show you a thumbnail of the closed tab overlain with an "undo" button--you can tap that to revitalize the tab.

In addition, holding a link or Web page (a long press) will open the context menu, which now lets you share the content using the usual avenues of e-mail, Facebook, text, Twitter, and so on.

Smaller installer
The front-end additions and enhancements are always welcome, but a pokey Firefox won't make it in the real world. To that end, Firefox 4 beta 2 for mobile has a notably smaller installation size. Mozilla was able to reduce the APK file from roughly 43MB to 17MB, making it 60 percent of its former self. Android users will need to uninstall any previous versions and then reinstall, Mozilla cautions. It took us about eight minutes to download over Verizon's 3G network on our Droid Incredible prior to a speedy installation.

Mozilla has also done backend work to make Firefox Mobile load pages faster; Mozilla claims it's close to 25 percent faster on the SunSpider Javascript benchmark than the default Android 2.2 browser. The team also did work on pinch-and-zoom and rendering text.

Favicons and content-filtering come to Firefox Mobile.

Still needs work
Pet peeves usually take a few days of heavy use to develop, but there are a few we're noticing right away. We found text- and image-rendering still choppy, especially on CNET's optimized mobile site. Mozilla also also needs to address Firefox Sync on mobile. Signing in through the Settings menu is intuitive enough so long as you remember the security key you used when registering Firefox Sync on your desktop. Recovering that information isn't an option from this Firefox beta version.

You can download Firefox 4 beta 2 for Android or Nokia/Maemo; but keep two things in mind. First, as beta software, you're almost guaranteed to run into some sort of instability or unpolished feature. Second, Android users should keep in mind that it only runs on Android 2.0 or later. If you do try it, let us know in the comments what you like or don't like.

What Your Phone Says About You

Sometimes guys like to get in stupid fights about phones. It is essentially the song that never ends, with Mike Arrington and Jason Kincaid erring on the side of Android and MG well, sigh.

Here’s Arrington’s take on one such fight that happened today:

“Earlier this evening in the office Jason Kincaid and I, both Android users, asked MG yet again why he won’t admit the iPhone flaws. He said ‘As soon as there’s a better phone, I’ll buy that one instead.’ I pointed out that the iPhone doesn't actually make calls with any reliability, and he said, seriously ‘It doesn't need to. I use the phone mostly for apps and browsing, not calls.’
My response – if it actually made calls, perhaps that wouldn't be true. He then threw something at me and stormed out of the office. True story.”

While I’m sure it exists, I've never seen a girl get in a pissing match over a phone. But apparently our phone choices have become a huge part of our identity no matter what our gender, hence the above comic.

And while I would not throw down for my iPhone 4, I have to say that the comic is pretty accurate, especially the dinosaur part.

Friday, October 29, 2010

Android takes on the iPad with Samsung Galaxy Tab

Finally we have a challenge for the Apple's "magical" iPad, guess what it is: Google's Android, duh! Its the Samsung Galaxy Tab, which runs Android 2.0, have a 7-inch TFT LCD with 1024x600 resolution, 1GHz Cortex A8 processor,16-32 gigs of internal storage with microSD expansion for up to 32GB additional storage, front-facing 1.3mp camera and rear 3mp camera with flash, a 4000mAh batter, 3G, WiFi and Bluetooth for phone calls. There's a 30-pin dock connector on the bottom that allows for HDMI, USB, and dockingaccessories (a car dock at least is planned). The standard back colour is white but carriers might offer various colours, and yeah it weighs 380 grams. Gyroscope sensor, geo-magnetic sensor, accelerometer and light sensor are also included. The RAM is only 512MB though.

Lots of question marks. The tablet will be out in Europe first, possibly with Italy as the first to nab it, and the US will come later down the line. Also, while the version we played with is obviously GSM, we don't have any confirmation on a CDMA version, or which carriers might be scoring the device on either side of the pond. We're also completely in the dark on price.

