donut

Differentiation leads to fragmented, confused Android

One year after the introduction of the T-Mobile G1, three of the top-four carriers in the United States are offering Google Android handsets. And with each model bringing something new and unique to the market, everything is rosy, right? Not so fast. While differentiation is one of the key benefits behind Android, it's leading to fragmentation. Thus, one of the biggest benefits is becoming a drawback.

At the time of this writing, there are three versions of Android on the market. On Verizon Wireless, the recently released Motorola Droid has Android 2.0, while the carrier's HTC Droid Eris … Read more

T-Mobile rolls out Android 1.6 Donut to G1 and MyTouch 3G

Just a couple of weeks after Google released its Android 1.6 SDK to developers, T-Mobile began its official roll out of Android 1.6 (aka Donut) to T-Mobile G1 and T-Mobile MyTouch 3G owners on Thursday.

The update will be delivered to customers over the coming days, and though it's not considered to be a major upgrade to the operating system, Android 1.6 does bring a number of new features and enhancements and fixes a bug that would reboot the phone after dialing 911.

Highlights of Donut include:

An improved Android Market Quick Search Box, which lets … Read more

Donut SDK for Google's Android ready

Google announced Tuesday that the Donuts are ready.

Those smartphone developers waiting for the next version of Android, code-named Donut, will not have to wait any longer now that the Android 1.6 software development kit is available for download. As expected, Donut is not a major release of Android but adds a few goodies that developers might want to consider.

For example, Android can now run on CDMA phones used by the likes of Verizon and Sprint, adding more potential partners to the Android world. The latest release also adds a text-to-speech API (application programming interface) for developers to … Read more

Don't discount the G1 just yet

As the T-Mobile G1 restricts users from storing apps on a memory card, many owners have complained about low memory warnings after they install 40 to 50 apps. And now we're seeing developer complaints about the lack of space for the Android operating system itself.

Android software engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru recently wrote on the Google mailing list, "Where the situation is really tricky is that the system partition on the U.S. G1 was already filled to the brim with cupcake, and we were routinely flirting with build sizes that were a few dozen KB under the limit (… Read more

Android developers: Time to make the Donuts

With Cupcake barely starting to cool, Google's Android team has started circulating the ingredients that will make up the Donut release of its Android mobile operating system.

Google is using sweet treats as code names for future Android releases, and Donut is next on the list, following the release of Cupcake in May.

According to several reports citing Android developers, including one from The Boy Genius Report, Donut code started making its way around the community of developers that work on Android this weekend. Among the notable additions are support for the CDMA networks used by Verizon Wireless and … Read more

Google quietly pushes out Android update. Donut still coming.

Android updates come with little warning or description of what they include. When they roll out, many customers are left wondering what changed on their phones.

T-Mobile pushed such an update last week. It wasn't the Donut upgrade that many Android fans are waiting for; rather, it was a minor permissions fix that contained no new features.

Unlike most desktop operating systems, Android does not provide details on its updates before asking the user to confirm them. To find the update's release notes I had to go digging through the Android mailing lists. According to oCERT, the patch … Read more

Air Yakiniku brings virtual barbecue to your browser

Feeling lonely eating dinner all by yourself? Are you a vegetarian who loves the idea of barbecue but just can't pull the trigger on meat?

Fortunately you can log-on to Japanese site Air Yakiniku and enjoy a virtual barbecue. You can even download a template to make a real apron that helps prevent spillage of virtual meat juice (or perhaps to capture drool as you crave meat but eat whatever you have in real life.)

Like the New York Times reports, it's a bit hard to tell if this is a clever marketing gimmick or someone genuinely thinks … Read more

A hole in one

While there are plenty of great doughnuts shops out there, sometimes I just have a craving for plain, old-fashioned doughnuts--and none of the shops really have something that tastes just right. That can mean making my own, which is a process I don't mind making easier. That's where the Norpro Donut Maker comes in. I can mix up a batch of batter, pour it in to the doughnut maker and push the plunger. Perfectly shaped doughnuts are released; you can drop them straight into hot oil, or make up a whole batch to drop in at once. The … Read more

Dunkin' Donuts iPhone app makes coffee more social

If there is one way to win me over, (take note PR flacks) it's through Dunkin' Donuts and the delicious DD coffee. While I was on the East Coast two weeks ago, I drank so much DD coffee in the first two days, I couldn't sleep for the next two days.

So, when I saw that the company launched a new "Dunkin' Run" iPhone application today, I bought the shiny new Apple product. But then I was dismayed to learn that Dunkin' is not in the San Francisco Bay Area (or really west of the Mississippi.) … Read more