Thread: All Things Android

Good news for Cyanogen fans:

Google is now sharing its Ice Cream Sandwiches with everybody.
The tech giant has released the source code for its eagerly anticipated Android Ice Cream Sandwich operating system -- the first version of Android designed to run on both phones and tablets.
The version of Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0.1) released by the Mountain View, Calif., company is the same software that will run on the upcoming Galaxy Nexus smartphone, built by Samsung and exclusive (so far) to Verizon Wireless.
"We just released a bit of code we thought this group might be interested in," Google engineer Jean-Baptiste Queru wrote in a post in an Android developer Google Group on Monday. "Over at our Android Open-Source Project git servers, the source code for Android version 4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich) is now available."
The Ice Cream Sandwich operating system and download instructions are available here.
In announcing the release of Ice Cream Sandwich, Queru also offered a new bit of reasoning behind Google's never open sourcing Android Honeycomb, its only version of Android built specifically for tablets.
"This release includes the full history of the Android source code tree, which naturally includes all the source code for the Honeycomb releases," he said of the Ice Cream Sandwich source code. "However, since Honeycomb was a little incomplete, we want everyone to focus on Ice Cream Sandwich."
Although Queru described Honeycomb as incomplete, Google's head of Android, Andy Rubin, told Bloomberg Businessweek magazine in March that the company didn't want to open source Honeycomb because it didn't want the tablet-optimized operating system to end up on smartphones.
From Bloomberg Businessweek's March report:

Rubin says that if Google were to open-source the Honeycomb code now, as it has with other versions of Android at similar periods in their development, it couldn't prevent developers from putting the software on phones "and creating a really bad user experience. We have no idea if it will even work on phones."
"Android is an open-source project," he adds. "We have not changed our strategy."

Indeed, with Ice Cream Sandwich, the latest version of Android is open source once again.

Saw a android phone advertised that had some of the features of iphone. Its major advantage is that it is waterproof? ANy ideas to its make?

^^^ not a fair comparison, using an OS to compare with a simple device

most of those Android phones are quite poor in specs compared to the iPhone, and not really comparable

Yip agree, iphone is fantastic, but bloody expensive when you step off the boat unexpected :-) So was wondering, what is out there. Like I said say an advert with a smartphone tied to a surf board.

Originally Posted by Sailing into trouble

Saw a android phone advertised that had some of the features of iphone. Its major advantage is that it is waterproof? ANy ideas to its make?

You saw an advert and it didn't advertise a brand?

E-Reader Display Shows Vibrant Color Video

Mirasol's reflective display is being tested by device manufacturers, and could appear on shelves next year.

• Tuesday, November 15, 2011
• By Tom Simonite

Even as the processing power and download speeds of mobile devices surge, one component still lags behind: the screen. LCD panels use significantly more power than any other component of a phone or tablet because of their need to pump out bright light to form an image.
The only practical alternative is e-ink, the technology used in the Amazon Kindle; it consumes orders of magnitude less power but sacrifices color and the ability to change images fast enough for video playback or smooth game play.
Now, after years of waiting, alternative technology that promises the best of both approaches is finally edging closer to commercialization. During a recent visit to mobile chipmaker Qualcomm's headquarters in San Diego, Technology Review tried out a full-color, 5.7-inch Android tablet with a display that offers rich colors under bright light, close to those of an LCD and not unlike the pages of a magazine. The prototype screen was also responsive enough for video playback and for a game of Angry Birds; it can deliver up to 30 frames per second.
Because the device's screen uses ambient light, like a printed page or e-ink display, the power consumption is a tenth or less of that of a comparable LCD, although the display also features a built-in light for use in the dark. Known as Mirasol, the technology was created by a startup company, Iridigm, acquired by Qualcomm in 2004.


"In the market today, you have the iPad at one end and things like e-ink at the other end. This is really meant to bridge both of those worlds," says Clarence Chui, who leads the group at Qualcomm developing the new technology. "It is extremely low power, full color, and can be looked at wherever you go."
The Mirasol display makes color in the same way as the wings of iridescent butterflies or peacock feathers—by being an imperfect mirror that tunes the color of incoming light before reflecting it back to the viewer.
In a Mirasol display, this is done by small cavities known as interferometric modulators, tens of microns across and a few hundred nanometers deep, beneath the display's glass surface. "It's the air gap between the back of that glass and a mirror membrane at the bottom of the modulator that sets the color," says Chui. Each modulator's mirror membrane can snap upward against the glass when a small voltage is applied, closing the cavity and displaying a black color to the viewer. Mirasol modulators are made using techniques similar to those used to pattern metals and deposit materials in computer chip manufacturing.

Originally Posted by Sailing into trouble

Saw a android phone advertised that had some of the features of iphone. Its major advantage is that it is waterproof? ANy ideas to its make?

Motorola Defy?

