+101 - Vote for the best Android Apps

Google have announced today that they’re releasing an Android 2.2(Android Froyo) for phones with Flash support, web-synced apps and music, and faster performance. Google claims Android 2.2’s browser is the fastest mobile browser around, with 2x-5x faster browsing speeds. due in large part to its new JavaScript compiling engine. They also claim faster frame rates for gaming and other speed improvements around the system. 2.2 will also carry Flash 10.1 which we have been expecting. This will be an interesting development for gaming and interactive apps. Also features like moving apps to your SD card, searching inside apps and updating all apps simultaneously.

Google have also added Exchange capabilities such as account auto-discovery and calendar sync. Device policy management APIs allow developers to write applications that can control security features of the device such as the remote wipe, minimum password, lockscreen timeout etc.

Watch this Space….

The LG InTouch Max (also known as the LG GW620, the LG Eve, and the LG Etna), is the first Android powered handset from LG.

Similar to the popular T-Mobile G1, the T-Mobile InTouch Max also features a slide-out QWERTY keyboard designed to help users easily and quickly type up text messages, emails and other data input.

The LG InTouch Max also features a 3-inch touchscreen display, a 5 mega-pixel camera (with LED flash, video playback, and auto-focus), and the usual Bluetooth 2.0, WiFi, and Micro USB data connectivity.

Other notable features of the LG InTouch Max include a threaded text message system where each text is grouped by sender and displayed like a message board for easy-to-follow reading. The Android phone also includes a 3D gallery for quick photo viewing and sorting. The 3D gallery enables users to quickly find and tag their favourite photos, or by using the filter tool to sort snaps by tags, facial recognition or by the date.

The LG GW620 has been designed specially for social networking, with its QWERTY keyboard making updating, editing and managing social network profiles effortless, the GW620 enables users to easily connect and manage their Facebook, MySpace and other social profiles from any location.

T-mobile US reported last week that T-Mobile will be the network powering Google’s new phone, which is apparently going to make its debut on Jan. 5.

A T-Mobile USA support page found by the blog says Google will sell the new Android-based device directly via the Web, confirming the story that emerged a few weeks ago in the Wall Street Journal. Bellevue-based T-Mobile will handle billing and rate plans for the device.

Manufacturing the new Google phone will be HTC, the Taiwanese phone maker with U.S. headquarters in Bellevue and its software lab in Pioneer Square.

The trio introduced Google’s first Android phone, the HTC-manufactured G1, in September 2008.

Google also scheduled an announcement at its headquarters on Jan. 5, the day before the Consumer Electronics Show begins in Las Vegas.

The HTC-built and (soon to be) Google-sold device runs Android 2.1 atop a 1GHz Snapdragon CPU, a 3.7-inch, 480 x 800 display, has 512MB of ROM, 512MB of RAM, and a 4GB microSD card (expandable to 32GB). The phone is a T-Mobile device (meaning no 3G if you want to take it to AT&T), and includes the standard modern additions of a light sensor, proximity sensor, and accelerometer. The Nexus One has a 5 megapixel camera with LED flash.

Sony Ericsson XPERIA™ X10 introduces an open and integrated world of social media, communication and entertainment

From Korea, Samsung has just launched the i7500 smartphone. Samsung is now the second manufaturer to release a phone to market using Android after HTC.

The device boasts a 3.2” OLED touch screen with onscreen keyboard, video, playback and record, 7.2Mbps HSDPA and WiFi connectivity, along with the full suite of Google services including Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, and Google Talk.

The phone also comes with a 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and various multimedia codec formats, has a claimed battery life of 1500mAh, while the internal memory capacity of 8GB can be expanded up to 40GB via an external MicroSD card.

Key specs:

General: GSM 850/900/1800/1900 MHz, HSDPA 7.2Mbps, HSUPA 5.76Mbps
OS and CPU: 528MHz CPU with 128MB RAM running latest Android OS v1.5
Form factor: Touchscreen bar, no keypad
Dimensions: 115.0 x 56.0 x 11.9 mm, 119 g.
Display: 3.2″ capacitive OLED touchscreen, HVGA resolution (320 x 480 pixels)
Storage: 8GB, hot-swappable microSD card slot (up to 40GB)
Camera: 5 megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash and geotagging
Connectivity: Wi-Fi, GPS, Bluetooth 2.1 with A2DP, microUSB v.2.0, 3.5mm audio jack
Misc: Accelerometer sensor, Gesture lock
Battery: 1500 mAh battery

Motorola isn’t mucking about with their next T-Mobile Android phone according to android and me.

