Articles about Android

In late 2010, information technology company Oracle sued Google for unlawfully using Java to power the Android mobile operating system. Oracle claimed the popular operating system violated seven of its fundamental Java patents, and the two companies began a long courtroom battle which yesterday came to a crossroads over copyrights.

Jurors sitting in on the trial in the District Court of the Northern District of California rendered a partial verdict on Monday, agreeing that Oracle had successfully proven Google's infringement upon the overall structure, sequence and organization of its Java copyrights.

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I must really be asleep at the wheel. How could I have possibly missed this nearly week-old sales data: iPhone's fourth-quarter sales surge against Android was a blip on the screen. Chock it up to iPhone 4S launch combined with the saddest of sales motivators: Rock star's death halo, where album sales soar following an artist's death, or in this case iPhone following Apple cofounder Steve Jobs' tragic passing. Perhaps you have another reason. Regardless, sales don't lie.

Android smartphone OS market share, as measured in actual sales to people (and not shipments to stores), reached 61 percent during Q1 compared to a measly 29 percent for iOS/iPhone. That's a dramatic turnabout from fourth quarter when Android led by a narrower margin -- 48 percent to 43 percent. Still, like fourth quarter, the top-three selling smartphones were iPhone, iPhone and iPhone, as in 4S, 4 and 3GS in that order.

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In the continuing stream of "sequels" to popular Android smartphones, HTC and Verizon Wireless on Monday announced the Droid Incredible 4G LTE, the follow-up to the popular Droid Incredible, which launched at this time two years ago.

Part of what made the first Droid Incredible a hit was its price-to-performance ratio. For $199, the phone offered a high megapixel camera, a good processor speed, and an acceptable screen. HTC appears to have stuck to this balance with the Droid Icredible 4G LTE, while adding the namesake LTE radio.

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I really like reviewing products, but don’t have the time or patience to measure battery life or benchmark the CPU, etc. I'm more interested in how a product like Galaxy Tab 2 7.0 fits in the scheme of things. How it suits real people.

So far, I think this tablet has gotten an unfair shake among major media. But the reviews at shopping sites tell the real story. This is a nice little tablet. The price is right, too, and it comes with Android 4.0 (aka Ice Cream Sandwich).

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Leading Android smartphone maker Samsung on Thursday announced the latest installment in its two-year old line of Galaxy S smartphones, the Galaxy S III.

Here are the specs, straight from Samsung:

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Google on Wednesday announced that it has added carrier billing to the entire selection of content (apps, music, movies, and books) in its Google Play marketplace in seven countries. Participating carriers now let subscribers charge their Google Play purchases directly to their monthly phone bill.

The countries and network operators that will offer total carrier billing include:

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That's the question I'm asking after looking over comScore US mobile subscriber data for the three months ending in March. After years of steady, steep declines, Windows Phone subscriber share held steady from February to March, which perhaps not coincidentally is when Nokia Lumia 900 went on sale. Could it be...

comScore measures subscribers 13 years and older. Microsoft mobile share among smartphone subscribers held steady at 3.9 percent month-on-month, the first real stop in drop in years. How mighty is Microsoft's fall? Market share was 19 percent in September 2009, for example. So 3.9 percent is nothing to skinny, but staying there rather than going down is small, but notable improvement.

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I don't know how cellular carriers or device makers could move any slower serving Ice Cream Sandwich to their customers. Still, someone is making progress, seven months after Google formally unveiled the OS and six after the first device with it shipped. Android 4.0 share jumped dramatically from mid March to mid April, granted from a small base. It's about time.

This morning I wrote a mobile browser usage story and checked official statistics on Android usage, which is based on the number of devices connecting to Google Play during the pervious 14 days. That number: 2.9 percent. Hours later, when doing a second browser story -- on desktops -- I double checked, more as formality. To my surprise, Google updated the data as of today: 4.9 percent.

