Check out this awesome video below! It shows…well, kind of blew it in the headline.
It’s slick, it works at almost full speed and aside from a few scaling issues it comes over unscathed to the HTC Touch! Only a matter of time before it gets onto the HTC Touch HD…
Sony Ericsson has today announced they are in the process of creating their first Android handset, having joined the Open Handset Alliance.
And according to the CVP of Creation and Development, Rikko Sakaguchi, the phone could be part of the Cybershot, Walkman or even Xperia stables…
“We believe Sony Ericsson can bring a wealth of experience in making consumer focused multimedia handsets with new user experience to the Alliance drawing on the successes of the Walkman and Cyber-shot sub-brands. Sony Ericsson is a strong supporter of open operating systems and we believe the Open Handset Alliance offers an exciting opportunity for a new and unique user experience only Sony Ericsson can deliver.”
Sounds like there will be some pretty impressive flagship phones in the near future from Sony, and goes some way to explaining the kind words said about Android surrounding the Xperia’s launch event… The fact that Sony are clearly stating that Android will ‘compliment’ as opposed to replace their existing operating systems of Symbian and more recently Windows Mobile means that no-one is going to be left out in the cold following this announcement.
Exciting times!
Source: G1 News/Unofficial Sony Ericsson Blog
As the more perceptive of you may have noticed, this humble blog is merely flotsam riding on the back of the whacking great mobile phone comparison behemoth that is Omio.com.
And whilst doing our proper job, we noticed this morning that Google’s advertising system Adwords has added support for mobile devices with full (HTML) internet browsers. This means that canny advertisers can now use the same desktop adverts on both platforms, as well as specifically target only those that surf the web using mobile phones like Apple’s iPhone 3G and the T-Mobile G1 with relevant campaigns.
What does this mean? Mobile browsing is becoming kind of a big deal.
Let the nice lady explain things to you using easy words!
VERY clever. Did you see her distinct lack of mobile phone bias?
The Android / mobile advertising crossover is certainly well underway! This is definitely a contributing factor as to why the G1’s browsing experience is so slick…they want to transfer the quality of Google’s relevant and useful advertising as well as everything else onto mobile phones.
As long as the end user benefits, it’s all good we say!
Source: Google Mobile Blog
Apparently there’s something going on in London in 2012 that’s costing a whole bunch of money and has got a lot of people all excited.
Alas, the Omio budget doesn’t stretch to Olympic sponsorship, let-alone building our own velodrome. Anyhow, who wants to watch a bunch of men chase each other round-and-round on bicycles, when you could stay in and watch our own Ernest Doku go thumb-to-button with greatest phones on the planet?
We lined up 6 of the best smartphones: the Apple iphone; the Samsung Omnia; the T-Mobile G1; the HTC Touch HD; the HTC Touch Pro (win this in our Touch Pro give-away) and the Sony Ericsson Xperia X1. We gave Ernest a set text to type - twice on each handset - so that we could take an average time.
Want to see what happened when Ernest got typing? Check out the video…
More details of the contest after the jump
With all the Q3 2008 numbers finally in, it shows some exciting changes in the mobile phone industry!
Whilst overall phone shipments topped out at almost 40 million units over the third quarter, Samsung managed to overtake the inexplicably successful Motorola in the US, becoming the market leader for the first time. A combination of appealing new devices, cut-throat subsidies and shrewd marketing (off the back of a weak Korean currency allowing cheaper shipments) has managed to wrestle the Motorola RAZR’s death-grip on the US, and not a moment too soon!
Equally groundbreaking is that Apple has snatched second in the extremely competitive smartphone sector, overtaking BlackBerry with 17% of the market covered! It wasn’t all bad news for BlackBerry’s creators RIM though, who themselves have increased their share to 15%, from 10.2 in Q3 of 2007.
The losers? Well, all these market share increases make for sombre reading as far as Nokia is concerned, as other manufacturers chomp Pac-Man style into their huge piece of the smartphone pie. Their market share has declined by a small margin, but it comes as little surprise with their far reaching span of handsets for all regions.
With each of the big four manufacturers pretty much in control of their own operating systems (Nokia have Symbian, Apple and RIM devices run on proprietary software and Motorola uses Linux), it will be interesting to see if Android can muscle its way into what will be an increasingly tough area to penetrate.
Perhaps they have already targeted the unsteady one in the pack, with Motorola recently announcing plans to create an Android-powered device. Either way, 2009 will be a very interesting year in the mobile business, and Omio will keep you abreast of any developments!
