1. Tweaked UI
It doesn’t sound like the Android UI is getting a complete overhaul till Honeycomb, but Gingerbread will include some small tweaks. The notification bar at the top of the screen has gone from white to black, the launcher buttons are now green instead of translucent, and many of the native app icons have received a makeover.
Most of the existing native apps will also look slightly updated thanks to tweaks with the styling of menus, check boxes, and radio buttons as leaked in the last Google Maps update. Other small tweaks include new animations when you swipe across the desktop and when you power off the display (as reported by Phandroid).
2. Near Field Communications (NFC)
We first reported back in October that Samsung’s Google experience phone would support MasterCard PayPass, and then last week Eric Schmidt confirmed that Gingerbread would support Near Field Communication (NFC).
NFC is a short-range, high frequency wireless communication technology that only operates when two devices are about 4 inches apart. It is basically just another form of electronic identification except the ID is tied to a bank or credit card company. All the user needs to do is just setup their account then tap their phone to a wireless payment pad and complete the transaction.
Eric Schmidt said that in the future your phone could replace your credit card, so you can see how important this is to Google and their partners.
Opponents of NFC say it might fail because it is too complex and big companies will fight over who owns the point of control for the transaction, but if Google is going to make this a standard feature on all future Gingerbread phones then we think that ensures it will at least move the mobile payment standard forward.
MasterCard has not been confirmed as a NFC partner, but I think there is a good chance they are on board in addition to some other payment companies like PayPal.
3. New Motion Control APIs
True 1:1 motion processing is coming to Gingerbread thanks to InvenSense, the company behind the MEMS gyroscope sensor found in the Nintendo Wii MotionPlus controller.
Gyroscope sensors have already appeared in some phones like the Samsung Galaxy S, but Android 2.3 will add new sensor fusion APIs including quaternion, rotation matrix, linear acceleration and gravity. These new tools will open the door to all kinds of motion controls for augmented reality apps, games, navigation systems, and camera improvements like image stabilization.
See our previous post for a video with several real-world demos.
4. Native Video Chat
In his last interview, Andy Rubin hinted that native video chat was coming to the next version of Android. “We support video chat today, with Google Talk Video. It works on the desktop. Whether that can be repurposed and made appropriate for sipping bandwidth for mobile, it’s an exercise that’s underway.”
If Mr. Rubin is willing to admit that it’s underway, that tells me the project could be nearing completion and already in the testing phases.
It looks like all the high-end phones coming in the next few months will include front-facing cameras so this is another sign that Android is ready for a native video sharing app to connect all these devices.
5. New Android Market
Google has been telling us for awhile that a new Android Market was coming and recently said new features could appear in the next few weeks. The Android Market can be updated separately from the operating system, but the timing tells us the new Market could be tied to the release of Gingerbread.
Confirmed features for the new Android Market include YouTube video previews, parental controls, PayPal payments, and new high-res promotion graphics that sound like they will be used on the desktop browser version of the Market.
At the Google I/O Developer Conference we attended back in May, Vic Gundotra demonstrated the browser version of the Market that was being tested. See the video below for an idea of what to expect.
6. Google Music
As you can see from the video above, Google is also working on a music streaming service for Android. They launched a music search service earlier this year and hoped to get their music store opened before Christmas, but the latest reports say it might be delayed till 2011. Apparently the music labels are still negotiating with Google on how their “digital locker” will store purchased music, but maybe they come to an agreement this year.
This is coming sooner or later so if it doesn’t make it into Gingerbread then I expect we will see it early next year when Honeycomb tablets are revealed.
7. Support For More Large Screen Devices
On the Android Device Dashboard there is a report where Google displays the different screen sizes and densities of devices that access the Android Market. The Large category is currently blank, but look for more big screen devices like tablets to be officially supported in Android 2.3. This means we could see more 7-inch tablets like the Galaxy Tab (1024 x 600) get certified and maybe a few other resolutions for the new smartphone displays that are rumored to be coming.
We have also heard that Google might relax the rules of their Compatibility Definition Document and allow non-3G devices to be certified. No WiFi-only devices have been certified to use the Android Market yet, but Android 2.3 should hopefully change that.
In a somewhat related note, I believe this is the reason the WiFi-only Galaxy Tab was delayed till next year so that Samsung could make sure that Google allowed them to ship it with the Android Market.
8. Virtual Keyboard Enhancements
Google recently acquired hot startup BlindType to improve their virtual keyboard and we are hearing the enhancements might be coming as soon as Gingerbread. The old company website is now down, but you can still see a demo of their technology on YouTube.
What is BlindType? It is a revolutionary system that:
Eliminates touch typing frustrations
Allows for super sloppy typing
Helps you type easier and faster
Constantly adjusts to the user’s “perceived” keyboard and typing style
Just type the way you are used to – no gestures, nothing new to learn!
