android

Pandora finally has released its first Google Android application after revealing several months ago that it was in the works. The popular streaming music service had received some criticism by choosing to target other mobile platforms first, but Android fans should be pleased by this first release. Pandora has produced a very polished application that demonstrates that it takes the platform seriously.

For users unfamiliar with Pandora, the service allows you to create free streaming radio stations by entering a single song or artist you enjoy. Users then provide feedback on each song, which Pandora remembers for future selections. It'… Read more

The productivity app known for bringing summaries of your social and financial life has now come to the Android Market.

Pageonce's Personal Assistant, made available Wednesday, provides account balances, status updates, and other real-time information from online accounts as varied as your stock portfolio, eBay bids, and cell phone minutes. The information is read-only, which makes some functions, like viewing your bank and credit card balances, more immediately useful than others, like watching your Twitter feed.

Sure, signing up for this productivity app does require you to put your trust in Pageonce's security--256-bit data encryption, 128-bit data … Read more

While iPhone owners have long had a powerful Facebook app with a wide range of functionality, Google Android users have had to make do with the mobile version of the social networking site (called Facebook Lite). Not only does it offer limited features, but also it is clunky and rather difficult to navigate.

But that changed Tuesday when a new and long-awaited Facebook app hit the Android market. The free app offers many of the features that you've come to expect on the iPhone app and the full version of the site. You can scan your news feed, view … Read more

Many handset makers are planning Google Android phones, but thus far, only HTC has released devices in the United States. Samsung was the second company to offer an Android phone when it released the Galaxy I7500 overseas, but it remains uncertain if an American carrier will pick it up. New details, however, suggest that Samsung's second Android phone, the Galaxy Lite I5700, could make a run at a United States release.

The Galaxy Lite is the assumed cheaper version of the original Samsung Galaxy. Both the internal storage (1GB vs. 8GB) and the camera (3.2 megapixels vs. 5 … Read more

Reading the news about a University of Washington professor's experimental electronic contact lens, I wondered if my dream of the ultimate personal technology has finally moved from over the horizon to in sight. Here's what I want: to be able to walk into crowded cocktail party, and know exactly who I am looking at -- each person's name, last time we met, and other information pertinent for a pleasant social interaction. I want that information beamed into my field of vision, in text floating over their heads, like the health indicators over the bad guys in a … Read more

After playing peek-a-boo for the past few weeks, HTC officially introduced its latest Google Android handset on Tuesday, the HTC Tattoo.

Formerly known as the HTC Click, the Tattoo, we presume, gets it name from the customization options it offers and is being advertised as an Android phone for all. It's the second phone from the company, after the HTC Hero, to use the HTC Sense user interface, which provides up to seven home screen panels that can be personalized with various widgets, shortcuts, and wallpapers.

The phone itself is pretty compact at 4.17 inches tall by 2.… Read more

Open source, despite its community roots, often doesn't become mainstream until corporations get involved. There are notable exceptions--Mozilla Firefox and the Apache Web server being just two--but often it is corporate self-interest that provides the mechanism to deliver the value of community-developed open source to a mainstream audience.

While the mobile market remains highly fragmented, therefore, I take it as a very encouraging sign that Google has thrown its considerable heft behind Android, its open-source mobile operating platform.

Sure, we've had mobile open-source companies for years. I was part of one of the first: Lineo, an embedded Linux … Read more

BERLIN--Those of you familiar with Android devices will appreciate the sweet, delicious irony in the photo above. Yes, there are indeed Heroes, and they're made by HTC. But they've got some competition because Samsung has an Android-powered phone now, and it's called the Galaxy i7500. We've been playing with one here at IFA.

With its all-glass capacitive touch screen and lush interface, sweeping through the Galaxy's menus was unlike anything we've experienced on a Samsung phone before. Its 3.2-inch AMOLED screen's colors are rich, its menus are responsive, and wrapped in the … Read more

Google's Android Market is undergoing renovation.

The Android app store will soon launch several new updates in its upcoming 1.6 version, according to an Android Developers blog post from Google's Eric Chu on Thursday.

Developers will be able to provide screenshots, icons, and descriptions to better promote and highlight their applications.

Four new app subcategories--sports, health, themes, and comics--are being added, Chu said. Developers can target any of those subcategories for both new and existing applications.

For reasons Chu did not explain, Android app developers in Italy are getting some special attention. Italian developers will be able … Read more