your unofficial guide to the google android
Posts tagged technology
Droid X’s eFUSE not a self-destruct mechanism: Motorola
Jul 17th
Well, the horse’s mouth (Motorola) has responded to this, and although they say that indeed they don’t want custom ROMs loading on the device, they don’t want the device bricked. Instead, the device will refuse to boot until an “approved” ROM is detected.
Here’s what Motorola told enGadget:
“The Droid X and a majority of Android consumer devices on the market today have a secured bootloader. In reference specifically to eFuse, the technology is not loaded with the purpose of preventing a consumer device from functioning, but rather ensuring for the user that the device only runs on updated and tested versions of software. If a device attempts to boot with unapproved software, it will go into recovery mode, and can re-boot once approved software is re-installed.”
Indeed, this won’t make the life of hackers easy, but at least a self-destruct switch is not part of the Droid X. So go out there and get in line (since it’s already backordered).
Google makes developing Android apps easy-as-pie
Jul 13th
Google has made available App Inventor for Android that allows anyone to develop an Android application with minimal programming (if any) knowledge.
The website has uses visual building blocks which are dragged on to the ‘canvas’ and these can link to other functions. Access to the lower level Android functions (like GPS location and SMS) are available.
There are basic functions like buttons, canvas, checkboxes, etc and then media, animation, social, sensors and screen arrangement functions allowing complex applications to be constructed. It uses the Open Blocks Java library, which is distributed by MIT’s (Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s) Scheller Teacher Education Program which was used to develop the Scratch programming language. The compiler that converts the visual framework to a native Android app uses the Kawa language.
App Inventor for Android isn’t openly available yet and potential users have to complete a form (using a GMail address) entering information about what App Inventor will be used for.
There are around 60,000+ apps in Android Marketplace, compared to over 200,000 in Apples app store, maybe this could redress the balance.
DIY App Inventor For Android
Jul 13th
Google is offering a free software tool for non-developers to build their own Android applications. The free software, called Google App Inventor for Android, has been under development for a year. User testing has been done mainly in schools with groups that included sixth graders, high school girls, nursing students and university undergraduates who are not computer science majors.
“The goal is to enable people to become creators, not just consumers, in this mobile world,” said Harold Abelson, a computer scientist at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who is on sabbatical at Google and led the project.
The Google project, Mr. Abelson said, is intended to give users, especially young people, a simple tool to let them tinker with smartphone software, much as people have done with computers. Over the years, he noted, simplified programming tools like Basic, Logo and Scratch have opened the door to innovations of all kinds. Microsoft’s first product, for example, was a version of Basic, pared down to run on personal computers.
Google’s App Inventor is a visual programming language for creating mobile phone applications on Android devices. It provides both a great way to learn how to program and, arguably, the fastest method for creating mobile apps in the world.
App Inventor allows even non-programmers to create apps. But it is also a valuable tool if you are already a programmer, the tool’s visual nature and high-level components significantly increase the speed by which you can develop apps and prototypes.
App Inventor is a block-editing tool similar to the programming environment scratch developed at MIT.
"Google’s Do-It-Yourself App Creation Software"
Jul 12th
From The New York Times
By STEVE LOHR
Published: July 11, 2010
Google is bringing Android software development to the masses.
Android gets an optometry app
Jul 2nd
What they have developed is an app that uses a set of lines and dots that a user manipulated while looking through a $2 “eye” which was created out of the technology of a holographic barcode scanning device previously developed by MIT. Before you ask, it’s Android only.
What a patient does is to continue to adjust the image things comes into focus, and viola, you have a prescription. Unfortunately, the Nexus One shown doesn’t also make the glasses or contacts, so you’re stuck with that aspect.
Obviously, this is targeted for developing nations. Meanwhile, one has to ask why Apple never saw this coming. Ugh.
Watch a video, below:
Apple/Google battle moves to display front
Jun 11th
EL SEGUNDO, USA: The technology battle between Apple Inc. and Google Inc. has expanded to the cell phone display market, with the iPhone 4’s new retina display taking on the Active-Matrix Organic Light Emitting Diode (AMOLED) screen used in the Google Nexus One, according to iSuppli Corp.
LCD technology currently dominates the market for displays used in mobile handsets, with worldwide shipments amounting to 1.6 billion units in 2009. In comparison, shipments of mobile handset AM-OLEDs are tiny in comparison, at 20.5 million units in 2009.