There's hardly a surprise to be had when it comes to the hardware. It's good looking (though a tad on the "safe" side), solidly built (none of the seeming fragility of the Galaxy S here), lightweight (but not Kindle light), and glossy to the max (your iPad would be proud). The screen is great, though Samsung has managed to make this LCD look just as oversaturated as its AMOLEDs, and we're particularly enthused at the relative pixel density the screen gains over its iPad competition and the multitude of WVGA 7-inch Android tablets out there. Capacitive touch response is just as excellent as the iPad's, and the processor doesn't seem to have much trouble keeping up with the UI. There is a feeling of relative chubbiness due to the screen to thickness ratio, despite the fact that the Tab is just as thin or perhaps thinner than the iPad -- we suppose the new Kindle has terminally spoiled us on this front. Still, it's a device that's much better suited to supporting with a single hand than the iPad, and seems to squarely best that competitor when it comes to all things e-reading.

By all accounts Android isn't really "ready" for tablets. It's still a phone OS being asked to do a big screen job, but while we could see room for improvement, we'd say Samsung has shored up enough of Android's deficiencies with its own custom skin and apps to make the OS thoroughly palatable in this form factor. TouchWiz 3.0 still does have a bit of a "iPhone for kids" flavor to it, but props to Samsung for the depth and consistency of its UI layer.

What's more impressive are the apps Samsung built specifically to take advantage of the screen size and resolution, including a very attractive calendar app, an email app that has a dual pane view in landscape (of a style that seems unapologetically borrowed from the iPad), a similar messaging app, a Media Hub music store and player (not aimed at the US, most likely), an e-reading launcher app (that points to PressDisplay for newspapers, Kobo for e-books, and Zinio for magazines), and more. A custom dialer app includes fancy contact browsing and a video call button right up front. Samsung supports the UMTS video calling standard, but since that's not a thing in the US, we'll have to look to third party providers such as Qik to get our video calling on.

On the third party front, Samsung says that apps which were developed within Google's UI guidelines should scale up correctly, but others might need to be reworked. We'll have to see for ourselves how well Joe the Plumber's apps handle the new resolution, but we don't have much reason to fear it so far -- the few apps we saw that looked to be scaled up instead of 1024 x 600-specific looked and worked just fine.

We'll have to see if a non-Apple company can convince consumers to buy something once viewed so frivolous as a tablet, and the true usefulness of Android in this form factor will require more time with the Tab to really discern. A lot rests on the shoulders of developers, as usual, to make or break this quasi-new platform, but for Samsung's part we think the company has set the gold standard for Android tablets, and might have just enough differentiation, quality, and moxy to set its 7-inch contender up against Apple's 9.7-inch juggernaut.

The Tab versus the Pad

Now for the big question: iPad or Galaxy Tab? The short answer, in our opinion, is iPad. It's offered at a better range of pricing options--none of which requires any form of carrier contract. Apple's catalog of apps optimized for tablet-size screens number in the thousands, whereas the Tab has just a handful--and they're not terribly exciting. If you feel that a tablet computer should be more than just a supersize smartphone, the iPad is still the best game in town.

In fairness, what we enjoy most about the Galaxy Tab is that it's not trying to exactly copy the iPad's blueprint for success. Sure, Samsung's notepad, calendar, and photo apps look like pixel-for-pixel reproductions of the iPad's, but let's not overlook the fact that the Tab is half the size of the iPad. It's a different type of product that presents a different use case, one geared more for portability. That said, the Android smartphone market seems to cover a lot of this territory already.

The Tab is also reaching out to all of the people who winced at the iPad's lack of Adobe Flash support, video camera, memory expansion, and drag-and-drop file support. If these are the features that have been holding you back from purchasing a tablet, then the Tab should be a perfect match.

Samsung's 7-inch Android tablet is a serious contender to the Apple iPad, boasting two cameras, Flash compatibility, and a more convenient size, but the Tab behaves more like a supersize Android phone than a Netbook alternative. The Android OS and its apps aren't yet optimized for the larger screen. Buying a Tab demands a two-year contract and a commitment to monthly charges.

The Galaxy Tab is a beautiful product with features that will make iPad owners envious, but its in-between size and contract ties hold it back from broad appeal.

The technology site CNET has a greater coverage on the Samsung Galaxy Tab, check out the CNET page for Samsung Galaxy Tab here at http://goo.gl/g3u3

Thursday, October 28, 2010

Google Android digs deeper into Pakistan

Pakistan’s second Android offering is here. The arrival of the ‘Ideos’ points to the increasing trend of local carriers offering phones running Google’s free operating system, which may lead other providers to soon follow suit.

Chinese tech giant, Huawei – along with China Mobile’s arm in Pakistan, Zong – is bringing the economical phone to Pakistan, according to a release issued earlier this week.

