Tag: Android

Jelly Bean Now Installed On 45% Of Active Android Devices

After a couple years of handing on by a small percentage, both Eclair and Donut (Android 1.6 and 2.1) have both jumped ship from Google’s monthly Android distribution chart. The main reason for this is the new version of Google’s new Play Store app, which only supports devices running OS 2.2 or higher. Google does note that Eclair and Donut accounted for “about 1% of devices that checked in to Google servers.”

Digging deeper into the the September numbers reveals Jelly Bean is on 45.1% of active devices, up from 40.5% last month. Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich dipped by one percent to 21.7%. Missing from the list is the newly released Android 4.3 Jelly Bean, but since more devices will become available over the next few weeks we’ll certainly see this flavour make itself known.

Since Honeycomb has all but vanished, with less than 0.1% of devices, it’s safe to say that the remaining festering sore on Android’s record is Gingerbread. Android 2.3 still comprises 30.7% of all active users, with Froyo at a quickly-diminishing 2.4%. Many developers have cut off those pre-ICS Luddites, requiring Android 4.0 and above as a minimum, but until Gingerbread disappears, there will continue to be a division between modern apps — those that take advantage of Android’s newest and most effective APIs, and those that simply cannot. Most devices still running Gingerbread don’t support the newest versions of OpenGL, and lack GPU-based acceleration within apps.

September 5, 2013
Is this the Nexus 5 ? Google slips up in its own video

Earlier today Google Announced the new version of Android 4.4 aka Android KitKat. During the video unveil of the new statue at the campus, a Google employee seen in the green shirt above seems to be hold a unique device which appears to be bigger than the Nexus 4 seen on the right being held by the woman. The word Nexus is spelled out in a different direction, the camera seems different, and it looks bigger than the Nexus 4, but it appears to have an LG logo on the bottom. Could this be the next nexus aka Nexus 5?. Google has stuck its guns for the Nexus 7 and continued production for the Nexus 7 with Asus, so LG may as well be next manufacturer for the Nexus 5.

Google has removed the official video from the company’s Youtube channel, sort of confirming the misappropriated leak, but you can see a version of it below and decide for yourself.

[youtube id=”hn795s9h8n8″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

September 4, 2013
“KitKat” will be the next version of Google’s OS : Android 4.4
After the previous minor upgrade retained the “Ice Cream Sandwich” moniker, the next version of Android OS aka Android 4.4 will be called KitKat. Google’s SVP Sundar Pichai has just confirmed by posting the image of the statue across the social networks.

“It’s our goal with Android KitKat to make an amazing Android experience available for everybody. :- Google

The company is remaining mum on the project and on what new features the new name will bring. Google has also already worked out a no money agreement with Nestle for the name sans a space in the middle, hence, KitKat vs the original Kit Kat. Google SVP Pichai also announced that there are now over one billion Android device activations, surpassing the 900 million mark back in May this year.

The list of Android versions incase you have not kept up
1. Cupcake (1.5)
2. Donut (1.6)
3. Eclair (2.0)
4. Froyo (2.2)
5. Gingerbread (2.3)
6. Honeycomb (3.0)
7. Ice Cream Sandwich (4.0)
8. Jelly Bean (4.1-4.3).
9. KitKat (4.4)
The deal between Nestle and Google closed within 24 hours of the first phone call to the confectionary manufacturer.

John Lagerling, director of Android global partnerships, also confirmed that his team did originally consider “Key Lime Pie” as a potential name for Android after Jelly Bean, but the issue was “very few people actually know the taste of a key lime pie.” The BBC reports that there will be more than 50 million Kit Kats promoting the Android mascot in 19 markets (including Brazil, India, Japan and Russia).

Watch a fun video by Nestle below.

[youtube id=”OKOrkLxOBoY” width=”100%” height=”300px”]

[toggle title=”Press Release”]Google has ended months of online speculation about the name of the latest version of its Android mobile operating system by revealing it will be called ‘Android KitKat’, after Nestlé’s popular chocolate and wafer confectionery.

The creators of the world’s most popular mobile platform have teamed up with the world’s biggest food and beverage company to name the next release of the platform ‘Android KitKat’.

Sweet themes

Android has been developed by the company’s engineers under sweet-themed names ever since the release of Android Cupcake in 2009 and continuing in alphabetical order until the most recent version, Android Jelly Bean.

