Tag Archives | Google Android

Android About to Enlist in the US Army?

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 22, 2011 at 6:03 pm

The US Army wants to equip every soldier with a smartphone in the battlefield, and it appears as if Google’s Android could be the solution. According to Wired’s Spencer Ackerman, the military has been working over the past year to realize that goal. What’s behind its choice? Likely the fact that the operating system can run across a range of third-party devices, unlike the iPhone.

Officials haven’t settled on Android just yet it seems, but it seems like it certainly has a leg up on other solutions due to its “open” nature.

Continue Reading →

2 comments

iOS Still King, Regardless of Smartphone Market

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 19, 2011 at 9:44 pm

Data coming out of research firm comScore validates what many have been saying about the battle between Android and iOS: that across all devices, Google’s mobile operating system still has a long ways to go to supplant Apple’s dominant position overall, despite analyst claims.

Across an estimated install base of some 236 million “connected media devices” — that would include phones, tablets, music devices with Internet connectivity and app support, etc. — Apple has a 16.2 percent share or about 37.9 million devices. Android trails with a 10.2 percent share or about 23.8 million devices.

In other words, Apple has a 59 percent larger market for its devices right now compared to Android — highlighting its strong position for iOS outside of smartphones.

Continue Reading →

9 comments

HBO Go Service Enroute to Mobile Devices

Posted by Ed Oswald on April 19, 2011 at 8:08 pm

As the rush to put video on mobile devices continues, HBO will apparently be throwing its hat into the ring next month, if a YouTube teaser video from the cable channel is any sign. The HBO Go service first debuted in April 2009, and has slowly been expanding its breath of programming, although you’ve had to visit the HBO Go website.


Continue Reading →

3 comments

Philips Tries Its Hand at an “Android Touch”

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 19, 2011 at 1:24 pm

One of the great mysteries of consumer electronics at the moment is why Apple’s extremely popular iPod Touch has had so little competition. It’ll get some in September, when Philips plans to release a media player called the GoGear Connect. I saw it today at a Philips event; it’s not the same gizmo as one of the same name which Philips demoed last Fall at the IFA conference in Berlin.

Unlike Samsung’s announced-but-as-yet-unreleased Galaxy Player, the GoGear Connect doesn’t bear an uncanny resemblance to the iPod Touch. At 3.2″, its capacitive screen is smaller, and a largish percentage of the front is devoted to hardware buttons. It has Wi-Fi, but doesn’t sport any cameras.

Continue Reading →

4 comments

What if There is No Tablet Market?

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 18, 2011 at 6:48 pm

Last month, a PCWorld contributor named Katherine Noyes wrote a blog post whose very title invited incredulous mockery: “Why Tablets Are Just a Fad.” One hundred percent of the responses I saw said that she was wrong, wrong, wrong (some politely, some less so).

I thought her take was epically myopic myself. Still do. But right now, if you want to make the case that tablets aren’t a fad, there’s one major piece of evidence in your favor: the iPad is a monstrous hit. Beyond that? I’m not sure if there’s a single data point yet that proves that tablets are a robust product category that’s here for the long haul.

Continue Reading →

32 comments

Are Tablets Too Fancy and Expensive?

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 16, 2011 at 2:19 am

Hardware maker Hannspree is best known–in the United States, at least–for idiosyncratic products such as TV sets shaped like fruit and zoo animals. But it makes some more straightforward stuff, too, including Android tablets. So far, its tablets, which aren’t sold in the US, have run Android 2.2–a fact that I instinctively want to squawk about, since that aging smartphone OS was never designed for large-screen devices. But I’m attending the IFA Global Press Conference in Spain, a preview event for September’s IFA consumer electronics megaevent in Berlin, and a Hannspree executive explained in an unusually straightforward and illuminating fashion why it’s using an old version of Android.

Continue Reading →

9 comments

Eye-Fi Rolls Out Direct Mode and a New Card

Posted by Harry McCracken on April 12, 2011 at 12:35 am

Eye-Fi, the folks who make the unique SD cards with built-in Wi-Fi, are just about ready to launch the most interesting improvement they’ve made since they unveiled their first cards. Previewed in January at CES, it’s called Direct Mode, and it will let you transfer photos from a camera with an Eye-Fi card directly and wirelessly to an iPhone (or other iOS device) or an Android phone or tablet–where you can then upload them to the Web using Eye-Fi’s  apps or use them with any phone app that involves photos, such as Instagram, Path, Flickr, Facebook, and Twitter.

If, like me, you do much of your photography these days with a phone but aren’t crazy about the results, this is potentially a more exciting application of Eye-Fi’s technology than its original features, which require that you be within range of an available Wi-Fi network to get photos off your camera and onto the Internet.

Continue Reading →

No comments

Google Yanks Grooveshark from Android Market, But Chrome App Remains

Posted by Jared Newman on April 6, 2011 at 1:02 pm

Grooveshark became a rare victim of Android Market policy on Tuesday, when Google removed the streaming music app without explanation of which policies were violated.

Unlike other streaming music services, such as Rdio and MOG, Grooveshark doesn’t license the entirety of its library. Songs are uploaded by other users, allowing Grooveshark to undercut the competiton with free web streaming and a $3 per month mobile app. Although Grooveshark has made an arrangement with EMI, a lawsuit against Universal Music Group is underway, and I wouldn’t be surprised if record labels complained. Apple yanked Grooveshark’s iPhone app last July.

Continue Reading →

6 comments

I’m Sorry, the Future of Phones is Unknowable

Posted by Harry McCracken on March 29, 2011 at 1:39 pm

Research firm IDC–a sister company of my former employer, PCWorld–has released its latest estimates of the current and future marketshare of major smartphone operating systems. The headline news: It’s predicting that Android will continue to boom and that Microsoft’s Windows Phone, currently on the ropes, will bounce back to second place by 2015.

Here are IDC’s numbers for 2011 and 2015 (I swiped them from Don Reisinger’s post at Cnet):

Continue Reading →

6 comments