9. Support for WebM and VP8
We know that support for WebM and the VP8 video format are coming to Gingerbread because Google and the WebM team have told us this.
WebM is defined on the official project page as, “An open media file format designed for the web. WebM files consist of video streams compressed with the VP8 video codec and audio streams compressed with the Vorbis audio codec. The WebM file structure is based on the Matroska media container. Though video is also now core to the web experience, there is unfortunately no open and free video format that is on par with the leading commercial choices. To that end, we started the WebM project, a broadly-backed community effort to develop an open web media format.”
YouTube now offers WebM videos as part of its HTML5 player experiment. Logitech and Skype are also working with the format for future video calling services.
10. New YouTube With Broadcasting
As we get near the end of the list some of these possible features might be a stretch, but there are still hints that new YouTube features are coming. Phandroid reported that Gingerbread will have a new YouTube app and we know that they are also testing their new live broadcasting platform.
If you look at how important video will be to the upcoming Gingerbread experience, then it is not too hard to imagine that YouTube will allow live broadcasting from your phone similar to Qik or Ustream.
The next generation of superphones will include dual-core processors that support 1080p video streaming and also have speedy 4G connections, so the hardware is definitely going to be there to make it happen.
11. Google Me or Social Gaming Network
Google recently denied the reports they were working on a Facebook competitor called Google Me, but all the signs are there that Google is working on a way to bring together all their social services. TechCrunch reported that Google’s master pitchman Vic Gundotra was being placed in charge of the project, so we expect big things from him.
Andy Rubin hinted that Gingerbread would include improvements for gaming in a previous interview. “I think gaming is an area that I think is underserved right now. If we were to carefully look at what new features and functionalities in the platform that we would need to support all forms of gaming across the entire spectrum, I think that would probably be an interesting thing to pay attention to.”
A number of recent acquisitions and partner agreements might also play a role in this social gaming platform. In the last year Google acquired LabPixies for $25 million (an Israeli startup that made web games), Jambool for $70 million (makers of a virtual currenty platform), Slide for $182 million (Facebook games developer), and invested $100-200 million in Zynga (makers of Farmville).
Apple’s Game Center and platforms like Open Feint have really raised the bar for social gaming, so Google will have to release something soon if they want to catch up.
12. Flagship Phone – Nexus S
Finally, what good is a brand new operating system unless you have a flagship product that can show off all the new features. That device is the Samsung Nexus S which is widely expected to be released alongside Android 2.3. Google’s CEO recently demoed the phone to show off its NFC capabilities, so hopefully we see the device soon.
The Nexus S was originally planned to launch at Best Buy on November 11th, but then TechCrunch reported a serious hardware issue had caused a delay. One of our tipsters said the original Samsung Nexus S was scrapped for a newer dual-core version, which shocked many people because they did not expect Samsung to have a dual-core phone this year, but another trusted source also confirmed that Samsung had such a device in testing.
Conclusion
In the next few weeks we should hopefully get an official list of new Android 2.3 features from Google, but don’t be surprised if Andy Rubin doesn’t announce anything on December 6th.
Google and Samsung already missed the rumored launch date, so they could delay this project till next year in order to iron out all the launch details. Some would say that Samsung has rushed their recent Android products to market without properly testing them (aka GPS issues), so I have no problem with them taking as long as they need.
I would love a taste of Gingerbread for Christmas, but if waiting till next year gets me a fully functional dual-core Nexus S then I’m all for waiting.
How do you think Android 2.3 is shaping up so far? Does this sound like a worthy update, or do you hope that Google is packing in even more exciting features? What other types of improvements would you like to see included with Android 2.3?
If you think I’m leaving off any confirmed features, please leave a comment and I’ll gladly add them to the list.
ANDROID AND ME
You should quote the source:
http://androidandme.com/2010/11/new...at-andy-rubin-might-announce-on-december-6th/
1) Has nothing to do with the X10, since a bunch of those new features are unsupported hardware wise by the phone.
2) NFC for payments is already around, and nearly every new Android phone in Japan includes it, plus Infrared and a TV Tuner.
3) Stock UI is absolute garbage, and from the leaked Nexus S shots, looks to have gotten worse.
iead1 said:
1) Has nothing to do with the X10, since a bunch of those new features are unsupported hardware wise by the phone.
2) NFC for payments is already around, and nearly every new Android phone in Japan includes it, plus Infrared and a TV Tuner.
3) Stock UI is absolute garbage, and from the leaked Nexus S shots, looks to have gotten worse.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Actually, Japan has had NFC for many years. NTT's FOMA been promoting it LONG LONG LONG time ago. People in Japan r using it like its something normal for their lives now. Unlike us, where we all are still reluctant whether to use it or not when it comes...
