Android software

Five years of Android by the numbers

Google's mobile OS is five years young today -- Androids don't age, they just get updated and replaced -- and my colleagues at Crave UK have the full story of how Android began. I, however, wanted to look at the numbers that tell us how far it's come.

First let's take a look at the favorite metric of Andy Rubin and other Googlers -- the total-Android-activations number. The Googleplex tells us the total number hit a half billion back in mid-September, around the same time Google Chairman Eric Schmidt was quoted as saying there were 1.3 million new activations each day. Doing some quick math on the Android calculator app, I get just over 570 million total activations up to the current day. That's almost two Android devices per U.S. citizen, and quickly approaching one for every 10 people on Earth.… Read more

Our favorite free apps for Election Day 2012

Weathered by debates and endless political advertisements? We're in the home stretch of the 2012 U.S. election season now. Whether you've already voted or are still mulling politicians and propositions, there are plenty of apps to tap for an up-to-the minute perspective on the various battles.

Scan our brief list of mobile apps that can help you vote and stay in tune with the rapid-fire developments sure to occur tomorrow. Got a favorite app you're leaning on for election information? Let us know in the comments section. … Read more

Wikipad delayed for last-minute tweaks

A Wikipad representative came by CNET's New York office in September for a hands-on with its Android-powered gaming tablet. The Wikipad left us with a generally positive impression, even if its $500 price tag seemed high. But although the device seemed relatively polished barely a month ago, Wikipad, Inc. announced a delay for its eponymous tablet yesterday. It was supposed to hit stores on October 31.

The company cited "a last-minute opportunity to enhance the Wikipad bundle as well as a minor refinement needed to ensure our first customers are completely satisfied with the Wikipad" in a … Read more

Android beats iOS 5-to-1 in Q3 smartphone market share

Android commanded the worldwide smartphone market share in the third quarter, new data from research firm IDC has revealed.

With a whopping 75 percent of market share and more than 181 million smartphones shipped, Android's operating system is apparently just fine with most phone users. In a distant second place, Apple's iOS grabbed fewer than 15 percent of the world's market share.

"Android has been one of the primary growth engines of the smartphone market since it was launched in 2008," IDC Mobile Phones Research Manager Ramon Llamas said in a statement. "In every … Read more

Amazon flies into mobile games with Air Patriots

Amazon has kicked off its first mobile game, and one that can be played on both Android and iOS devices.

Taking to the skies today, Air Patriots lets you command a squad of planes by moving your finger around the screen. Drawing paths on the screen manuevers the planes to the right spots to defend your territory and battle the enemy.

You can outfit your fleet with 13 different types of planes. The game offers 28 levels and 7 different maps (the first 3 maps are free). The more victories you score, the more gears you collect, which can unlock … Read more

Hurricane Sandy photos inundating Instagram

Hurricane Sandy is poised to become the superstorm of the century as it looks to go for a stroll across the Atlantic seaboard and right into the middle of America's largest metropolis. In the process, and certainly a bit perversely, this unholy marriage of a tropical storm and a Nor'easter is shaping up to be a feather in the cap of Instagram.

The photo-sharing app that Facebook snapped up earlier this year is reporting that users have already uploaded and tagged hundreds of thousands of photos related to Hurricane Sandy:

The Instagram community has been sharing photos from … Read more

Android 4.2 adds multiple users and panoramic photos, copies Swype and AirPlay

While Google's big press event scheduled for today in New York may have been canceled, the company still decided to move forward with a slew of announcements via blog post. Among them was the release of Android 4.2, an updated version of Jelly Bean to come preinstalled on the new line of Nexus devices.

Swype fans will be pleased to hear that Android 4.2 includes a keyboard that lets users input text via gliding gestures. Not only that, it offers predictions based on common strings of word combinations for "smarter" typing. While the news is … Read more

Read tweets about what's on TV with Live 140

Are you a person who uses another media device, like a phone or tablet, while you're watching TV? Live 140: Tweet Streams for TV, by OneLouder Apps, lets you see what others watching the same show as you are saying about it on Twitter.

OneLouder has taken care of the guessing and searching for hashtags, leaving you with a list of shows to easily browse. Additionally, the content curators at OneLouder have added celebrities from many shows into the list of tweets so you can follow their thoughts from behind the camera.

Setup

Download a copy of Live 140&… Read more

Listen to and follow the World Series online

Want to watch the World Series online? Sorry. Fox Broadcasting seems to have made that impossible (or just illegal) in 2012. But have no fear: when you're away from your TV, you can still listen to or follow the MLB championship games easily with a few choice Android apps.

Listen to the World Series live on your Android device

If you've sprung for a subscription from MLB At Bat, you're already covered. Those of us on the cheap can get our World Series broadcast on our Android phones for free with the ESPN Radio Android app. ESPN … Read more

SwiftKey Flow lets you swipe on your Android keyboard

Looks like Android's top-selling keyboard app, SwiftKey, has a sibling in the works, in the form of a new program called SwiftKey Flow. Officially announced today, SwiftKey Flow takes a page out of competitor Swype's book, by letting its users input text via continuous gliding gestures.

What differentiates SwiftKey Flow, however, is the underlying natural-language technology that's been migrated over from the original SwiftKey keyboard app. This means that users of the new Flow will get not only the flexibility of choosing between a traditional tapping style and a Swype-like gliding style of typing, but also the … Read more