The Android, a free and open source operating system for mobile phones, has been offering stiff resistance to Apple’s iPhone and Research in Motion’s (RIM) BlackBerry the world over.

Market research firms predict that Android will ‘blow up’ in its competitors’ faces. According to The Nielsen Company, it is now the most popular operating system among people who purchased a smartphone over the past six months, while RIM’s BlackBerry and Apple’s iOS are in a statistical dead heat for second place.

“Android will become the second-largest operating system in 2010 and challenge Nokia’s Symbian for the number one spot by 2014,” claimed technology analysis firm, Gartner, on September 10.

This is remarkable because it reflects how the free operating system, coupled with cheap hardware, is making its way to populous developing countries which have, till very recently, been devoid of the option of purchasing cheaper smartphones.

Officially, the iPhone has still not been introduced in Pakistan and now that the Android is taking off, Google stands to benefit from the first mover advantage.

Most interesting is the fact that phones running Android can be disturbingly cheap. Huawei’s Ideos will cost around Rs16,000 – in stark contrast to iPhones, with a comparable end user experience in terms of the interface, which are available for anywhere between Rs50,000 and Rs99,000.

Huawei says it has worked closely with Google to make the phone which means that upgrades for the device will be quick. The phone is supposed to run the latest version of the Android: 2.2 Froyo.

This version is important because it introduces support for Adobe Flash Player plugins which allow native viewing of sites like YouTube on the phone. Flash is not supported by the iPhone and according to industry analysts, this is one of the Android’s main weapons in its war against the iPhone.

Just this Thursday, Google reported that its quarterly profit soared on the back of its thriving internet advertising service and that its display and mobile advertisement businesses are also gaining flight. The Google-backed Android software platform for mobile phones has been a ’phenomenal success’, says the California-based company’s chief executive, Eric Schmidt.

The first android phone to be officially offered in Pakistan by a local mobile carrier was Motorola’s Milestone, more popularly known as the ‘Droid’. The Milestone had been released internationally almost a year earlier but was offered by Mobilink last July for Rs.38,000.

Until that time, all Pakistan had to go with from network carriers was the BlackBerry. Now, all this has changed because of Huawei’s Ideos which independent review sites are calling ‘a very good phone given its price’.

Monday, August 9, 2010

The iPad is only the beginning!

The media pad market is brand new. And it's not going to be stuck at a 9.7-inch diagonal.

Does the iPod come in one size? Or the MacBook? No, and neither will the iPad.

So, no one should be surprised byrumors about Apple bringing out more tablets (or tablet-like devices) beyond the current 9.7-inch iPad. It's going to happen--bigger or smaller screens, or both--rumors notwithstanding.

And there are plenty of unmet needs out there that Motorola, RIM (via a BlackBerry tablet), Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Acer or another media pad maker will surely satisfy.

Dell's Streak, which at five inches is not quite a media pad but more than a smartphone, already offers features--like front- and back-facing cameras--that telegraph what could come from Apple or others.

So, here's a general list (including Android and Windows-based devices) of likely media pad features coming down the pike, with appended comments on some indicating whether Apple would include that feature in a future iPad:

Cameras: front- and/or back-facing camera; future iPad: yes (think: Skype)
USB port: on Windows tablet; future iPad--don't hold your breath
SD card: Windows tablet
Better screens : think OLED (e.g., future Samsung OELDs) in 2011/2012 on a very thin, light iPad
TV: rumored to be on Motorola-Verizon tablet; apps for iPad already; more HTML5 streaming
Performance boost via dual-core processors: future iPad: yes
More robust OS supporting better graphics to match the speedier processors
Better multitasking: Windows; via iOS 4 upgrade of current iPad
Adobe Flash support: Windows, Android: yes; future iPad: no
More standard apps Windows: definitely; on the iPad, more apps like iLife
Printing built into the OS

One data plan: And finally. Maybe this is a bit of whimsy but how about a data plan from Verizon or AT&T that offers a combined 3G plan for a smartphone and a tablet? The iPhone and iPad being a great example. A combined 6GB plan, for instance. Carriers in Canada reportedly have plans like this in the works.

Source: CNET

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

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Friday, November 5, 2010

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Friday, October 29, 2010

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Thursday, October 28, 2010

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Monday, August 9, 2010