Developer Cyanogen has modified Google’s Android 2.1 mobile operating system to endow Google’s Nexus One smartphone with multitouch, which lets users navigate the device with more than one finger at once. The absence of this function has been a the source of great consternation for some users, and many speculate the reasons are legal in nature. Some believe Apple has locked down multitouch patents and guards them. Erick Tseng, product manager of Android at Google, attempted to clarify Google’s position when in an interview with Engadget. A developer has modified Google’s Android 2.1 mobile operating system to endow Google’s Nexus One smartphone with multitouch, which lets users navigate the device with more than... (more...)
Google (NSDQ:GOOG)’s Android Market has crossed the 20,000 applications mark and is continuing to grow at a rapid clip, having nearly doubled in size in the last five months, according to a third-party portal. A 20,000-app strong Android Market still puts Google well behind the titanic that is Apple’s App Store, but the progress suggests the Android Market is poised for explosive growth next year. The 20,000 apps statistic comes from AndroLib, a portal and applications tracker that looked at the distribution of free and paid applications in Android Market and on Tuesday had the Android Market at more than 20,140 applications. Of those applications, about 62 percent are free and 38 percent are paid, according to AndroLib. Google’s... (more...)
Called the Nexus One, the Google phone is coming in January 2010 after Google admitted it had given employees devices to test. The Android operating system device resembles the unlocked HTC Touch, runs Android 2.1 on a Snapdragon chip and has two microphones. There is also reportedly voice to text features for the phone. Google crafted and customized the smartphone’s software and will sell the device online. This is a leap for Google, which has never sold hardware and has been content to furiously upgrade the Android OS and let carriers T-Mobile, Verizon Wireless and Sprint sell Android phones. The Google phone is real and it is coming in January 2010 to challenge Apple’s vaunted iPhone, according to a deluge of press... (more...)
Ahead of its expected Mobile World Congress debut, images and specs of Samsung’s M100s handset have been released. Most notably, the phone has a large 3.7-inch AMOLED touchscreen with a 854×480 resolution, a 5-megapixel camera that’s capable of recording 720p HD videos and a 802.11n Wi-Fi. It will run on an unspecified build of Android and will be offered by Korea’s SK Telecom. The phone has an 800MHz CPU, believed to be the same ARM11 chip used in the Samsung Moment. The handset will also get a GPS sensor, T-DMB TV tuner and DivX support, along with a 3.5mm headphone jack.... (more...)
Mplayit, maker of the mobile app catalog that lives inside Facebook, will release a report later today that lists the top games in their collection. Tetris, The Sims 3, and Wheel of Fortune are among the winners. So are Tap Tap Revenge and Rock Band. On Mplayit, users can rate, comment on, and recommend individual apps to their social network on Facebook and Twitter. They can browse friends’ app collections, and follow their interests. The most interesting stat in the report is that while games account for only one in five of the 130,000 iPhone apps at Mplayit, they’re half the traffic. By... (more...)
Developer Cyanogen has modified Google’s Android 2.1 mobile operating system to endow Google’s Nexus One smartphone with multitouch, which lets users navigate the device with more than one finger at once. The absence of this function has been a the source of great consternation for some users, and many speculate the reasons are legal in nature. Some believe Apple has locked down multitouch patents and guards them. Erick Tseng, product manager of Android at Google, attempted to clarify Google’s position when in an interview with Engadget. A developer has modified Google’s... (more...)