Everybody hates Joe Hewitt

By | 08.26.2010 | Android Development | Comments Off

Actually that’s not true. But it doesn’t stop Joe Hewitt, the outspoken developer responsible for Facebook’s iPhone app, from being hard to please and shredding Android on Twitter, lately.

Last night he tweeted, “Android tools are horrendous, OS is hideous, but the absence of big brother telling me what to do gives it a slight edge.” Hewitt stopped working on the iPhone application because he is, “philosophically opposed to the existence of their review process.”

While he likes the openness of Android, he hates just about everything else about it.

Here’s some of his tweets:

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iPad, Kindle sales warn of impending tablet storm

By | 08.26.2010 | Tablet Computing | Comments Off

Apple’s iPad and Amazon’s Kindle are effectively two sides of the same coin. They are highly portable in their own right, and they are well-connected, meaning the information they need to make them useful is highly portable as well. Of course e-readers and tablets are different devices – they are aimed at different markets, have differing capabilities and perform different, but related, functions.

It should be no surprise that the sales of both are similar. Apple has sold about 3.5 million iPads. Amazon has sold about 3 million Kindles if analyst reports are correct. And, of course, there are other e-readers including many based on the Google Android mobile platform, also selling well. The iPad costs quite a bit more than the Kindle, but it does more, so again, no surprise. But in reality the story of tablet computing goes beyond the iPad or the e-readers.

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Best Android Apps You Would Not Want To Miss

By | 08.25.2010 | Android Apps | Comments Off

The Android market is full of applications making it tough for the Android users to select the applications for their choice. Here is a list of some of the best Android apps in order to help you make an informed choicthat you certainly would not want to miss

In the Thinking Space “mind-mapping” app, the users can create maps to connect thoughts and ideas. The premium version is priced at $4.

Astro File Manager helps turn your Android-powered device as a miniature PC. This app allows the users to can copy/move/rename files, back up apps, send files as attachments, and create compressed files. The premium version is priced at $4.

The GTasks task manager works in sync with the desktop Google Tasks. This is an useful app and the best part: it is free.

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E-readers with Android back-ends

By | 08.25.2010 | Tablet Computing | 2 Comments

Although Google’s Android mobile operating system is principally designed for phones, it is also increasingly showing up on low-cost tablets and other kinds of mobile devices. The platform is rapidly emerging as a major contender in the e-book reader market, where it is attracting a growing number of hardware vendors.

Barnes and Noble’s popular Nook is arguably the most prominent Android-based e-book reader, but there are also a number of intriguing offerings from other vendors. Some are differentiating their readers by eschewing battery-friendly e-ink in favor of color LCD screens. These products take a more tablet-like approach and give users the advantage of a multifunction Internet-enabled device at nearly the same price point as regular e-book readers.

One such product is Velocity Micro’s Cruz Reader, which will launch next month. The device has a seven-inch color LCD touchscreen with a resolution of 800×600. It runs Android 2.0 and will come bundled with the Borders book store. Even though it is designed as an e-book reader, users will still have access to the underlying Android environment and will not have to hack the device in order to sideload and run other applications. Velocity Micro is selling the device for $199 and recently started taking preorders on its website.

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T-Mobile HSPA+ Android phone clears FCC

By | 08.25.2010 | Android Phones | Comments Off

A smartphone with HSPA+ capabilities for T-Mobile has just passed through the Federal Communications Commission and this looks to be the much-heralded G2.

The device came through the FCC as the “HTC PC10100″ and it sports 802.11n WiFi, 3G for T-Mobile’s AWS bands and references to HSPA+. We know that T-Mobile has been pushing the G2 as the first smartphone with HSPA+.

We’ve also seen the T-Mobile G2 in the wild and the release date is expected over the next few weeks, so I’d bet dollars to doughnuts that this is the device that has just passed through the federal agency. The followup to the first Android handset should be a good sequel with its large touch screen, high-speed mobile data, modern design and more.

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The Motorola Droid 2 Review

By | 08.24.2010 | Android Phones | Comments Off

Motorola Droid 2 Overview

It may not be easy to discern the new Motorola Droid 2 from its first-generation sibling, the original Droid, but be assured that the latest Android device for Verizon Wireless has enough firepower lurking behind the scenes than one would surmise. First off, there’s more horsepower under the hood regarding processing and RAM. But the Motorola Droid 2 bursts out of the starting gates running Android 2.2 Froyo, meaning all aspects of interface performance have been improved. Along with the integration of Android’s latest interface, the Droid 2 boasts an improved battery life, which we tested, and improved internal storage memory. While we weren’t crazy about the Droid 2′s camera, this phone offered enough upgrades to take our original Droid experience to the next level.

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Advanced Task Manager app maker makes $80,000 with Android app

By | 08.24.2010 | Android Phones | Comments Off

Well, Arron La, maker of the Advanced Task Manager app has released some interesting data that suggests that, even with its problems, Android can make a decent amount of money for someone. No, it’s not crazy iPhone app money, but it’s a start.

La’s app helps preserve battery life by turning off running apps. The latest 2.2 update to Android prevents programs from turning off other apps so the program is generally useless now for the latest phones.

But it’s still interesting to see how much Task Manager has made since it launched in February 2009, with the opening of paid-apps in Android Market. From sales of his $1 paid app, La said he’s made $50,000 since then after Google’s 30 percent cut. He’s also made $29,000 from ads placed by AdMob.

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