The news that the letter ‘K’ will be dedicated to Nestlé’s KitKat will surprise most technology commentators, who had widely thought the latest version would be ‘Android Key Lime Pie’.

“We couldn’t imagine a better name for our Android K release than the tasty chocolate that’s been a favourite among the team since the early days of Android,” said Marc Vanlerberghe, Director of Android Marketing.

Strong digital presence

“We’re excited to announce this partnership with Android, the world’s most popular mobile platform, which will help us to enable even more KitKat fans to enjoy their break,” said Patrice Bula, Nestlé’s Head of Marketing.

“KitKat is one of the world’s top ten fast-moving consumer goods brands in social media in terms of fan numbers and engagement,” he continued. “We continue to build on its strong digital presence with interactive, creative branding campaigns.”

To mark the release of Android KitKat, more than 50 million specially branded KitKat bars will be available in 19 countries including Australia, Brazil, Germany, India, Japan, Dubai, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States.

The packs will lead consumers to the website android.com/kitkat where they will have the opportunity to win prizes including a limited number of Google Nexus 7 tablets, and credits to spend in Google Play, Google’s online store for apps, games, music, movies, books and more.

A small number of Android robot-shaped KitKat bars will also be offered as prizes in selected markets.

Closer to consumers

Nestlé’s branding partnership with Google is the company’s latest move in its ambition to leverage digital technology and online content to get closer to its consumers to better understand and cater to their preferences.

Earlier this year, Nestlé acquired its first-ever piece of online content property, the Petfinder website in the United States. The online database, which links prospective adopters with adoptable pets, is visited by more than 100 million pet-lovers annually.[/toggle]
September 4, 2013
BBM for Android gets shown of in a Video

Event though the BBM for iOS and Android has not yet arrived, videos are starting to leak out and that is a good sign. Folks over at BlackberryOS have got hold of a test video of the new BBM for Android and it might just live up to the hype. Apart from the swipe in from the sides to chose chats and setting, the video shows the ability to transfer contacts through NFC, which is good sign that the messaging app will make the most of these the new features that are present in Android Devices.

Let us know below what you think.

September 3, 2013
IFA 2013 : Acer DA241HL All-In-One Android PC Introduced

Acer has unveiled interesting all-in-one computer that fans of the Android operating system may find very interesting. The DA241HL is the AiO in question, packing a NVIDIA Tegra 3 quad-core processor.

The Acer DA241HL is being touted for its combination of the Android Jelly Bean 4.2 operating system and Nvidia Tegra 3 quad-core CPU. By opting for Android instead of Windows, the DA241HL offers an experience that Android-tablet users will find familiar, complete with apps and media from Google, easy syncing with smartphones and tablets, and a more powerful processor than those found in most tablets and phones. The Android All-in-One is also family-friendly, supporting up to five separate users, complete with personal customization and apps.

“It’s designed to offer users the same familiar experience as with tablets and smartphones,” the company said. “The Tegra processing power provides access to the top sold [sic] games and features on Google Play that are not supported or slow to play with other processors.”

Interestingly, Acer has not mentioned how much storage the Acer DA241HL will have to offer, which is certainly something potential buyers may be interested in.

Other features include MHL connectivity (for smartphone connections), HDMI and USB support and a tilting angle of 20 to 75 degrees for “comfortable touch experience.”

The Acer DA241HL can connect to Windows 8 PC via HDMI or USB, in which case it becomes a monitor with 2-point multitouch. Pricing and availability for the Acer DA241HL are unannounced at this time.

September 2, 2013
Google Completes Play Services 3.2 Rollout

Google just finished rolling out its Google Play Services 3.2 update, affecting anyone who uses a device running Android 2.2 Froyo or later.

You may recognize the container in your app drawer, the green Google icon with the cog on top, where within you can adjust settings pertaining to location, Play Games, Android Device Manager and more.

According to a blog post on the Android Developer Blog, the update also contains some important behind the scenes additions, such as hardware-based GPS geofencing on devices that support it. When paired with a location-based app, this allows apps to use far less battery when engaging the GPS, while maintaining a precise lock on a user’s position. Also included is the new Fused Location Provider, which also significantly boosts battery life when location is needed.

Google+ sign-in has been fleshed out to include something called simplified sharing control, which cuts the steps needed for a developer to share to Google+.

Photo Sphere now has a compass mode in the Play Services update that allows users to explore these images by moving their phone or tablet and the InstantBuy implantation has been improved with goodies to include increased efficiency, improved latency, a cleaner UI and more. Bottom line here, while some of these items are aimed more towards the developers — the end users should be happy to learn that Google is working to improve the battery life of your devices.