However with the adoption of AM-OLED technology in new smart phone models, the technology is set to undergo industry-leading growth, with shipments rising by a factor of nine from 2009 to 2014, compared to just a 26.6 percent increase for LCDs.
The attached figure presents iSuppli’s forecast of LED and OLED displays for use in mobile handsets.
“Apple is really setting itself apart from the Google Android phones with the use of the 3.5-inch retina display in the iPhone 4,” said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst, small and medium displays, for iSuppli. “The Nexus One smart phone, introduced in January, upped the ante in handset displays with its 3.7-inch AM-OLED to deliver stunning images. However, Apple raised the bar even further by offering an LCD display with advanced In-Plane Switch (IPS) technology.”
IPS supports a wider viewing angle and better picture quality in terms of presentation of color than a conventional LCD. In the case of Apple’s retina display, the resolution of the image is enhanced by the use of smaller-than-normal pixels. This increases the number of pixels on the screen to 326 Pixels Per Inch (PPI), compared to 160 PPI for the 3.5 half VGA resolution display in the iPhone 3G S.
Because of this, the pixels on the retina display are so small that the human eye cannot distinguish between them.
Small pixels enable crisper and finer edges on the displayed content, especially text. Higher resolutions enabled by smaller pixels also help allow the display of a lot more content in the same size display.
Apple made its first use of IPS technology for the LCD display on the iPad.
In contrast, the high resolution on AM-OLEDs is currently achieved using sub-pixel rendering, which accentuates the edges on text at high resolutions.
OLEDs hold several advantages over LCDs, including a larger color gamut, faster response time, a thinner form factor and no requirement for backlighting, which reduces power consumption and extends battery life. On the other hand, the iPhone’s retina display must make use of LED backlights to illuminate the display.
iSuppli believes the Nexus One serves as a technology showcase, blazing a trail for other smart phones using the Android operating system. Because of this, iSuppli expects to see the adoption of AM-OLED displays in Android smart phones by a number of brands in the future.
At the introduction of the iPhone 4 on Monday, Apple CEO Steve Jobs said that retina display would set the standard for displays in the next several years.
Recent demonstrations of small displays have delivered PPI of only 310, putting Apple in the lead—at least for now.
Android Application Developer Can Develop Smart Phone Mobile Applications
Jun 10th
The Google Android is a software stack for mobile phone devices that includes an operating system, key applications and middleware. It is based on open source solutions, particularly Linux Kernel, and it provides an easy and user-friendly integration with other Google services, such as Google Maps, shopping and Google search features.
The Android software development kit (SDK) includes a comprehensive set of tools for the Android application developer like a debugger, libraries, a handset emulator that is based on QEMU, sample code, documentation and tutorials.
With the great built-in features of Google’s Android SDK, an Android application developer has immense flexibility and opportunity to develop diverse smart phone mobile apps.
This not only provides the opportunity for technology companies to cash in, but also creates money making prospects for individual entrepreneurs from various industries. Whether it’s pharmaceuticals, sales automation, games, entertainment, location based services or any sort of utility applications, the Android platform has you covered.
Google’s Android platform has made developers across the globe very happy. That is because an Android application developer team has the toolkit and the technology to provide mobile cellphone software application users with an enhanced mobile experience.
Users are looking for high quality and cutting edge applications, while developers are looking at cost effective ways to provide them with what they need. Because the Android platform is open-source, costs associated with development are a fraction of that of closed-source platforms. Using Google’s Android platform is a win-win for developers and consumers.
To read more Android Application Developer Can Develop Smart Phone Mobile Applications
Google to Stop Offering Nexus One Through its Web Store
May 17th
The weak online sales of Google’s Nexus One smartphone has pushed the company to stop offering it online.
Google launched Nexus One in January. Since then, the adoption of the Android platform was strong and the technology behind Nexus One has found its way into numerous Android handsets, like the HTC Evo 4G from Sprint and the Verizon Droid Incredible by HTC.
However, while the global adoption of the Android platform has exceeded Google’s expectations, the web store has not. It’s remained a niche channel for early adopters.
As a result, google decided to make Nexus One globally available and follow the same model the company has adopted in Europe, where it is working with partners to offer Nexus One to consumers through existing retail channels.
Once the Nexus One devices will be available in stores, Google will stop selling handsets via the web store, and will instead use it as an online store window to showcase a variety of Android phones available globally.