Yeah, I was really sad when I changed to the X10 and lost my abilty to pay for McDonalds and the train via cellphone. At least smartphones are catching up, finally.
Related
Want to watch M$ show WM7 to the world?
All details about Microsoft Windows Mobile announcement at Mobile World Congress 2010 - revealed, including live broadcast
February 10, 2010.
Secrets? Who needs them? Here are all the details:
Information from our anonymous friend follows (note: we know this person, we just will not reveal who this person is, as it is our principle not to reveal sources). Note: this is not a rumor, this is pure information.
* * * * *
Steve Ballmer's press conference during Mobile World Congress will be broadcast live on satellite TV (Eutelsat)
Timing: 1630-1645 UTC
EUTELSAT W3A 7 deg East TXP B1 CHANNEL 9MHZ SLOT 1L9 (D1)
UPLINK FREQ.: 14314 MHZ POL Y BY E-120
DOWNLINK FR.: 11014 MHZ POL X
SD 625 16:9 50Hz DVBS QPSK 6.6665Ms/s FEC 7/8,
RoF 0.35 (11_SD MPEG2 422 10.7514 Mbps)
OP MODE: HIGH QUALITY
AUDIO:1 SOUND MONO
AUDIO:2 SOUND MONO
And streamed on the internet (on www.microsoft.com/news/windowsphone).
And eh. yes Windows Mobile 7 will be introduced with Zune, Xbox, Bing integration. Games, free navigation, music, new kernel, new UI. Development in Visual Studio (code) + WPF (UI). OS 6.X will continue to exist and will be free OS for developing markets. Microsoft will kick back hard against iPhone and Android. Three year too late, but still people will be surprised.
As im on my way there ill update on here if i here anythink
Flunkyou2
I just read on a web site (ppcgeeks) that wm7 could have these features This is a rumor
-At the Mobile World Congress event on February 15th, 2010, Windows Phone 7 will be unveilved, although at this time plans are only to unveil the user interface of the new platform . Specific indepth functionality of the device will most likely not be shown.
-The User Interface is based upon codename “METRO”. It will be very similar to the Zune HD User Interface with a complete revamp of the “Start” screen. The UI is “Very Clean”, “Soulful” and “Alive”
-Unfortunately there will be no Flash support at the get go as there was not enough time to implement these features.
-Windows Phone 7 will only support application installation through service based delivery. (i.e Marketplace). Application installation via storage card will not be possible.
- No Multi-Task support. Applications will “Pause” when in the background, however will support notifications via push notifications.
-Marketplace will now support “try before you buy” as well as an API
-No NETCF backwards compatibility. This means the original rumor of no backward compatibility for applications holds to be true. That being said, there are high hopes of porting the NetCF to the newer platform easily.
-Microsoft is confident that devices will be ready by September 2010
-Full Zune Integration
-Windows Mobile Device Center will no longer be used. Zune software to take over syncing via PC.
-OEM Interfaces will not be allowed to run on the device. Say goodbye to Sense UI / SPB Mobile Shell / Point UI / Infinity, etc, etc
-Full XBOX Gaming Integration (Gamer tag, achievements, friends, avatars, merchandising, etc)
-Full support for social networking
All i can say is "if this is true then bye bye WM7 hello andriod"
More rumors
Microsoft will drop much of the business side of WM in favor of the consumer side. The traditional business offerings like Office / Exchange functionality will of course still be supported, but the focus will be shifted to gaming and multimedia. The Xbox and Zune brands will be represented, the Zune player willl be included and it will be possible to wirelessly exchange data, multimedia, and games with the Xbox 360.
The first batch of phones that will be released will have pretty much the same chip specs, and HTC, Samsung, LG and SE will be the ones to deliver this first batch of phones. In this first batch (September 2010), the OEMs are apparently not allowed to make big changes, they all have to use the same interface.
This means, no custom UI like Sense, no Opera Mobile either. Instead the default WM UI will be used and a new PocketIE based on IE7, but with some functionality from IE8.
The second batch (end of 2010) will be allowed to have small changes, but likely only theme-based and addition of some custom application.
Only at the third batch (early 2011) will the OEMs be allowed to add their own interfaces, like Sense, Panels, TouchWiz and S-Class. (ouch that late)
The official announcements of the WM7 phones are not expected to occur more than a few weeks before actual release of the OS, [CF: so we probably won't see official (unleaked) specs and such before the end of July (based on the September release date)].
As hardware goes they say mostly the same as the chassis 1 specs. 1 Ghz+ CPU, Open GL ES 2.0, 800×480+, 3.5"+, 384mb+ (possibly 512+).
According to those we have seen the WM7 interface, it is nothing revolutionary. It should have standard multi-touch support and supports only capacitive. The interface is said to be a hybrid of iPhone / Android / Zune HD elements.