While these features may not matter to the average Android user, one universal benefit should be improved battery life across all devices.

To learn more about Google Play services and the APIs available to you through it, visit the Google Services area of the Android Developers site.

[Via]

August 21, 2013
Intex Adds to Affordable “Cloud” Range With Cloud X4 and Cloud Y2 Smartphones
Intex has launched two new affordable smartphones in the “Cloud” range, the Intex Cloud X4 and Intex Cloud Y2, priced at Rs. 4,590 (Cloud X4) and Rs. 6,190 (Cloud Y2). The new phones are based on Android 4.2 Jelly Bean OS, Cloud X4 flaunts a screen size of 3.5 inches while Cloud Y2 sports a 4.0 inch screen. The handsets are equipped with 1 GHz and 1.2 GHz dual core processor respectively. Both phones have capacitive multi-touch displays, dual SIM support and dual camera capabilities.

Intex has sold over 4 lacs Smartphones in last quarter and planning to sell 3 million this fiscal year. This widespread acceptance is testimony to our differentiated and rich product portfolio, which is backed by a strong service and support network. Our latest offerings in the ‘Cloud’ series offer an enhanced mobility experience to users who demand the best of features and performance from their smartphones and are economical too.”

: said Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, GM-Mobility Division, Intex Technologies (I) Ltd.

Cloud X4

Cloud X4:
Cloud Y2

Cloud Y2:
Both the phones will come with Pre-loaded apps that, include Intex Play, Intex Life Box, Intex zone, Intex movies, YouTube, Facebook, Skype and Hungama.
August 19, 2013
2013 Nexus 7 Users Report Buggy Multitouch, Google Is Investigating

Google launched the new Nexus 7 in the market recently and previously we covered that users are facing problems with the GPS in the tablet, it seems that the Nexus 7 is into the the trouble picture again, as per the new reports the Nexus 7 has some issue with its 1920 x 1200 display.

The video clip below demonstrates the bug , where touch targets are sporadically jumping around the screen, occasionally reversed and sometimes registered as a storm of semi-random taps.

[youtube id=”MYGd7GFVqB0″ width=”100%” height=”300px”]

Over the past few weeks, chatter on the XDA Developers and Google Product forums suggests it’s fairly common, with a response from Google on the latter stating: “The Android team is aware of this issue and investigating.”

While Google is still investigating this is the second problem that came up for the Nexus 7.

[via]

August 13, 2013
Android Occupies Nearly 80% of Smartphone Market, iOS 13%

Apple’s iOS is losing ground to Android when it comes to smartphone operating system market share, according to a new report from research firm IDC. Apple’s share of worldwide smartphone shipments dropped to 13.2% during the second quarter of 2013, while Android climbed to 79.3%.

The loss in market share is of course attributed to the lack of new product launches during the three month period, as was the case with IDC’s report on tablet market share earlier this week. But it’s also losing ground to both Android and Windows Phone, both of which increased market share and shipments year-over-year during Q2.

“The iOS decline in the second quarter aligns with the cyclicality of iPhone,” says Ramon Llamas, Research Manager with IDC’s Mobile Phone team. “Without a new product launch since the debut of the iPhone 5 nearly a year ago, Apple’s market share was vulnerable to product launches from the competition. But with a new iPhone and revamped iOS coming out later this year, Apple is well-positioned to re-capture market share.”

Available on a growing range of Nokia and HTC devices, Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system was launched late last year and has continued to make third place its own, while BlackBerry continues to fall. Windows comes in at 3.7% during the second quarter of 2013, up 77.6% from its 3.1% share during Q2 2012.

[Via]

August 7, 2013
LG G2 Images Leak Ahead Of Official Launch

LG is all set to unveil its new flagship smartphone G2 at an event in New York later on Wednesday, but that hasn’t stopped the device from making ‘another’ appearance.

Evleaks has posted some images of the LG G2. The latest leaked images are in line with the previous leak and shows nothing new. One of the image shows the front panel of the yet to be announced smartphone that shows the 5.2-inch display with thin bezel at the sides, the back panel shows the rear camera along with an LED flash, power key and volume keys.