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Image Insight on Monday announced the first free trial release of GammaPix for Android smartphones, an application that loosely measures gamma radiation with the phone's camera.

The GammaPix gimmick is that it can detect radiation in different everyday situations, such as cosmic radiation while flying in an airplane, or gamma radiation in medical waste. You simply pull up the app, and begin taking a reading. Under normal circumstances, the camera can grab a complete reading in about five minutes.

The application uses technology that analyzes video and still imagery for the signature of gamma rays that have hit the image sensor. The measurements themselves indicate the rate of interactions of gamma ray radiation with the particular camera being used, so different phones will yield different results. Image Insight formed in 2010 with the explicit purpose of developing this app under a $679,000 contract with the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA).

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There was great news on the Android front this week. Samsung reported blow-out earnings, with smartphones -- the majority running Android -- accounting for nearly three-quarters of profits. Meanwhile comScore data spotlights the growing US Android tablet market. Additionally, Google started selling Galaxy Nexus direct, with no carrier contract, for $399. But all three share something in common -- what they foreshadow. Google has lost control of Android, and must swiftly act to regain it.

Forrester Research predicts that proprietary Android will surpass the Google Android ecosystem by 2015. Stated differently, Google's open-source mobile platform risks fracturing into multiple fatally fragmented Android ecosystems. Not one but many. There is little time for Google to demonstrate decisive leadership that can keep the ecosystem largely intact.

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Quickoffice Inc. on Thursday evening pushed out a major feature update to its popular Android productivity application family which adds a host of new capabilities to its Word, Excel, and Powerpoint document editors, and adds the new ability to annotate and edit PDF files.

The new PDF editing feature tops the list of new additions in Quickoffice 5.5, as it allows users to write directly on PDF files, highlight text, insert shapes, and add and remove comments.

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If you own Sony's Android tablet, the wait is over. Android 4.0 is available, starting today. The company says that users will be prompted to update the next time they connect to WiFi.

Sony's tablet packs one of the most customized versions of Android, from look and feel down to a plethora of apps, the majority focused on entertainment. Users can expect plenty of spit-and-polish tweaks and enhancements throughout its ICS iteration.

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Google has surreptitiously answered whether AT&T or T-Mobile would carry Galaxy Nexus, which is available from Sprint and Verizon here in the United States: No. Otherwise, why would Google sell the smartphone direct, which it started doing yesterday. It's a helluva price, too -- $399, unlocked, with no contractual commitment.

This is the HSPA+ model released internationally in November 2011. That means no LTE and only 16GB storage, rather than 32GB -- and it's not expandable. The phone sold for $729 or more from Amazon and handset resellers just a few months ago. Amazon lists the 16GB model for $438 today. But, hey, $399 is better. But is it low enough for you? You can get 64GB iPhone 4S from AT&T for same price -- granted locked, with 2-year contractual commitment. Both handsets are HSPA+, though, and AppleCare+, which offers cheap replacement for broken phones, is an extra $99. So I ask: Would you -- or will you -- buy Galaxy Nexus direct from Google?

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Though the newest version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich, has been available for a little more than six months, its availability has been extremely limited. Only 2.9% of Android users were running it first week of April, according to the Android Developer Dashboard.

Samsung on Tuesday released an updated list of the U.S. devices that will receive an upgrade to Ice Cream Sandwich, bringing its total number of devices with the operating system version up to thirteen.

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If you can't beat them, manage them. It's a strategy that has worked well for Microsoft in the past, and it is emerging as a key element in announcements last week about how Microsoft will license Windows 8 in all its variations, including the x86 consumer, Professional and Enterprise editions, the embedded Windows RT and the cloud-based Windows Intune.

While Microsoft's primary goal is to stop Apple's growth in the enterprise, which it will do by tilting licensing policies in favor of Windows tablets, the company has a Plan B that will help monetize Apple and Android devices in the enterprise through management.

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