Posted 09/25/09 at 02:00:00 PM by Paul Lilly

According to Taylor Wimberly of AndroidAndMe.com, uber popular Android hacker who goes by the name of Cyanogen managed to ruffle some feathers over at Google. From the sound of things, the search giant is none too pleased with Cyanogen distributing their closed source Android apps (Market, Talk, Gmail, YouTube, and others) with his third-party CyanogenMod ROM.

Going by the chat log Wimberly posted on his site, Google has issued a cease and desist letter to Cyanogen, who laments that "CyanogenMod is probably going to be dead." It would be a shame if it came to that, as CyanogenMod is probably the most popular third-party Android ROM out there, and is actively being developed, somewhat of a rarity in the Android ROM community whose only compensation is user donations.

But all might not be lost. Cyanogen said he has opened up a dialog with Google.

"My argument is that I only develop for Google-experience devices which are already licensed for these apps," said Cyanogen. "So we'll see what they say. Maybe we can work something out."

So do we. Otherwise, this could be a blow to the entire Android ROM community, not just Cyanogen.

Save Cyanogen Petition App (free)
How To: Hack Your Android G1

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Posted 09/17/09 at 10:00:00 AM by Paul Lilly

Remember when T-Mobile's G1 was being billed as a potential iPhone killer? Powered by Google's Android platform, the open-source mobile OS was supposed to usher in the end of the iPhone OS era, and who knows, maybe someday it still will. But it won't be on the G1 (otherwise known as the HTC Dream), the chunky alternative that misses the mark of mobile greatness. But while the G1 might leave a lot to be desired out of the box, power users who aren't afraid to take matters into their own hands have the ability to significantly enhance the handset's capabilities.

On the following pages, we're going to show you how to hack your G1 the easy way so you can do things with your phone that other G1 owners only wish they could, like install apps to an SD card. And for you old school traditionalists who like to get your hands dirty, we'll also show how you to root your G1 the old fashioned way and wade through all the necessary code step-by-painstaking-step. After it's all said and done, we'll cover some of the most popular third-party ROMs and tell you which one we're rolling with.

Are you ready to hack? Grab your G1 and hit the jump to get started!

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Posted 09/07/09 at 12:52:01 PM by Paul Lilly

Determining how many Android apps are available for mass consumption has always been an exercise in guesstimation, but thanks to AdroLib -- a website where you can browser Android apps from your PC -- we now have a pretty good idea. According to AndroLib, Google's Android Market now sits at a little over 10,000 strong.

That's a far cry from the 70,000 or so apps available to iPhone and iPod Touch owners through Apple's App Store, but consider that back in May of this year, T-Mobile CTO Cole Brodman said there are about 2,300 Android apps available for the platform. The rapid growth bodes well for the future of Android, and it also helps that there are a ton more free apps then there are paid ones.

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Posted 06/17/09 at 04:05:30 PM by Pulkit Chandna

Scandinavian developer SPRX mobile has developed Layar, an augmented reality browser for 3G phones, which it claims is unprecedented. Despite the company’s we-have-the-first-AR-browser rant, Layar is in fact the world’s second AR browser. The first being Wikitude AR, which provides users with location-based Wikipedia and Qype content using the phone’s GPS, camera and compass. But Wikitude AR is certainly short on features when compared with Layar. 

Layar lets users browse their milieu using their 3G handset’s GPS, compass and camera. It furnishes realtime information about the user’s surrounding, which is presented as screen overlays and can be used to find hotels, bars, ATMs, properties for sale, jobs and a lot more. The idea is that all that meets your phone’s camera has a story of its own. It is only available for Android devices in the Netherlands.

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Posted 05/20/09 at 02:30:28 PM by Paul Lilly

A couple of announcements surfaced today, one each for both of the smartphone heavyweights - Apple's iPhone and T-Mobile's G1. If you own, or are considering, one or the other, keep reading.

Amazon Updates Kindle App for iPhone

Score a win for iPhone owners, who now have an improved Kindle app to mess around with. Now in version 1.1, the updated release addresses a few customer complaints, one of them being that users can now read in either portrait or landscape mode. And to make reading easier, you can now change the background and text color combination. Other changes include tap support for turning pages, and multi-touch pinch to zoom in on images.

G1 'Cupcake' Update Pushed Back Until June

G1 owners who have been anxiously awaiting the much anticipated  'Cupcake' update (Android 1.5) will have to wait a little longer. What was originally supposed to be an "early May" release looked like it was finally going to start trickling out this week in the U.S., but word has come down that the update has been delayed at least one more week.

"We are working diligently to get Android 1.5 out as soon as possible, while aiming to ensure a consistent, positive experience for our customers," a T-Mobile forum moderator announced. "We're finalizing this build this week to ensure optimal functionality and smooth delivery. Therefore, the rollout schedule has been reset by approximately a week, and we expect all G1 customers will have the update by early June."

Barring any last minute changes, Android 1.5 will add on-screen keyboard support with auto-correction, text prediction, user dictionaries, and third-party keyboard layouts, live folders, folder shortcuts for YouTube favorites, starred contacts, MPEG4 and 3GP video playback, stereo Bluetooth, a new Linux kernel, browser enhancements, and several other goodies.

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Posted 04/05/09 at 12:46:06 PM by Justin Kerr

In a flooded smart phone market, Google’s open source approach was a refreshing change, especially given the state of martial law many iPhone user’s live under. But with the removal of the tethering application from the mobile store, many users are starting to question just how open the platform really is. In defense of its actions, Google was forced to cite a passage from its distribution agreement with T-Mobile.

“Google enters into distribution agreements with device manufacturers and Authorized Carriers to place the Market software client application for the Market on Devices. These distribution agreements may require the involuntary removal of Products in violation of the Device manufacturer’s or Authorized Carrier’s terms of service”

When you pair this up with T-Mobiles terms of service which forbids tethering, Google suddenly appears to be legally bound to ban the application. This does however make us wonder what the future of Android will look like on other carriers. Will this lead to carrier specific app stores in the future? Users who purchase unlocked phones and use them on other carriers which permit tethering will probably want access to these types of applications. The big question is will they be able to?

What do you think the future holds?  

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Posted 03/26/09 at 05:42:20 AM by Pulkit Chandna

Though the browsing experience on cellphones has come up by leaps and bounds, a lot of work still needs to be done. Another considerable step forward would be full-fledged Flash functionality on cellphones. It is something that figures high on Adobe’s list of priorities. In fact, it is busy developing Flash ports for major mobile platforms.

Now it appears as though a Flash port for the Android platform may become available sooner than expected as another company  is also developing one.

Embedded software company Bsquare has announced that it is going to “port Adobe’s Flash technology onto Google’s Android platform for a global Tier 1 carrier.” The announcement doesn’t mention the name of the carrier.

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Posted 03/19/09 at 01:34:27 PM by David Murphy

So you've just downloaded that hip new open-source replacement for your favorite paid-for application and you're ready to crack it open and unleash all the awesome community-driven features contained inside.  Well, if this application is Songbird, you might want to hold off for a moment.  A recent blog post by the application's developers has revealed that the media player's iPod add-on does more than just transfer music to your device.  It also has the potential to corrupt or otherwise delete music straight from your hardware device.  Yikes!

Bugs are the bane of any software, but they can especially affect the open-source world in unpleasant ways.  Read on to find out what we mean -- but first, unplug your iPod!

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