Apparently those that have used WM7 builds differ in opinion about the software. Some state it is much faster than for example the 3GS, while others mention apps are slow to start and experiencing ‘hickups’.
Apps-wise, old applications will in principle not be compatible with Windows Mobile 7, throwing away many thousands of apps that are currently available. It may be compatibility for old apps will be emulated, but this is not clear yet. How exactly this will work will likely be explained at MIX 2010 in March.
It certainly seems like only .NET apps will be supported [CF: ugh!], however it is not clear if the Compact Framework will be a part of that .NET support.
more rumors/info here.
.....indeed
flunkyou2 said:
"if this is true then bye bye wm7 hello andriod"
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Unfortunately if this is true. The only positive will be the zune lookalike and probably no more hangovers.
The rest looks just like Iphone. Not third parties applications without marketplace. I think WM6.6 will be more popular. And porbably Android. Steve Balmer did it again.
if it does turn out to be true, (paused in backgroud, service based app install etc) then i for one will be sticking to 6.5.x. Seems like too much of a copy of how apple works, and thats the very reason why i hate apple!
Sounds to me like WinMo 7 defeats the purpose of using WinMo all together. I too will stick with 6.5.x if this is the way things are going.
And all the profits from WM7 will go to Apple too
I am surprised that WM community falls so easily for the rumors spread by I WONDER WHO.
alexsql said:
I am surprised that WM community falls so easily for the rumors spread by I WONDER WHO.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Serious, how does unsubstantiated speculation help anybody?
i really hope this is just nonsense speculation, because if its not, i will stick with WM6.5 on my HD2 for a long time. And when i need to buy a new phone it will be a Android one.
Lets hope the smart people here on xda will find ways around these things.
No way that this is real. It doesn't make any sense, it will be the last nail in WM coffin...
Maybe these (rumors) features are for the "Media WM7" version and the "Business WM7" version will be like WM6.5.x...
I can't really see them doing such a U turn on Windows.....but then again Microsoft copy the competition to crush them......that does sound familiar
Grow a brain, guys. This is WinMo's bread and butter for the upcoming generation and could very well be the nail in the coffin if MS fails. First of all, no multitasking? No flash? LOL. They've overcome that already with 6.1. People here will buy anything with RUMOR and SPECULATION slap onto it.
yes for now its just a rumor so lets hope ms doesnt become like apple otherwise hello android
lol..they did this for windows 7 also..
d3l1 said:
yes for now its just a rumor so lets hope ms doesnt become like apple otherwise hello android
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
i'll be in the q right behind you ..
the rumour machine strikes again. WM7 could be anything. we just don't know anything about it yet.
gabbs said:
lol..they did this for windows 7 also..
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
sorry for ot: no idea what you are talking about, win7 is nothing like osx
Yeah for french media to spread this rumor
This simply can't be true. Not even MS are that dumb.
Android 2.1 vs. Sony Ericsson Android 1.6
When the X10 is released, it will be released with Android 1.6. We will take advantage of the additional
possibilities of Android 2.1 during the life of X10 via upgrades.
One objection you are going to encounter when presenting the X10 is: „Why does your X10 only have
Android 1.6 installed on it? The latest version is 2.1! It looks outdated!”
We all need to be prepared and knowledgeable about the differences in order to deal with the dealer's
concerns and provide them with understandable answers for their customers.
In order to do this, we first need to understand the differences between standard Android 1.6 and Android
2.1. They are:
• Integration of digital Zoom and support for LED Flash
• Support for Microsoft Exchange Active Sync (Contacts and e-mail)
• Bluetooth 2.1 support for OPP (Object Push) and PBAP (Used to transfer contact
information to a hands free)
• Live Wallpapers (Animated HTML based wallpapers)
• Multi touch support
• HTML 5 support
• Richer contact information and possibilities to integrate social network data.
However, the version of Android 1.6 installed on the Sony Ericsson X10 is not a standard. Sony Ericsson
has developed and enhanced it in many areas. So let’s have a look at the real difference
X10 1.6 Specs:
1.Cyber Shot camera with digital zoom and flash, face and smile detection easy to use cyber shot interface
2.Moxier client pre-installed
3.OPP is integrated into x10 out of the box and PBAP will be part of update
4.Live wallpapers will be part of an update
5.HTML 5 will be part of update, currently no consumer relevant website is using HTML 5
6.Sony Ericsson TIMESCAPE
I got this data I liked to share with all of u we X10 users are some how equal to Android 2.1 we should demand for 2.2 Update not for 2.1....
Now you're talking. I have been campaigning from the beginning to get people to ask for the 2.2 and not the 2.1. Ever since that petition was being passed about. Everyone thought I was crazy to push for it. I gave up trying.
However, I would say that the 1.6 will look outdated because the 2.2 is out and not the 2.1!