The two new phones codenamed “Morrison” and “Sholes” pack a big punch with some serious spec. The CPU in the Sholes is a 528MHz Qualcomm MSM7201A and they have 256MB RAM. On top of which a built in 512 MB Flash ROM (Read Only Memory) and support up to 32Gb microoSDHC memory card. The display is a HVGA (320×480) and it has lots of extra sensors and regular gadgetry that you’d expect from a modern mobile device.

Take a look at the full specs here: click here for the full spec.

It looks like that kind of power and functionality will not only rival the iPhone, but blow it out of the water!

After our initial launch last year, we have had great success in traffic and submissions but our first release of our software didn’t quite meet the requirements to display the features and graphical capabilities of all the applications our clients have to offer.

Well that has all changed!  Users can now upload up to four images to their submission and we have an automated screen shot feature so you don’t have to take a print screen of your website!

We’ve also improved the voting system.  Over time we’ve discovered that the popularity of our site has meant that people gain traffic and business from being on our home page.  The unfortunate outcome of this is that we have been the victim of spam voting!  Not anymore.

We’ve spent months developing a brand new voting system which we’ve tested to death.  Now your application will be spam free and fair.

On top of all this, we’ve created a natty new design to show off your applications.

There are many more advancements, including ajax forms and modern text editors.  Too many to list here.  Why not sign up and have a go!

Please let us know your thoughts and let us know if you find anything that doesn’t quite work properly

Happy voting

Some details of the OTA update some of you might be getting on your new G1 in the next day or so… Doesn’t look like any big changes:

• What does this update do? This update will include enhancements (I don’t know what is termed an “enhancement” and one bug fix that is visible to customers which makes all songs from Amazon available for listening
• Why do I need it? So your device will perform better long term and you don’t have to worry about corrupt files from Amazon.
• When will I get mine? If you participated in the PreSale, you will receive it between the 23rd-25th otherwise you should get it by 10/31.  For those receiving their devices after that date you should receive the update soon after you activate the phone (within 2 – 3 days).  New phones from HTC will come pre-loaded with the update.
• What if I don’t get mine? Just wait for it, it will come.
• What do I do when I haven’t gotten mine by the time you said I’d get mine? Wait a little longer
• Seriously, I didn’t get mine.  Where is it and when will I get it? Why am I missing out? Check your software version, you probably had the new software all along and were waiting for nothing.
• How do I check my software version? From the main screen hit Menu > Settings > About phone > Build number.  Look for where it says RC##  The initial release is RC19.  The Updated release is RC28
• Will I lose any applications or settings? Nope.  Your settings and apps should be preserved.

Also, you should receive a notification, alert message, or otherwise when the update is ready for your phone. You will be asked to either accept the update or be reminded later.

T-Mobile officiallly launch the G1 (although some people have been getting theirs a little bit early) today for $179.99 plus 2 year contract prices.

You can find out more on the T-Mobile G1 website.

From the press release:

With a fun and intuitive user interface and one-touch access to Google Search, the T-Mobile G1 is the first phone to offer access to Android Market, which hosts unique applications and mashups of existing and new services from developers around the world. Customers can find and download a wide range of innovative applications—from games to social networking and on-the-go shopping—to personalize their phone and enhance their mobile lifestyle. Even better, for a limited time, the dozens of applications available on Android Market are available free-of-charge for T-Mobile G1 users.

Have fun everyone!

Google today launched the Android operating system to the open-source community!

The launch arrives the day before the first handset goes to market in the US, the T-Mobile G1.  The G1 should be available in the UK in early November.

The marketing campaign is reported to be the biggest T-Mobile have ever lauched and it needs to be to take on O2 and the Apple Iphone.

From early reports, the G1 is no Iphone, but it’s getting there, and with the huge amount of potential development from the worldwide open-source community, supported by the Open Handset Alliance, it’s got huge potential.

Android uses a Linux Kernel, in the same way that Mac OS X sits on a Linux base on the iphone.  Whilst Linux was never expressly designed for mobile use, it’s ideal for a multi purpose computing environment which allows a far less restricted range of applications.  The reason for this is that it runs on x86 (esq) hardware as opposed to a RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) based device (like an older phone or a dvd player).

The first release of the code is a big step.  It’s reported to be the largest repository of open source code that has been released at any one time, and with such a wealth of different factors that it will need to encounter now and in the future: different carriers, languages, devices with their own graphical subsystems and multimedia.  It’s got a big job ahead of it!  

Watch this space for more information as we find it, but it’s looking like a big week for Android!