Android is an open source, Linux based operating system for smartphones. Original creators of the operating system, Android Inc. were acquired by Google in 2005. In 2008, the HTC Dream (Also known as the T-Mobile G1) was released as the first phone running Android OS. Android features a home screen with multiple pages which can have widgets or application shortcuts added. With many manufacturers building Android powered handsets and being supported by carriers all over the world, Android is one of the most popular and widely used smartphone operating systems. Read on for the latest Android news, reviews and videos:
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by Michael Fisher | May 24, 2012 11:40 AMCurrently sitting at the top of many Android users' tech wish lists, the Samsung Galaxy S III is by any measure an impressive piece of kit. The follow-up to one of the most popular devices in Android's history, it has a lot to live up to. We've talked about some of the software customizations that will make this new Galaxy S its own flavor of smartphone, but we should keep in mind the fact that many millions of people will never, ever see the device in its announced configuration. The reason for this: carrier customizations. When wireless providers make the decision to carry a device on ...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 24, 2012 11:00 AMBack when we were first hearing from Android manufacturers about their plans to deliver Ice Cream Sandwich updates to previously-released smartphones, there was understandably a bit of confusion over just which models would and wouldn't be making the trip to Android 4.0. By and large, though, those inconsistencies have smoothed themselves out in the months that have followed, and we've seen some pretty comprehensive lists from both manufacturers and carriers concerning precisely which phone will be seeing updates. That's what makes it so surprising at this point in time to hear suggestions tha...
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by Anton D. Nagy | May 24, 2012 9:30 AMThe latest IDC numbers are in and they seem to further confirm the trends not just only for those who closely follow the numbers but also for those who follow the industry and what happens in this fast-moving world. Not much has changed at the top of the mobile world, in terms of top six smartphone Operating Systems; Android and iOS are sitting comfortably in the highest positions. Google and Apple have both consolidated their position. Android has a market share of 59.0% in 2012 Q1 (growing from 2011 Q1's 36.1%, with increased shipments from 36.1 million units to a whopping 89.9) while App...
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by Anton D. Nagy | May 24, 2012 2:58 AMThere were lots of rumors about the Google-tablet (Google's own tablet) -- some even referring to it as the Google Nexus tablet -- and then they disappeared for a while. Recent reports seem to bring the story back to the spotlight touching on earlier rumors. Asus is allegedly the company that will build Google's slate and it is expected to be a seven-incher (or right there), in order to better compete with Amazon's Kindle, which by the way is now rumored to prepare a 10.1-inch refresh. Recent reports seem to talk about 600,000 initial units of the Google-Asus tablet, which would be released...
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by Anton D. Nagy | May 24, 2012 2:30 AMWhen we were in London to meet the Samsung Galaxy S III we noticed that the operation was very smooth, as it should be given the most powerful processor to be found on an Android device. However, Samsung's own TouchWiz UX is also smooth and a great improvement over previous versions and it is now available for other (select Samsung device users, for the moment). Let's start with the predecessor, the Galaxy S II. If you are running a Samsung-based ROM you could try TouchWiz UX on your device. There are two flavors, one with four columns and one with five. Head over to the first source link b...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 7:53 PMVerizon started-off the week by confirming the upcoming arrival of updates for the Droid 4, RAZR, RAZR Maxx, and Rezound that would allow those phones to roam internationally on GSM/UMTS networks, despite their CDMA pedigree. We'll be seeing those updates come out sometime this summer (with a good chance that global roaming and Ice Cream Sandwich will arrive simultaneously for at least some of the models), but if just the news of this forthcoming feature has you thinking about picking up one of the models early, Amazon Wireless has some pretty nice deals ready for you. Subscribers signing o...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 7:24 PMAlong with the Galaxy Nexus, Sprint offered subscribers their first chances to grab an LTE-capable phone (in anticipation of the carrier starting service) with the LG Viper 4G LTE. We saw the Android launch back in April, sporting a dual-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon, a four-inch WVGA screen, and a gigabyte of RAM. If all that sounded good to you, but you look for phones that are on Team QWERTY, you might want to check out the LS860 Cayenne, tipped for future arrival at Sprint. The Cayenne is, based on what leaked specs are available, a duplicate of the Viper, with the addition of a sliding QWERTY...