Originally Posted by Sailing into trouble

Saw a android phone advertised that had some of the features of iphone. Its major advantage is that it is waterproof? ANy ideas to its make?

try this

Samsung S5690 Galaxy Xcover - Full phone specifications

Originally Posted by baldrick

Originally Posted by Sailing into trouble

Saw a android phone advertised that had some of the features of iphone. Its major advantage is that it is waterproof? ANy ideas to its make?

try this

Samsung S5690 Galaxy Xcover - Full phone specifications

Fuck buying one of those, it's covered in shit.

Google Android debuts music store

Service is currently only available in the US, will be linked with Google+


Google has launched an online music store for Android devices.
By Georgina Enzer Published November 17, 2011




Google is posing a challenge to Apple's dominance of online music by launching an online music store in the US. The store will allow devices running its Android software to buy, store and stream MP3 files, according to the BBC.



The 13 million-strong song library will feature content from labels EMI, Sony Music Entertainment, Universal and 23 independents. Warner Music Group has opted not to take part.



A recent study by Gartner shows that over 52% of all smartphones sold between July and September ran Android, this equates to over 60 million devices.



Apple's iOS handsets accounted for 15% of the market over the same period, according to the study.



Google has also announced it has secured some exclusive content, including rapper Busta Rhymes' new studio album, which will debut on the Android store. The Rolling Stones and Coldplay are also offering previously unreleased live performances.

Google will be integrating its new music service with its Google+ social network, which is designed to allow users to share songs with their Circles contacts, who can listen to each track once only, without making a purchase.
Song prices range from 69 cents to $1.29 and come without DRM copy-protection. The search giant is also offering a different track for free download every day.



Google is also opening the store up to smaller artists, who can create their own page for $25 and set their own prices. Google will take a 30% cut of each sale.

The firm did not discuss any plans to offer Google Music outside the US.

November 23rd, 2011, 11:10 GMT · By Lucian Parfeni
Google Adds iPhone and Android App Search

Google has added yet another dedicated search engine to its main search page. You can now restrict results to just mobile applications. If you're looking for a particular game or productivity app, you'll be able to find the places that host them via the new "Applications" filter in the left sidebar.

Google has been slowly adding applications to search results in different ways, but it now has a dedicated search engine.

It started with a mobile OneBox which would display direct links to app store pages for certain queries. The feature made the most sense on mobile devices, but that doesn't mean it won't be useful on the desktop.

Earlier this year, Google started supporting metags and microdata for apps and encouraged app stores of all kinds to start using them, to make the life of search engines and users alike easier.

It started using those metatags to customize the search entries for apps, adding ratings, price, and similar useful details. But those rich snippet results were still intertwined with regular search results.

Now, it's making it easier to focus entirely on apps with the "Applications" filter available under the "More" link. The results will come almost exclusively from app stores, either the official iTunes or Android Market, or third-party ones.

It's not the first time Google has done this, dedicated search engines like "Recipes" also rely on microdata. As websites start adding support for more microdata tags, as standardized by the Schema.org website to which most big search engines adhere to, more of these specialized search engines will show up.

What's more, Google is not even the first to add a dedicated app section to its search engine. Earlier this summer, Yahoo debuted App Search, a specialized tab which would enable users to more easily find the apps they're looking for.

Apple has lost out in the latest round of legal battles with Samsung over the right to sell its controversial Galaxy Tablet.
Judges in Australia said Apple hadn't demonstrated that Samsung has infringed on patents owned by the iPad creators.
But Apple can still appeal the decision as early as Friday.
Legal battles started in August after Apple gained an injunction stopping Samsung from selling its device in the country by
claiming 13 patents were being infringed.
PC Advisor reported Samsung as saying: "We believe the ruling clearly affirms that Apple's legal claims lack merit."
Apple has yet to comment on the matter.
The legal ruling has global implications as Apple has launched similar action in several other countries including Germany.
The case will be heard in March.

Nexus One Gets A Taste Of Ice Cream Sandwich Thanks To CM9

Chris Velazco
posted 8 hours ago
Comments


Google may have run out of love for the Nexus One as far as Ice Cream Sandwich is concerned, but that doesn’t mean the legions of loyal Android developers have. An intrepid dev named TexasIce on the XDA forums has managed to get an early build of CyanogenMod 9 up and running on Google’s first Nexus device, and it looks mighty impressive for a work-in-progress.
Most of the basics seem to run without a hitch: text input and phone dialing work with a minimum of lag, as does web browsing and poking around in the Android Market. Nearly all of Ice Cream Sandwich’s functionality is present and accounted for, though it isn’t all sunshine and roses. Neither the camera nor USB mass storage work yet, and the lack of hardware acceleration means the build has a tendency to chug when it comes to some of Ice Cream Sandwich’s more impressive animations.
Fortunately, TexasIce is working to address the ROM’s issues at a respectable clip: the project only went live a few days ago, and already the 9th alpha build went online earlier today.
It’s certainly a work in progress, but I’ve got high hopes for a smooth ride by the time a stable CM9 release sees the light of day. If I may indulge in a little bit of nostalgia, CyanogenMod was one of the first custom ROMs I ever flashed onto a device, and it made my G1 run like butter. Nexus One users who want to join in the fun now can head over to the thread in question, but newbies (as always) should proceed with caution.