Also, the Timescape has it's issues. To the point that I have it removed from home screen and do not use it. And, there has been plenty of mention in regards to Timescape being related to the battery issue.
And, where is the flash for the camera? I have a light that I can manually turn on and off, but no flash. I am pretty sure this is coming with the 2.1
And, where did you hear there are no consumer relevant websites run HTML5?
I also thought there was a WIFI enhancement on the 2.1
The only problem now is that we have beat SE over the head for the 2.1. So I don't know what are chances of getting the 2.2 on this device, but I do not think they are good.
well like se added 2.1 features to 1.6,
lets expect that they add 2.2 features like flash into android 2.1....
will be a better option..
Here is a quote about the first web site I checked, Daily Motion.
"Another video titan that is fighting back against plugin prisons is DailyMotion. The popular streaming video website has launched an open video pilot program, providing a new beta version of its site that uses the HTML 5 video element to play content. As part of the pilot program, DailyMotion reencoded 300,000 videos with the open source Ogg Theora codec. Unlike many common video formats, Ogg Theora is not encumbered by known patents. It can be used and reimplemented freely without having to pay licensing costs."
The full artical can be found here. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/google-dailymotion-endorse-html-5-and-standards-based-video.ars
fm1776 said:
Here is a quote about the first web site I checked, Daily Motion.
"Another video titan that is fighting back against plugin prisons is DailyMotion. The popular streaming video website has launched an open video pilot program, providing a new beta version of its site that uses the HTML 5 video element to play content. As part of the pilot program, DailyMotion reencoded 300,000 videos with the open source Ogg Theora codec. Unlike many common video formats, Ogg Theora is not encumbered by known patents. It can be used and reimplemented freely without having to pay licensing costs."
The full artical can be found here. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/google-dailymotion-endorse-html-5-and-standards-based-video.ars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
I'm all for open source, and would love if every site with flash content changed it to HTML5, but Ogg Theora is no better than Flash...It's unreliable and uses a significant amount of resources.
fm1776 said:
Here is a quote about the first web site I checked, Daily Motion.
"Another video titan that is fighting back against plugin prisons is DailyMotion. The popular streaming video website has launched an open video pilot program, providing a new beta version of its site that uses the HTML 5 video element to play content. As part of the pilot program, DailyMotion reencoded 300,000 videos with the open source Ogg Theora codec. Unlike many common video formats, Ogg Theora is not encumbered by known patents. It can be used and reimplemented freely without having to pay licensing costs."
The full artical can be found here. http://arstechnica.com/open-source/news/2009/05/google-dailymotion-endorse-html-5-and-standards-based-video.ars
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
There are few things worth remembering:
1. No consumer has launched any HTML5 versions as anything other than betas or previews.
2. HTML5 is not a ratified standard, it's a draft. Which leads me on to the next point.
3. The video tag is just that, a tag. It doesn't dictate which codec or container you should use. Currently there are 2 1/2 players: h.264, webm and ogg/vorbis.
H264 is backed up by Apple, so I expect it to have atleast some traction. WebM is backed by Google, meaning YouTube supports it. I'm not familiar with any big names backing OGG but I'm sure there are others beside FSF.
H264 is a great format but sadly it's encumbered by patents as well as a royalty fee which might pose a problem in the future whereas WebM is a royalty-free project. So personally I'm leaning towards WebM coming out as the big "winner" in this battle.
Ranting aside, putting all ones hope into HTML5 as it stands right now is a little risky as it's subject to change and hasn't been locked down yet. Every major player in the web browser business supports the tag currently, including Android as of version 2.0 or 2.1 (can't be bothered to wikipedia it). So the support for it is universal and once a standard has been ratified we can expect it to be adopted by all major video sites. Until then flash is king and luckily the biggest video-site, YouTube, has both iOS and Android apps for it so we can atleast watch LOLcats and FailBlog.
chris_knows said:
I'm all for open source, and would love if every site with flash content changed it to HTML5, but Ogg Theora is no better than Flash...It's unreliable and uses a significant amount of resources.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
ABC and CBS have both confirmed that they will be dumping Adobe and going with HTML 5. Only bad news might be that they might charge like itunes to view content.
The door is starting to swing wide open.
Not only will X10 get the 2.1 upgrade, it will also get the 2.2 Upgrade. I have a close friend who works at SE (Senior Figure) and that information is supplied by him. No dates are forthcoming at the moment. So please don't bombard this Post asking for dates.
Found some information to confirm this posted back in Mar 10:
http://phandroid.com/2010/03/10/xperia-x10-to-get-android-2-1-then-2-2/
Hope this helps you all..
well all get android 2.2 when the great devs give us custom roms, which will be long before se get it to us!
