Posted 11/19/08 at 03:33:32 PM by Andy Salisbury

At a series of press events over the past few days Adobe has unveiled a brand new version of flash aimed directly at smartphones. The new version of Flash is optimized to work with ARM processors (like the one used in the iPhone).

So long as your smartphone has a processor clock speed of at least 200MHz and 16MB of RAM, it should be able to run the new Flash. It’s also mentioned that a “completely capable browser” is required, but given the phones that it’s meant for, there shouldn’t be any issues.

Google’s G1 is expected to get the update soon, among others. Whether it’ll be simply downloaded by the phone itself or updated in-store is yet to be revealed.

While many other smartphone vendors are prominent when it comes to excitement about the possibility of Flash on their phones, Apple isn’t. Steve Jobs has mentioned that Flash “performs too slow to be useful” on the extremely popular iPhone. To many this seems like a match made in heaven, but Apple has politely snubbed that notion.

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apple, Smartphone, Google, iphone, flash, Adobe, consumer electronics, g1

Posted 10/28/08 at 11:31:24 AM by Paul Lilly

The next time you're out shopping for toilet paper, kitty treats, motor oil, and a gigantic jar of pickles, you can add a G1 Android-powered smartphone to your list and save money on that too, all without ever having to leave the store. That is, provided you're shopping at Wal-Mart.

Starting Wednesday, the mega-chain will begin selling the G1 phone to both new and existing T-Mobile customers in 550 of its stores, but there's more reason to buy the phone at Wal-Mart than just convenience. According to Wal-mart spokeswoman Melissa O'Brien, the G1 will run $149 for new customers, or $31 less than what you'd pay T-Mobile, who's selling the same phone for $180.

For those of you just coming out of a coma, the G1 is the first Google Android-powered smartphone on the market. Demand for the phone with an open-source OS has been high, with an estimated 1.5 million units already sold through pre-order sales.

Plan on picking one up? Hit the jump and sound off.

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mobile, Smartphone, wal-mart, Cellular, android, g1

Posted 10/27/08 at 02:19:36 PM by Alex Castle

For shame, Google. The G1 has barely even launched, and it’s already faced with its first major breach. An exploit has been discovered by an independent security expert which could potentially allow hackers to hijack the web browser on the G1, allowing them access to users’ passwords, cookies and text messages.

The exploit was discovered by Charlie Miller of Independent Security Evaluators, who first noticed the hole in the Android SDK. He bought an early G1 off a T-Mobile employee on eBay, confirmed that the exploit worked on the real deal, and reported the problem to Google two days before the G1 launched.

The exploit takes advantage of a buffer overrun flaw in one of Androids 80 open-source components. Android uses an out-of-date version of the component, newer versions have addressed the flaw. To protect G1 early-adopters, Miller hasn’t publicized which of the 80 components is the one with the weakness.

Google’s response? “We are working with T-Mobile to include a fix for the browser exploit, which will soon be delivered over the air to all devices, and have addressed this in the Android open-source platform.”

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Security, mobile, Google, exploit, android, g1

Posted 10/20/08 at 06:44:20 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Corporate honchos often abuse earnings calls – and other similar events - for making grandiloquent claims and promises. Google co-founder Sergey Brin used Google’s third quarter earnings calls to broadcast his partisan review of the T-Mobile G1. He went gaga over the G1.

Brin said that he has been using a G1 as his primary phone for a few months now. He pointed out a few of the endearing qualities of the G1, while omitting any possible shortcomings. “I'm able to search and browse through my Gmail just as if I was at my desktop,” said Brin. He also praised its web browser and, finally, encouraged people to try the first Android phone themselves.

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Software, phone, android, t-mobile, htc dream, g1, smart phone

Posted 10/05/08 at 05:09:19 AM by Pulkit Chandna

For Android to be a force to be reckoned with, the first Android-based phone has to be a success. T-Mobile is very optimistic about the sales prospects of its upcoming G1 - the maiden Android phone - which will become available on October 22, 2008.  The service provider expects the Android-based G1 to take the market by storm.

It plans to order between 1.5 and 2 million G1 phones from Taiwanese manufacturer HTC, according to a report by Taiwanese news portal CENS.

The report goes further to reveal that T-Mobile expects to sell 400-500 K phones this year itself. According to crude analysis and extrapolation, T-Mobile is going to subsidize the phone by $300.

If the company can actually sell the G1 at the gait it hopes it can, Android would certainly become mobile OS to be reckoned with.

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phone, android, t-mobile, g1, smart phone, mobile phone

Posted 09/28/08 at 07:10:12 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Taiwan-based HTC might be committed to the progress of Android but it hasn’t forgotten Windows Mobile - its favorite mobile platform. Not that it has the luxury of forsaking Windows Mobile. It happens to be the leading manufacturer of Windows Mobile-based devices in the world.

The company’s CMO John Wang said that Android and Windows Mobile can coexist. However, Wang let it be known as to where HTC’s allegiance actually lies. He stated that Windows Mobile will continue to be most important for the company.  This statement appears to be targeted at Microsoft rather than the average smartphone consumer.

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mobile, Smartphone, windows mobile, android, pda, htc, g1, dream