Android

While video recording, more storage space, faster processor speeds, and better games have been the main calling cards for the iPhone 3G S, the biggest reason to upgrade may be yet to come--and it has to do with the seemingly most innocuous feature of all, the magnetometer.

Imagine a browser in which you view the real world through a camera lens and a heads-up display picks out interest points amid the living cityscape. This type of augmented reality has been the stuff of science fiction, but the cell phone browser Layar by Dutch software developer SPRXmobile claims to make it real. See the video for yourself.

Layar takes the sort of GPS POI data in current map-based apps, like ATMs, houses for sale, or nearby hotspots, and displays them overlaid on the landscape as seen through the camera lens.

It's debuting later this month for Android phones in the Netherlands--not exactly a huge starting demographic, but if it works, this could be the start of something big.… Read more

This past weekend, Google introduced a new version of its glossy Maps application for Android phones. Version 3.1.0 brings with it several new features, including voice search to go with its text search field and transit and walking directions to go with step-by-step driving directions.

In tests, Google's voice search on Android was fairly consistent with other voice search apps we've tested. That is to say, a skosh inconsistent. Most searches for banal items of daily life like "shoe repair shop" and "coffee" plotted the sought-for neighborhood responses on the map. Once … Read more

At CommunicAsia Tuesday, Garmin-Asus showed off its Nuvifone G60 and M20 devices. The former was first developed independently by Garmin and later rebadged with the new brand name after the two companies decided to collaborate on a line of navigation-focused smartphones.

The Linux-based G60 has been delayed for a while, but Tuesday Garmin-Asus announced that both devices will be commercially available in the second half of 2009. The company's regional director for Southeast Asia sales, Hektor Tung, said this will happen as early as August for some markets.

When asked about the potential of Garmin-Asus' current Linux platform for … Read more

Android running on devices at Computex was "snappy," while Windows 7 less so, according to a Gartner report published Monday. The report concluded that there is momentum behind the ARM chip platform.

"Android is the first Linux OS backed by a strong consumer brand--Google," write analysts Christian Heidarson and Ben Lee in Gartner's Semiconductor DQ Monday Report.

Though they stopped short of endorsing the platform--saying that Android is a work-in-progress--they did offer some hope for future Android-based devices running on ARM processors versus Windows 7-based Netbooks running on Intel's Atom processor. "There is … Read more

After the Apple iPhone 3G S and Palm Pre, the most gossiped about smartphone is one that may or may not exist.

Dell, which has hinted about getting into the category for more than a year, is supposedly working on a device right now, and the image to the right is said to be a picture of the device.

Engadget posted the photo Monday, and it's from a Chinese Web site called PDAFans.com. Though it's blurry, there's nothing distinguishing about the design of the handset itself besides a Dell logo, and that it appears a bit … Read more

Google has been once again revamped its iGoogle start page for easier use on iPhone and Android handsets. It lets you see and interact with your gadgets in a similar fashion to the desktop version, by making use of tabs and displaying content that runs in iFrames. The previous version, which was mysteriously discontinued by Google in late January, simply put everything into one, large vertical stream, and required you to go back and forth to get at different sets of widgets.

One nice feature that was not found in the previous version, is the option to set certain widgets … Read more

Remember the Sony Walkman? It was, at one time, the iPod of its day. No other portable media player was capable of competing against the Walkman. Everyone wanted to get their hands on Sony's stellar device. And every year, when Sony would tweak it just a little bit, we all jumped at the chance to buy the latest and greatest Walkman.

But today, the Walkman is just an also-ran. Apple's iPod is dominating the business. With a firm grip on the market, there's currently no sign that Apple will be relinquishing its lead in the PMP space anytime soon. But Sony hasn't given up.

According to Engadget, the Japanese electronics powerhouse is planning to release an Android-based Walkman next year.

It makes sense. Rumors have been swirling since 2008 that its Sony Ericsson joint venture would be releasing an Android-based handset. Why wouldn't Sony also consider Google's mobile operating system for the Walkman?… Read more

In an effort to streamline the development of their mobile products, Sony may adopt Google's Android OS for future versions of their Walkman audio players, mobile phones, and mobile Internet devices such as the Mylo. By using a shared platform between devices, Sony could be hoping to emulate the success Apple achieved with the iPhone and iPod Touch, and their common iPhone OS.

The move to Android may also help to hasten products to market, allowing Sony's developers to repurpose apps and interface designs between products. Sony's latest Walkman, the iPod Touch-rivaling X-Series, only recently began shipping, … Read more

Sony, once the king of personal technology, has spent years wandering through the desert, looking for a hit. Sony Chairman and CEO Howard Stringer attributes this to the company's continued fixation with proprietary lock-in:

Sony hasn't taken open technology very seriously in the past. Its CONNECT music download service was a failure. It was based on OpenMG, a proprietary digital rights management (DRM) technology. At the time, we thought we would make more money that way than with open technology, because we could manage the customers and their downloads.

This approach, however, created a problem: customers couldn't … Read more