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Mobile Game Devs Cutting Back on Android Investment

Pulkit Chandna — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 17:42:38 -0600

As one of the leading developers of games for mobile phones, Gameloft wields considerable clout. The France-based games developer has decided to cut back on the development of games for Google's Android platform just like other developers. According to Gameloft finance director Alexandre de, the Android Market is not all that conducive to paid applications.

He revealed that his company sells "400 times more games on iPhone than on Android." But with the number of Android-based phones growing with each passing day, it will be difficult for games developers to completely ignore the platform. However, there are a lot of issues that Google will have to address, if it wants Android to be taken seriously as a games platform.

Image Credit: Erenumerique.fr

Rumor Mill: What if the Google Phone is Data-only?

Bart Salisbury — Wed, 18 Nov 2009 16:38:56 -0600

Michael Arrington, of TechCrunch, is not giving up. Google, according to him, is readying to release its own Android phone. Google says no. IntoMobile, Daring Fireball, and PC World all say no. But Arrington still says yes.

Why? Because Google’s Andy Rubin said there will be no Google phone. That’d seem pretty conclusive, despite the practice of companies’ denying the existence of a product until the product actually ships. But there’s a loophole here that Arrington sniffs out. And it has to do with with the simple question: when is a phone not a phone?

Answer: when it’s a data device. Arrington suspects the focus on a phone as a phone is where others have it wrong. After all, a data device is capable of carrying voice over VoIP. Which makes any computer equipped with Skype, for example, a phone while not being a phone. Arrington points out that Google even said as much when it was bidding for chunks of the 700 Mhz spectrum back in 2007.

Arrington says his sources tell him AT&T is bidding on a service. Google would make block purchases of data from AT&T, and will sell access to purchasers of its data device. Conditions will apply, Arrington suspects, as the target price is $20 a month. He also suggests that U.S. GSM carriers, as well as TMobile, could support the device.

Image Credit: financialaliyah

Number of Android Devices Has Devs Worried

Ryan Whitwam — Tue, 17 Nov 2009 21:02:31 -0600

It’s been just over a year since Android was released, and we’re finally seeing the floodgates open. There are currently no fewer than 12 Android phones available and still more coming soon. While this may make Android fans out there giddy with excitement, it’s not so thrilling for app developers.

There are 3 versions on Android in the wild: 2.0, 1.6, and 1.5. Developers increasingly find themselves devoting time to patching incompatibilities with new Android handsets. “Instead of working on updates to our apps, we find we are trying to make each app work for multiple versions of the OS and different hardware capabilities,” said Froogloid’s Chris Fagan.

The modifications some manufacturers are making to Android complicate things even further. The recent;y released HTC Hero, for example, was incompatible with Froogloid’s application ‘a2b’. When a2b attempted to enable GPS using standard commands, the Hero would instead respond by presenting the lock screen. The new Motorola Droid also had a few incompatibilities due to the high screen resolution and new Android 2.0 APIs.

Can Android overcome this fragmentation? The solution may be to keep phones more uniformly updated. But that requires better cooperation between hardware partners and Google. Only time will tell if Android’s ecosystem can continue to grow more robust despite these challenges.

Android 2.0 Source Code Released

Paul Lilly — Mon, 16 Nov 2009 09:00:32 -0600

At long last, Google has finally released the source code for Android 2.0 (codenamed Eclair). Motorola's Droid is the only smartphone currently shipping that's built around the latest version, but now that Eclair's out in the wild, expect to see plenty more handset makers jump on board.

The release is also great news for the Android modding community, many of which have been eagerly awaiting the update. Modding guru Steve Kondik, otherwise popularly known as "Cyanogen," stated in a Twitter message that he's already gotten Eclair to run on his HTC G1 smartphone, noting that "it runs really well, fast, and smooth. Audio and video not working yet, though."

So what's the big deal? Android 2.0 is the most significant update to Google's open source platform to date. Just a few of the added features include native Exchange support, search functionality for all saved SMS and MMS messages, more camera options (built-in flash, digital zoom, white balance, and so forth), an improved virtual keyboard, multi-touch support, and more. This could be the OS that finally gives Apple's iPhone OS a run for its money.

Samsung Preparing its Own Mobile OS: “Bada”

Jason Barry — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 17:50:32 -0600

Samsung announced today that it would throw its hat into the mobile OS's ring with “Bada.” Samsung’s new OS name is based on the Korean word for “ocean” and will support fully open standards.

Samsung was skimpy on the details, but it sounds very similar to the iPhone and Android operating systems. It will feature a central application store and provide developers with a framework to build applications for the device. In stark contrast to the iPhone, Samsung claims that every aspect of the OS will be customizable, including dialer, contacts and other built in utilities.

Samsung anticipates the first “Bada” powered device to be released in the first half of 2010 along with the application store. Adding another OS into the mix might make gaining market share difficult against Google and Apple. However, this likely means Samsung won’t be sporting a new Windows Mobile OS.

Google Buys Mobile Advertising Company AdMob for $750 Million

Ryan Whitwam — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 20:48:19 -0600

Mobile advertising is about to get a lot more Googly. Search giant Google has announced that they have purchased mobile advertiser AdMob for a healthy $750 million. Ads powered by the small startup have been seen in numerous apps on the iPhone and Android platforms.

AdMob was started in 2006 by Omar Hamoui, and has grown into a major player in mobile advertising. Google points out that the mobile world is becoming as increasingly important part of our daily lives. As such, Google would like to advertise to us in that part of our lives.

Google said in a blog post that app developers will enjoy better monetization of their content because of this deal. They also promise advertisers a more engaged audience. Finally, Google says we can all enjoy the benefits of better mobile ads delivering more useful information, because who doesn’t like ads?

Acer Liquid A1 is Quick on Google's Platform

Paul Lilly — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:59:31 -0600

While the mobile world drools over Droid, there's another smartphone that has a shot of stealing a few headlines. We're talking about Acer's upcoming Liquid A1, which is expected to ship in Europe within the next few weeks.

The Liquid A1 is the first Android-based smartphone to be built around Qualcomm's Snapdragon chipset. And even though the CPU has been downclocked to 768MHz, that's a lot more pep than most Android phones are boasting.

Oddly, Acer has decided not to step up to Android 2.0 (Eclair), and the Liquid A1 will instead run on Android 1.6 (Donut). That puts it a generation behind the Droid and other upcoming Android 2.0 smartphones, although this could change by the time the A1 ships. We also wouldn't rule out a software update after the fact, although Acer has spent some time tweaking "a new user interface with easy access to entertainment and web bookmarks."

No word yet on price or when this one's expected to land in the U.S.

Image Credit: Acer

Sony Ericsson Dips Its Toes in the Android Pond

Pulkit Chandna — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 17:51:01 -0600

Sony Ericsson today published the specs and a video of the Xperia X10, its debut Android smartphone, which was hitherto known by its code name “Rachel”. It can be expected to be a guaranteed fixture on the list of the most powerful Android phones by the virtue of its 1GHz Snapdragon processor.

As for the software, the X10 will run Android 1.6 Donut. In addition to apps found on the Android Marketplace, apps for this phone will also be available through Sony Ericsson’s PlayNow arena service. The X10 will feature a 4-inch TFT touchscreen, an 8MP camera with LED flash, WiFi, A-GPS and 3G. The company is expected to release the X10 in the first quarter of 2010.

Image Credit: Sony Ericsson