Source: Information Week
There’s nothing like a bit of healthy competition, but many would argue that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has been downright mean about the Android mobile phone operating system from Google in recent days.
Well, he doesn’t seem to be stopping anytime soon, with his latest comments at the event day for Austrailian telecoms company Telstra. He called out the Android monetising strategy as being “financially unsound,” and questioned Google’s revenue plans for the platform.
“I don’t really understand their strategy. Maybe somebody else does. If I went to my shareholder meeting, my analyst meeting, and said: ‘Hey, we’ve just launched a new product that has no revenue model!’… I’m not sure that my investors would take that very well. But that’s kind of what Google’s telling their investors about Android,” Ballmer said.
Gawd bless those guys at XDA Developers. Whilst we sleep or watch Strictly Come Dancing of an evening (Rachel Stevens to win!) those guys are working hard to make great things happen, including getting Xperia panels running on regular phones and the like.
This time, they have managed to shoehorn Google’s new operating system Android (premiered on the T-Mobile G1) onto the touchscreen of an HTC Touch Diamond, usually staunch Windows Mobile territory!
Granted, there are some teething troubles which the following video depicts in unintentionally amusing fashion, but it is a great proof of concept and Android looks as impressive as ever on the Diamond’s high resolution screen!
How long before they get this running on the 3.8 inch jumbotron screen of the HTC Touch HD and beat T-Mobile to the G2 everyone’s been clamouring for? We give it about a week.
Source: CoolSmartPhone / XDA Developers
Telecommunications-company Sprint’s CEO has said that Android in its current state is not good enough to slap the Sprint brand on. Dan Hesse made the comment to the National Press Club in Washington. Strong words, Mr Hesse. Yes he’s not completely writing off the operating system, but Android is the most exciting thing to happen to mobile phones since someone almost dropped their iPhone last night. Sprint might be missing the Android boat if they fail to act early enough.
Compared to their rivals, Sprint has been struggling to attract new customers. A lovely Android handset could be just what the struggling-to-attract-new-customers-doctor ordered. Maybe one beautiful day Android could be good enough to put the Sprint brand on. Until then we’ll just have to settle for using it on a whole host of other providers.
P.S. I haven’t checked the file name on the source article’s image, but I have no idea who the picture is of. It’s probably someone related to Sprint. Or perhaps Omio is now the butt of a particularly cruel joke. Touché Hot Hardware, touché…
Source: Hot Hardware
In a playground fight writ large, Facebook has privately ‘dissed’ Android by not developing a version of their insanely successful social networking site for the platform.
Rumour has it that Google is still bitter at the Californian company after it pulled their hair at lunchtime chose Microsoft as a major investor and advertising partner, and they retaliated by kissing Facebook’s boyfriend creating the Open Social network.
So, according to TechCrunch, Facebook has no intentions of even entertaining the new system powering the T-Mobile G1, preferring to let the community do their work for free using APIs.
One of the Facebook sources was heard to have called Android ‘vapourware‘, whilst another commented: “Android sucks, it doesn’t matter.”
Real mature, guys. Just kiss and make up, you know you love each other really! Well, you both love money, and there is quite a bit to be made with Android in the future as more manufacturers pick it up.
Where my apps at? Here they are!
The Android Market has launched in tandem with the release of the T-Mobile G1, and has already got new owners downloading games and programs with glee. Well, a weather app and PacMan.
The developers will be able to add their copious wares to the Market on the 27th of October, once they have crossed Google’s palm with $25 they will become official creators, allowed to upload titles but also legally accountable for any naughty apps they may produce.
The great news for devs and consumers alike is that paid applications will be allowed onto the service from early 2009! This means that the big boys as well as enterprising individuals will get their feet wet in Android once the service becomes a financially viable prospect. This means a higher standard of titles all around (hopefully), but also a lot more ‘I Am Rich’ garbage too.
So just how much money can be made from a great idea on Android? Try 70% of app revenue! So the developer gets the lion’s share of profits, whilst the rest goes on admin and carrier fees and not a bean for Google. Poor guys.
Of course, the Android Market is still classed a Beta. It’s Google. With their Gmail beta sailing into its 64th year, expect the full version of the Marketplace around when the T-Mobile G6 lands and we’re all drinking space cola, wearing our shiny space suits.
Thankfully there will be tons more apps ready for the UK release, and Pocket Lint has provided us with this handy cut-out-and-keep guide, separaed by type :
