Google recently announced the launch of Android Instant Apps, a new technology which allows just the bare minumum of an App to be downloaded from links, bypassing the Play Store. This sounds cool enough on its own, but the implications of this reach far deeper than at first appears, and could end up changing the entire internet.
Android App downloads to overtake iPhone in 2011
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
Several reports are coming in regarding the projected total Android App downloads for 2011 to be 8.1 billion, and that's news because it's higher than the 6 billion for the iPhone. Last year, Apple had the lead with 2.7 billion download where Android trailed at 1.4 billion. Analyst Ovum has announced these figures, but also gave the warning that things in the revenue department were not about to change: "Although Android phones will lead on total download numbers, iPhone will continue to dominate the market in terms of revenues from paid-for apps, reaching $2.86 billion in 2016, compared to $1.5 billion for Android.” Note the wording carefully - paid for apps. Google is at heart an advertising company, so their goal is to increase the surface area on which their ads are shown. Are things slowly but surely tilting towards the free ad-supported app model?
Gingerbread now runs on 1 in 3 Android handsets
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
The latest official figures from the android developers blog show that Android 2.3, Gingerbread, is now running on almost 1 in 3 Android handsets. This information is essential to app developers and it's great to see Google keeping them up to date this way. The breakdown is important when considering how much effort to put into supporting the older versions, and conversely how much they can rely on the newer features of Android being available in the real world. For example, C2DM (Cloud to Device Messaging), the Android push messaging system, is only available to Android 2.2 and later devices. With this news we can see that now represents around 75% of all handsets, which is great news compared to a year ago when it probably wouldn't have been relied upon for use in a mainstream app.
The Amazon Android Kindle is very real indeed
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
Things are about to get really serious. Whilst we've seen zillions of Android phones and Tablets launched this year, none have the complete package which gives the iPhone/iPad the edge when it comes to providing an integrated content system from the same supplier as the hardware. Until now, that is. And to futher differentiate itself, word is the Amazon Android based Kindle will be sold at a massive subsidy - perhaps even at a loss - to make it half the price of the iPad in order to gain significant market share, where it can then recoup these costs from that scale and charges on content.
Medion LifeTab P9514 Android Tablet
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An Android tablet with recessed bezels sets the new LifeTab from Medion apart from the flurry of announcements we've seen this week. It's a very stylish looking affair too and features a dual-core 1GHz NVIDIA Tegra 2 processor, 32GB of internal storage, a 5-megapixel rear camera, a 2-megapixel front facing camera, and a microSD expansion slot and rus Android 3.2 Honeycomb. It's not on the market until Christmas but is expected to retail at $566 (399 Eu) and comes prloaded with Documents to Go and Medions LifeTab software. Interesting developments from Medion also include a rumoured smartphone running Android 2.3 Gingerbread, so when there's more on that we'll let you know.
Samsung Galaxy Note - comes with Stylus!
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
Cool! "Note", the new Samsung 5.3" Tab, has been launched at IFA and is the second we've reported on today to sport a stylus. This is a brave form factor - too big for a smartphone, yet too small for a tablet, but it looks like Samsung have that covered with the stong emphasis on it being all note based - hench the name. The idea is for it to be a direct replacement for pen and paper, and features a pressure-sensitive "S Pen". The note taking concept goes much deeper than rival efforts such as the HTC Flyer since Samsung plan to ship an SDK with it opening up the note API to all manner of cool apps (a shared whiteboard is one of the examples). So, as long as no-one objects to the shape of its corners we can look out for it in the not-too-distant future ;-)
Lenovo IdeaPad A1
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More IFA excitement - Lenovo have launched the A1 IdeaPad 7" tablet running Android 2.3 (Gingerbread). The screen size is 1024x600, it's internal storage capacity is 8GB and it sports a 3Meg rear camera with a smaller resolution one at the front for video calls. It's CPU is a TI OMAP3621 model, the same one as the Nook Color uses and it has full GPS and a MicroSD card slot, all powered by a 3,700 mAh battery. This looks a cracking little tablet for a cracking little price - under $200, with a look and feel which gives the impression it's way above that price point. Available in black, white blue and ... pink. Nice touch, Lenovo!
ViewSonic ViewPad 7x and 10Pro
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
The Android tablet torrent continues with the announcement at IFA from ViewSonic of the ViewPad 10pro, running Android 2.3 ($714 for the WiFi only version) and the ViewPad 7x running Honeycomb. No exact release date has been set but it's expected to launch before the end of the month for $499. It sports a 7-inch,1024 x 600 LED display, a dual core NVIDIA Tegra 2 CPU, HSPA+ connectivity, HDMI-out port and DLNA support and both rear and front-facing cameras. The 10pro also Windows 7 Professional, but we'll try not to hold that against it. Wow. So many tablets, so little time...
HTC Jetstream - their first 10" tablet
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
HTC's "Puccini" tablet will be known as the "Jetstream" when it hits the States, supposedly within 2011, but will also be known as the "Skyrocket" in Europe. It sports a new UI - an evolution from HTC's sense for smartphones - and is expected to be running Android 3.2, or even whatever Ice Cream Sandwich will be based on (probably Android 4.0) from the start. A few details are available such as its dual core 1.5Ghz CPU, so unlike the 7" Flyer it won't be criticised as being underpowered, an 8-megapixel camera, and its USP - the "Scribe" stylus which will let you annotate pages in a natural way, complementing the native touchscreen support Android provides. With this, and the new tablets from the other serious players, it really does look like the pattern seen with smartphones and Android is repeating itself again. Hooray!
The Sony Walkman 2011 model is all Android
- Bill Damage 0 Comments
The one that started it all is back! Sony's iconic Walkman brand is undergoing a fantastic metamorphosis and could be totally Android based. Currently only a prototype, this would go head-to-head with Apples iPod - a smart move, given the rapidly closing gap between the quantity and quality of available apps in both Androids and Apples app stores. Designed to seamlessly hook up to Sonys Cloud music service, "Music Unlimited", this will also play killer games and streaming video. Pricing is everything, but can't even be guessed at for such an early stage concept. We'll just have to wait and see ... and make.believe ;-)