I'm not posting this to diss your Android phones but ran across this today and thought it would be interesting to you. This kind of information gathering really gets up my nose.


Carrier IQ: Researcher Trevor Eckhart Outs Creepy, Hidden App Installed On Smartphones

A security researcher has posted a video detailing hidden software installed on smart phones that logs numerous details about users' activities.

In a 17-minute video posted Monday on YouTube, Trevor Eckhart shows how the software – known as Carrier IQ – logs every text message, Google search and phone number typed on a wide variety of smart phones - including HTC, Blackberry, Nokia* and others - and reports them to the mobile phone carrier.

The application, which is labeled on Eckhart’s HTC smartphone as "HTC IQ Agent," also logs the URL of websites searched on the phone, even if the user intends to encrypt that data using a URL that begins with "HTTPS," Eckhart said.

The software always runs when Android operating system is running and users are unable to stop it, Eckhart said in the video.

"Why is this not opt-in and why is it so hard to fully remove?" Eckhart wrote at the end of the video.

In a post about Carrier IQ on his website, Eckhart called the software a "rootkit," a security term for software that runs in the background without a user's knowledge and is commonly used in malicious software.

Eckhart's video is the latest in a series of attacks between him and the company. Earlier this month, Carrier IQ sent a cease and desist letter to Eckhart claiming he violated copyright law by publishing Carrier IQ training manuals online. But after the Electronic Frontier Foundation, a digital rights group, came to Eckhart’s defense, the company backed off its legal threats.

The Electronic Frontier Foundation said the software that Eckhart has publicized "raises substantial privacy concerns" about software that "many consumers don’t know about."

Carrier IQ: Researcher Trevor Eckhart Outs Creepy, Hidden App Installed On Smartphones (VIDEO) (UPDATE)

Originally Posted by harrybarracuda

Fuck buying one of those, it's covered in shit.

There's brass in muck thanowes son!

Cheers, waterproof is a good selling point. Cheers for the find!

Android 4 Ice Cream Sandwich Ported for x86 Systems
The Android-x86 Project has posted the first Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich, ICS) release for x86 computing devices.


An ISO image of Android 4 is available for AMD's Brazos platform for devices such as the MSI Wind 110W. Generic x86 images are offered as unstable nightly builds.
The project team uses the open source code provided by Google to create x86 ports of the operating system. Besides this latest release, the developers have posted downloads of previous Android versions for Asus EeePCs, Viewsonic's Viewpad 10, Dell's Inspiron Mini Duo, Samsung's Q1U and Lenovo's Thinkpad x61.
Developer Chih-Wei Huang noted that the release still requires quite a bit of work, as sound, camera support, Ethernet and hardware acceleration do not run on Intel's processors.

not sure what's the point of upgrading to ICS ? better battery optimization ?

Originally Posted by Butterfly

not sure what's the point of upgrading to ICS ? better battery optimization ?

:facepalm:

Originally Posted by Butterfly

not sure what's the point of upgrading to ICS ?

more registry options to change

Originally Posted by baldrick

more registry options to change

I didn't buy an Android to have to deal with the fucking regedit

not too impressed by FireFox on Android tab, might try Opera instead

Advice needed, as I am yet to use more than 2 minutes any of these tablets....
I read that none ipad or android devices has been imagined for multi-user (meaning different icon organization, different set of bookmarks, email accounts, etc).
Can anyone confirm and maybe give me idea(s) how to solve this?

That's quite a nice spec for that price.

$100 tablet now shipping with Android 4.0

by Brooke Crothers December 6, 2011 11:44 PM PST

China-based Ainol is shipping the $100 Ice Cream Sandwich tablet. It's also headed to the U.S.
(Credit: Ainol Electronics)
Move over, Kindle Fire. Google's Ice Cream Sandwich operating system has landed on a $100 tablet now shipping in China. The 7-inch tablet is also bound for the U.S. market.
U.S.-based MIPS Technologies and Ingenic Semiconductor, a China-based mobile chip provider, announced worldwide availability of the "world's first tablet" based on Android 4.0, aka Ice Cream Sandwich.
"I'm thrilled to see the entrance of MIPS-Based Android 4.0 tablets into the market. Low cost, high performance tablets are a big win for mobile consumers and a strong illustration of how Android's openness drives innovation and competition for the benefit of consumers around the world," Andy Rubin, senior vice president of mobile at Google, said in a statement.
The tablet is available in China and online through Ainol Electronics and will be available in the U.S. and other geographies within the next several months under brands from companies including Leader International and OMG Electronics.
Larger 8- and 9-inch form factors will be available soon.
Salient specs include Ingenic's MIPS-based JZ4770 processor running at 1GHz, graphics based on a Vivante GC860 graphics processing unit, 1080p video decoding, dual front/rear cameras, a 7-inch capacitive multi-touch screen, WiFi, and USB 2.0, HDMI 1.3 and microSD ports.

Originally Posted by ThaiWalker

Can anyone confirm and maybe give me idea(s) how to solve this?

that is correct, actually each apps you installed have their own uid, but that's all

it's like the old days with the PC, only one account