Google Gaining Market Share, Sales
It looks like there’s no stopping Android from beating Apple’s iOS platform anymore. Two recent reports are showing that Android phones are starting to dominate the smartphone market. The first report being that of Nielsen’s which shows that Android phones have overtaken the iPhone when it comes to market share.
According to Nielsen, Android phones garnered 27% of the smartphone market share during the 1st half of 2010 while Apple’s iPhone managed to post only 23%.
In a related news, another research firm – Canalys found out that sales of the Android devices have increased by 885% in the 2nd quarter of 2010 as compared to the 1st quarter sales.
Does Apple now has a reason to be afraid of Google Android?
Google is Inviting All of Us to Become Android App Developer with the App Inventor for Android
Is this Google’s way of defeating the Apple IOS? Is Android having a hard time catching up with the rate that the App Store has been growing each day due to more support from apps developers? Would Google succeed in enticing not only the app programmers but non-programmes as well in developing worth Android apps that can make their way to the Android Market?
So many questions, and hopefull this will be answered by the App Inventor for Android which was unveiled just now by Google.
Read more about the App Inventor here and Google’s official announcement.
Google Starts Rolling Out Android 2.2 Update
Got this tip from TechCrunch so I immediately followed the usual step-by-step procedure on how to manually update Android phones’ OS. You can check out the procedures here and if you think you can do it, go ahead and update your Nexus One’s OS. It’s a worthy update.
Android 2.2 brings several new features including internet tethering, speed boost, UI enhancements and some other which I will discover later on as I play around with my Nexus One on Android 2.2.
Twitter Out to Kill Third Party App Anew with Android App
Surprise! Twitter has just released its latest mobile platform offering – Twitter app for Android. I just installed it on my Nexus One and all I can say is that it simply rocks! In fact, simply rocks maybe an understatement as I’ve never used a mobile Twitter app as good as this one for Android phones.
One of the coolest features of Twitter for Android is the animated settings. Turning this on will get you the trending Twitter topics on the main page that updates in real-time. It’s pretty cool really.
Of course you’d also get all the other Twitter features that you use to enjoy on the web version of Twitter. You can retweet, post messages, reply to messages, read your lists, timeline and more. Read more
Firefox for Android Pre-Alpha Looks Good But Not Quite Ready Yet
I just installed the “pre-alpha” version of the much awaited Firefox Fennec for Android phones. Since this is a not yet for public consumption. Firefox for Android looks pretty cool.It loads and renders web pages pretty fast, that is if you don’t mind the frequent screen freezing and app hanging.
As this is a pre-alpha build, one of the developers posted this caveats on his blog:
- We’ve only really tested this on the Motorola Droid and the Nexus One.
- It will likely not eat your phone, but bugs might cause your phone to stop responding, requiring a reboot.
- Memory usage of this build isn’t great — in many ways it’s a debug build, and we haven’t really done a lot of optimization yet. This could cause some problems with large pages, especially on low memory devices like the Droid.
- You’ll see the app exit and relaunch on first start, as well as on add-on installs; this is a quirk of our install process, and we’re working to get rid of it.
- You can’t open links from other apps using Fennec; we should have this for the next build.
- This build requires Android 2.0 or above, and likely an OpenGL ES 2.0 capable device.
- Edit: This build must be installed to internal memory, not to a SD card.
To install the app, scan this QR codes using your phone. Then follow the usual process of installing apps on your Android phones.
Nexus One Up for Pre-Order at Vodafone UK
As previously reported, Google Nexus One Vodafone is now available for pre-order for free! Well, that is of course, if you will sign-up for various Vodafone data plans which will probably get you tied up to the mobile carrier for 2 years at least.
Vodafone promises to deliver the Nexus One on May 5 if you pre-order now. So, if you’re anywhere in the UK and you’ve been waiting for this Google phone, you might want to check out the Vodafone site right now.
Facebook Android App Updated with Threaded Messages Feature
If you’re using Facebook on your Android phone, chances are you’ve probably installed the native Facebook Android app already. While this app is already a pretty robust and dependable Facebook app, it lacks one major feature – threaded messages. If you’re an active Facebook user, you know how important this feature is on your Android phone.
Well, the developer of the Facebook Android app heed your call and has issued an updated version of the app. The new Facebook Android app now fully supports threaded messages. The app now lets you read and send messages to others in your network.
You may download the new Facebook app from the Android Market or simply click on this link if you’re reading this blog on your Android phone.
via Intomobile
Nexus One Confirmed for Vodafone in April
Google didn’t forget about the Nexus One. At least not yet. For those who have been waiting for the Nexus One to become available on Vodafone, the wait will soon be finally over. Google Store will soon be making available the Nexus One tied-up with a 2-year Vodafone contract plan.
Softpedia reports that this will happen in April. And since the month is almost over, expect the Vodafone Nexus One to be available from the Google Store online any day next week (crossing my fingers!). Pricing details are not yet available though. But here’s how Vodafone UK is advertising the Nexus One.
“Take all things Google with you when you’re out and about. The powerful new Nexus One from Google combines the latest in hardware with the newest Android software – making it super fast for internet browsing, Google Maps, YouTube and more. Want apps? Check out Android Market. It’s packed with apps for everything – from games, news, weather and mobile banking to Facebook and Spotify,” Vodafone says.
Google Nexus One OTA Firmware Update Soon?
Words on the rumor streets are saying that Google might soon be rolling out an over-the-air firmware update for the Nexus One. Although no mention on what this update will bring up to your Nexus One phones – that is whether it will just be to fix some minor bugs or whether it will be the Android 2.2 OS aka Froyo.
But given the urgency of fixing problems of degraded image quality on Motorola Droid due to the Android OS 2.1 update, Google might just well released Android 2.2 which should address this issue. But then again, it’s plain rumors as of press time, so don’t get your hopes too high yet.
via Intomobile
Nexus One Car Dock Available Now
If you didn’t get an extra battery when you got your Nexus One chances are you’ve been experiencing that your phone’s battery dies out on you while your outside. This is true if you turn all settings of your Nexus One such as notifications, alerts, updates and more. Your Nexus One will definitely last through the day.
Hence, a car charger is a must. Thankfully, the Google Store is now offering such Nexus One Car Dock. This dock holds your Nexus One while you’re inside your car. But what’s good about the dock is that it also charges your Nexus One.
This is useful if you’re using your Nexus One’s GPS navigation features. The dock also has built-in speakers and volumen controls that enhance the in-car music and media expeirence.
You can mount the dock on the windshield or dashboard, and it ships with an adhesive disc that lets you attach it to a textured surface as well. The dock comes with a charger to fit into your car’s 12V utility socket, and the holder can rotate for flexible orientation.
via IntoMobile