Sent from my X10i using XDA App
Cn my x10 teleport me or remote conntrol my car with se2.2 note the keyboard still suck after update
-------------------------------------
Sent via the XDA Tapatalk App
fm1776 said:
ABC and CBS have both confirmed that they will be dumping Adobe and going with HTML 5. Only bad news might be that they might charge like itunes to view content.
The door is starting to swing wide open.
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
You misunderstood me; HTML5 = Good, Ogg = Bad. Check out this link as to why Flash is not going away for at least another few years...
gizmodo.com/5461711/giz-explains-why-html5-isnt-going-to-save-the-internet
Thought I would make this thread per request. So here we go, what goodies you bringing to the table Google
http://googleblog.blogspot.com/2011/05/android-momentum-mobile-and-more-at.html
This morning at Google I/O, the Android team shared some updates. It’s hard to believe a little more than two and a half years ago, we were just one device, launching in one country, on one carrier. Thanks to the ecosystem of manufacturers, developers and carriers, the platform has grown exponentially. There are now:
100 million activated Android devices
400,000 new Android devices activated every day
200,000 free and paid applications available in Android Market
4.5 billion applications installed from Android Market
Mobile—one OS everywhere
Over the past two and a half years, we’ve shipped eight releases of Android and there are now more than 310 Android devices around the world, of all shapes and sizes. This morning we talked about our next version of Android, Ice Cream Sandwich. Our goal with Ice Cream Sandwich is to deliver one operating system that works everywhere, regardless of device. Ice Cream Sandwich will bring everything you love about Honeycomb on your tablet to your phone, including the holographic user interface, more multitasking, the new launcher and richer widgets.
We also launched Music Beta by Google, a new service that lets you upload your personal music collection to the cloud for streaming to your computer and Android devices. With the new service, your music and playlists are automatically kept in sync, so if you create a new playlist on your phone, it’s instantly available on your computer or tablet. You can use a feature called Instant Mix to create a playlist of songs that go well together. You can even listen to music when you’re offline: we automatically store your most recently played music on your Android device and you can choose to make specific albums or playlists available when you’re not connected. The service is launching in beta today to U.S. users and is available by invitation.
We’ve also added Movies for rent to Android Market. You can choose to rent from thousands of movies starting at $1.99 and have them available across your Android devices—rent a movie on your home computer, and it’ll be available for viewing on your tablet or phone. You can rent from Android Market on the web today, and we’ll be rolling out an update to Verizon XOOM customers beginning today. We’ll start rolling out the update to Android 2.2 and above devices in the coming weeks.
The Android ecosystem has been moving really fast over the last two and a half years and rapid iteration on new and highly-requested features has been a driving force behind Android’s success. But of course that innovation only matters if it reaches consumers. So today we’re announcing that a founding team of industry leaders, including many from the Open Handset Alliance, are working together to adopt guidelines for how quickly devices are updated after a new platform release, and also for how long they will continue to be updated. The founding partners are Verizon, HTC, Samsung, Sprint, Sony Ericsson, LG, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Motorola and AT&T, and we welcome others to join us. To start, we're jointly announcing that new devices from participating partners will receive the latest Android platform upgrades for 18 months after the device is first released, as long as the hardware allows...and that's just the beginning. Stay tuned for more details.
More—extending the platform beyond mobile
From the beginning, Android was designed to extend beyond the mobile phone. With that in mind, we’ve developed Android Open Accessory to help developers start building new hardware accessories that will work across all Android devices. We previewed an initiative called [email protected], which allows Android apps to discover, connect and communicate with appliances and devices in your home. We also showed a preview of Project Tungsten, an Android device for Music Beta to give you more control over music playback within the [email protected] network.
You can watch the entire Android keynote from Google I/O on our Google Developer YouTube Channel shortly. On behalf of the team, we want to thank the entire Android community of developers, OEMs and carriers who are pushing the platform into new areas and building great experiences for consumers. Without you, the Android platform wouldn’t have grown so large in the past two and a half years. We look forward to seeing where you take it next.
I'm convinced I saw 'MUSIC' on the Android Market this morning/early afternoon today too - I re-set up my phone and noticed it appearing (which it didn't before) as installed... didn't think much of it.
Now I notice its US only too for now
If it's anything like the Amazon AppStore, UKers might see it in a year's time?
looking forward to USB host I wonder if SD card may get enabled soon too...
Why copy-paste the text of a website you just gave a link to?
slack04 said:
Why copy-paste the text of a website you just gave a link to?
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1. To give a source to where I got it, 2. because I know some noobs aren't going to click the link because they are too eager to fill up the forums with hearsay haha.
And it was easy just to put both haha.
Android 5.0 release date
Google has announced that its next developer conference - Google IO - will take place from May 15 to May 17 2013, a month earlier than 2012's June dates. Given that Google announced Android 4.1 Jelly Bean at 2012's IO conference, it's not unreasonable to expect to see Android 5.0 at this year's event On 31 January, a Google IO showing of Android 5.0 looked more likely when screengrabs of a Qualcomm roadmap were leaked, showing Android 5.0 as breaking cover between April and June 2013.