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 7:02 PMLG's latest Android, the Optimus LTE2 with its hefty 2GB of RAM, launched in South Korea earlier this month. We're sure that many of you have been wondering what that sort of extra memory would mean for your own Android experience, and those of us in the West may soon be getting just such an opportunity to check-out the phone firsthand. Some new documentation reveals LG's works on its model VS930, which very well may be the LTE2 for Verizon. The VS930 appears in a new GCF listing, which would suggest plans for service in Europe, so where do we get Verizon from? Well, the "VS" in the model n...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 5:15 PMNVIDIA had some interesting things to say about Android tablets back at the beginning of April, looking towards a future where it saw quad-core devices falling to the $200 mark. That sounded more than a little optimistic, especially if overall build quality was to remain high, but CEO Jen-Hsun Huang seemed quite enthusiastic about it becoming a possible reality. Now we're starting to see just what the company was talking about, upon revealing its Kai reference design. According to NVIDIA, Kai leverages the abilities of the Tegra 3 to allow manufacturers to put together tablet designs that h...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 4:41 PMOn November 5, 2007, Google and the other new members of the Open Handset Alliance announced Android. Nearly five years later, we've seen the platform become one of the major players in the smartphone world, and dozens upon dozens of Android-running devices come to market. As that five-year anniversary draws upon us, could Google be planning some special to commemorate the event? A new rumor paints just such a picture, and connects back to some other claims we've heard about Google's plans for the fall. That number five popped-up in a recent rumor about how the next Nexus phone might arrive...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 3:34 PMThe consequences of legal actions within the smartphone world have been getting extra attention lately, with the very visible effect of HTC missing launch dates due to seeing hardware held-up in US Customs. If you've been following such things closely, you'll be aware that a case with even greater ramifications has been taking place elsewhere, with Oracle accusing Google of violating its patents concerning the use of Java in Android. After a lengthy trial, the jury has now returned a verdict in Google's favor, clearing the company of these accusations of patent misuse. While this patent vic...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 12:10 PMThree months ago we heard a story claiming that Microsoft was working on a version of its Office suite for Apple's iPad. A picture accompanying the rumor (above) sure looked how we might imagine the app would appear on a tablet, piquing our interest and suggesting there might be something to this news. While a company like Apple might have been content to let the rumors play their course, Microsoft decided to address the claims, first outright denying the picture's legitimacy, but later retreating to a softer position where it claimed the news was based on "bad info". Well, Microsoft might wan...
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by Michael Fisher | May 23, 2012 11:34 AMSomething interesting happened to me early this year: I started hating my iPod. It was a second-generation 16GB iPod Touch, running the most recent version of iOS that was available, and it was a heinous pile of garbage. It crashed constantly, the battery life was sub-par, and its infamous soft-metal casing was scratched beyond belief, despite having lived a relatively sheltered, case-protected life. Plus, I hated carrying around two devices when I didn't have to. Granted, this attitude is somewhat at odds with my Twitter moniker, but "Captain2Phones" does not equal "Captain1Phone&1P...
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by Stephen Schenck | May 23, 2012 11:13 AMCarriers in the US don't have the best track record when it comes to offering a full selection of smartphones for their prepaid plans. Besides just cutting down on the sheer number of phones available, that can mean severely reduced options when we're dealing with anything but a plain slate form factor. If you're still not enamored with the idea of on-screen keyboards, AT&T and its GoPhone prepaid program are getting a new option that may be right up your alley, adding a new QWERTY slider Android to the lineup. Samsung's Galaxy Appeal is a relatively low-end Gingerbread-running Android,...
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by Anton D. Nagy | May 23, 2012 4:23 AMWhen the S Voice application, which launched together with the Samsung Galaxy S III, leaked and was made available for the masses -- at least those running ICS-powered Android devices -- many have jumped to download, install and take the application for a spin just to later find out that there were some network errors which led everyone to believe Samsung was blocking the service. While there was a fairly easy workaround, Samsung itself admitted that they are indeed blocking the offering. According to the manufacturer, they are indeed blocking S Voice and it is because "Samsung Electronics ...
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