The LG G2 is rumoured to be powered by a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, 2 GB of RAM and a 13-megapixel rear camera. The smartphone is also expected to be so thin that it features back-mounted volume controls, instead of ones on the side. It is likely to sport a 5.2-inch full-HD display and would run on Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

LG G2

Earlier, LG also released a teaser video featuring the G2. The video ended with a teaser of the black round-edged device that clearly showed the rear camera with up and down arrows above and below it.

The company is aggressively promoting the handset globally with ad campaigns hitting the web and TV in various parts of the world.

With this the company also unveiled a series of colorful Quick Window cases for its upcoming smartphone. The company announced that the all new line of premium cases for the LG G2 will be available at the same time as the smartphone. The cases will be available in seven different colors that include Black, White, Pink, Purple, Blue, Mint and Yellow.

[via]

August 7, 2013
Report : Sony Xperia Tablet Z Receiving Android 4.2.2 Update

Even though the Sony Xperia Tablet Z was released in early July in India, it came preloaded with Android 4.1.2 Jelly Bean, retaining some of the legacy Android tablet features that Google did away with in Android 4.2 and the Nexus 10.

It appears that some variants of the Tablet Z are already being updated to Android 4.2.2, though it seems that the Indian version is currently not among them.

The most immediately obvious change in Android 4.2.2 is the relocation of the onscreen navigation buttons to the centre middle on the Xperia Tablet Z, mimicking the Nexus 10. The notification bar has been moved to where phone users would expect it: the top of the screen. While this isn’t stock Android 4.2, it’s the closest you’ll find in a non-Nexus tablet.

It’s not clear what else Sony added to the new version, but one can expect standard features found in 4.2 like lockscreen widgets, performance improvements and a number of bug fixes.

August 5, 2013
Xolo Play T1000 Nvidia Tegra 3 phone Unboxing and Hands On Review – iGyaan

August 3, 2013
Jelly Bean Now On 40% Of Android Devices

Each month, Google posts the breakdown of its Android versions, ostensibly for developers to see which ones they can target with their apps.

As of August 1st, over 40% of users run Jelly Bean and, combined with Ice Cream Sandwich, 63% of users run phones with Android 4.0 or above. While this is not necessarily the target we’re looking for — over 90% of iOS users run the latest version, according to Apple — it indicates that Google has largely stabilized the fragmentation issue.

Gingerbread is holding fairly steady at 33%, dropping only 1.1% from the previous month. In fact, Ice Cream Sandwich also dropped from last month as more devices were upgraded to Jelly Bean, both in the 4.1 and 4.2 flavours. Google’s now next-to-newest version, Android 4.2, is only running on 6.5% of devices, and some of them would have been upgraded to 4.3 in the past week or so.

Unfortunately, Android 1.6, 2.1 and 2.2 still exist, though their numbers are dwindling as users replace their phones with newer models.

The big takeaway from this is that developers can now soundly target Android 4.0+ without worrying that they’re alienating the entire ecosystem, something that couldn’t be said a year ago.

August 2, 2013
BBM Beta testing for Android and iOS Begins (All slots full)

A few folks lucky enough at the BlackBerry’s Beta Zone have been given the ability to test out BBM Beta for Android devices. Once registered at the beta zone, all one needs is an Android Device running Android 4.0 and up.

The program is not available for everyone, but if you have received an email like the one shown above, you’ll find it available under Eligible Programs. Much like it will be when it goes official, the beta version of BBM for Android requires v4.0 (Ice Cream Sandwich); while the BBM beta for iPhone requires iOS 6 as a minimum requirement.

[Via]

August 2, 2013
Prince of Persia: The Shadow And The Flame Arrive For iOS And Android

Ubisoft today released the legendary Prince of Persia franchise back to mobile devices with Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame. Available to download now, Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame is compatible with iPad, iPhone and iPod touch as well as on Android devices.

The mobile adaptation takes place 11 days after the conclusion of the original Prince of Persia, and the remake will include both gesture-based and virtual joystick controls over 14 levels. Prince of Persia: The Shadow and the Flame will also ship with GameCenter leaderboards on iOS, “brand-new visuals” created for its mobile rebirth and a new combat system that arms players with a new combo system and pits them against multiple enemies.

The original Prince of Persia game released in 1993 and then re-released as a 3D version in 2007, but the entire franchise has nearly a dozen versions of the action-adventure game with a focus on different incarnations of the eponymous prince.

Ubisoft announced the remake in April. The Prince’s latest adventure is available on iTunes, Amazon, and Google Play for $2.99.

July 26, 2013