Android 5.0 phones
Rumours of a new Nexus handset started trickling in during the third quarter of 2012, as we reported on 1 October 2012. There was speculation that this phone would be sporting Key Lime Pie, but sources who spoke to AndroidAndMe correctly claimed that the handset, which turned out to be the Google Nexus 4 would be running Android Jelly Bean.
While the Nexus 4 didn't appear with a helping of Key Lime Pie, speculation that we reported on 21 January 2013 suggests that the Motorola X Phone is the Android 5.0-toting handset that will be revealed at Google IO. According to a post on the DroidForums website, the phone will also feature a virtually bezel-free, edge-to-edge, 5-inch display.
The same leaked Qualcomm documents cited above also made mention of a two new Snapdragon devices, one of which will be, unsurprisingly, a new Nexus phone.
Android 5.0 features
For 24 hours, it seemed as though the first kinda, sorta confirmed feature for Android 5.0 was a Google Now widget, which briefly appeared in a screenshot on the company's support forum before being taken down. As it was so hurriedly pulled, many people assumed it was slated for the big five-o and accidentally revealed early.
As it happened, the following day, on 13 February 2013, the Google Now widget rolled out to Jelly Bean.
So while we wait on Key Lime Pie features to be revealed and scour the web for more Android 5.0 news, TechRadar writer Gary Cutlack has been thinking about what we want to see in Android 5.0 Key Lime Pie. Hopefully the new mobile OS will feature some of these things...
Performance Profiles
It's bit of a fuss managing your mobile before bed time. Switching off the sound, turning off data, activating airplane mode and so on, so what Android 5.0 really needs is a simple way of managing performance, and therefore power use, automatically.
We've been given a taste of this with Blocking Mode in Samsung's Jelly Bean update on the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Note 2 but we'd like to see the functionality expanded.
Something like a Gaming mode for max power delivery, an Overnight low-power state for slumbering on minimal power and maybe a Reading mode for no bothersome data connections and a super-low backlight.
Some hardware makers put their own little automated tools in, such as the excellent Smart Actions found within Motorola's RAZR interface, but it'd be great to see Google give us a simple way to manage states.
Another little power strip style widget for phone performance profiles would be an easy way to do it.
Better multiple device support
Google already does quite a good job of supporting serious Android nerds who own several phones and tablets, but there are some holes in its coverage that are rather frustrating.
Take the Videos app which manages your film downloads through the Play Store. Start watching a film on one Android device and you're limited to resuming your film session on that same unit, making it impossible to switch from phone to tablet mid-film.
You can switch between phone and web site players to resume watching, but surely Google ought to understand its fans often have a couple of phones and tabs on the go and fix this for Android Key Lime Pie?
Enhanced social network support
Android doesn't really do much for social network users out of the box, with most of the fancy social widgets and features coming from the hardware makers through their own custom skins.
Sony integrates Facebook brilliantly in its phones, and even LG makes a great social network aggregator widget that incorporates Facebook and Twitter - so why are there no cool aggregator apps as part of the standard Android setup?
Yes, Google does a great job of pushing Google+, but, no offence, there are many other more widely used networks that ought to be a little better "baked in" to Android.
Line-drawing keyboard options
Another area where the manufacturers have taken a big leap ahead of Google is in integrating clever alternate text entry options in their keyboards. HTC and Sony both offer their own takes on the Swype style of line-drawing text input, which is a nice option to have for getting your words onto a telephone. Get it into Android 5.0 and give us the choice.
A video chat app
How odd is it that Google's put a front-facing camera on the Nexus 7 and most hardware manufacturers do the same on their phones and tablets, yet most ship without any form of common video chat app?
You have to download Skype and hope it works, or find some other downloadable app solution. Why isn't there a Google Live See My Face Chat app of some sort as part of Android? Is it because we're too ugly? Is that what you're saying, Google?
Multi-select in the contacts
The Android contacts section is pretty useful, but it could be managed a little better. What if you have the idea of emailing or texting a handful of your friends? The way that's currently done is by emailing one, then adding the rest individually. Some sort of checkbox system that let users scroll through names and create a mailing list on the fly through the contacts listing in Android Key Lime Pie would make this much easier.
Cross-device SMS sync
If you're a constant SIM swapper with more than one phone on the go, chances are you've lost track of your text messages at some point. Google stores these on the phone rather than the SIM card, so it'd be nice if our texts could be either backed up to the SIM, the SD card, or beamed up to the magical invisible cloud of data, for easy and consistent access across multiple devices.
A "Never Update" option
This would annoy developers so is unlikely to happen, but it'd be nice if we could refuse app updates permanently in Android 5.0, just in case we'd rather stick with a current version of a tool than be forced to upgrade.
Sure, you can set apps to manual update and then just ignore the update prompt forever, but it'd be nice to know we can keep a favoured version of an app without accidentally updating it. Some of us are still using the beta Times app, for example, which has given free access for a year.
App preview/freebie codes
Something Apple's been doing for ages and ages is using a promo code system to distribute free or review versions of apps. It even makes doing little competitions to drum up publicity for apps much easier, so why's there no similar scheme for Android?
It might encourage developers to stop going down the ad-covered/freemium route if they could charge for an app but still give it away to friends and fans through a promo code system.
Final whinges and requests...
It's be nice to be able to sort the Settings screen by alphabetical order, too, or by most commonly used or personal preference, as Android's so packed with a huge list of options these days it's a big old list to scroll through and pick out what you need.
Plus could we have a percentage count for the battery in the Notifications bar for Android 5.0? Just so we know a bit more info than the vague emptying battery icon.
(Source)
Okay I wanted to drop this in about video chat. You say that Google doesn't have one right? Of I remember correctly Google talk has video.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app
jlmancuso said:
Okay I wanted to drop this in about video chat. You say that Google doesn't have one right? Of I remember correctly Google talk has video.
Sent from my PC36100 using xda app-developers app
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This one is built in,you dont have to look for it and install it from 3rd party.
Diablo67 said:
This one is built in,you dont have to look for it and install it from 3rd party.
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Google talk has built in video chat, you don't have to install anything its preloaded on every android phone for as long as I can remember.
I like to break stuff!
-EViL-KoNCEPTz- said:
Google talk has built in video chat, you don't have to install anything its preloaded on every android phone for as long as I can remember.
I like to break stuff!
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Most of the gapps i ever installed didnt,but yes on a sense rom you can find it and maybe an official ICS or JB that is meant for a certain phone.So i should have reworded that.You are correct though.
I know many folks have been hoping that Google will release its own set top system.
I read an article yesterday that said Joe Britt, head of [email protected], has left Google and that the ADT-1 reference platform given out at google i/o this year may never land as a Google hardware product....
http://www.talkandroid.com/219739-a...t-lead-googles-androidhome-may-be-in-trouble/
However, also in the last day, I saw an article indicating that benchmarks had leaked on a device tthat looks like an Android set-top box, an "asus nexus player"
http://androidspin.com/2014/09/16/asus-nexus-player-android-tv-launch-device/
the device has a whopping 8 gig of internal storage - just like the fireTV...
I don't know how to align these two reports...
One thing I'll be interested in is whether one day we'll be able to rip the Amazon firmware completely out of this device and replace it with a port of the asus player software load.
roustabout said:
I know many folks have been hoping that Google will release its own set top system.
I read an article yesterday that said Joe Britt, head of [email protected], has left Google and that the ADT-1 reference platform given out at google i/o this year may never land as a Google hardware product....
http://www.talkandroid.com/219739-a...t-lead-googles-androidhome-may-be-in-trouble/
However, also in the last day, I saw an article indicating that benchmarks had leaked on a device tthat looks like an Android set-top box, an "asus nexus player"
http://androidspin.com/2014/09/16/asus-nexus-player-android-tv-launch-device/
the device has a whopping 8 gig of internal storage - just like the fireTV...
I don't know how to align these two reports...
One thing I'll be interested in is whether one day we'll be able to rip the Amazon firmware completely out of this device and replace it with a port of the asus player software load.
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Click to collapse
Everyone is misinterpreting the recent article at Android Police. They should have been more clear in their article to say the ADT-1 was once supposed to be a Nexus Android TV device. It fell through because some people left. That basically sums it up. Android TV isn't going away before it even launches.
I'd also take all rumors with a grain of salt. Every other day the rumors change the specs on what the Nexus 6 will be.
I have Rokus and a FireTV. Comparing the two, there are aspects of each that I like better than the other. I see the FireTV as having the potential to be vastly superior to Roku in the long term, and with this in mind I see Android TV as being in a position to jump out in front from the start if done right. I'm not holding my breath, and I'm satisfied with my current setup, but at the same time I'm looking forward to the real life hands on reviews when Android TV boxes start shipping.
Doom and gloom rumors aside, I'm pretty confident Android TV boxes are going to be released. ADT-1 reference boxes have been shipped to manufacturers and devs. ADTV versions of apps are being developed (made remote/big screen friendly), hardware manufacturers are moving forward with both the set-top-boxs and integrated into TVs. All Google needs to do is release hardware specs for compatibility (which they have done), the SDK (which they have done), and the OS (Android L). I don't care if Google never releases their own brand of Nexus TV. It's just like Android phones and tablets, let them all compete with each other to see who comes out with the best setup. Google just needs to do what they do best, the OS.