Database Users

android 2.3 feature :)

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.
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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.

Google I/O Announcements

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.

zoom wifi will get offical 4.1.1 soon enough

if you guys were waiting eagerly for the official rom from motorola for jb 4.1.1 ...its not far away:
-----"
Android 4.1.1, Jelly Bean Software Update for the Motorola XOOM™ WIFI in the U.S.
Introduction - We are pleased to announce a new software update for the Motorola XOOM™ WIFI in the US. This Android 4.1.1 (JRO03H) software update includes numerous enhancements. Upgrade today for peak performance.
Who Can Use This Release - ALL Motorola XOOM U.S. WIFI users.
After downloading and installing the software release, you will notice:
Improved User Interface and Response - Android 4.1.1, Jelly Bean, is the fastest and smoothest version of Android yet. Moving between home screens and switching between apps is effortless, like turning pages in a book. Jelly Bean makes your Android device even more responsive by boosting your device’s CPU instantly when you touch the screen, and turns it down when you don’t need it to improve battery life.
Expandable, Actionable Notifications - Now you can take action directly from the notifications shade. And because the notifications are expandable, you can get an even deeper look into the things that matter most, like multiple emails or photos on Google+.
Widgets work like magic - With Jelly Bean it’s now even easier to personalize your home screen. As you place widgets on the screen, everything else automatically moves to make room. When they’re too big, widgets resize on their own. Interacting with your favorite apps and customizing your home screen has never been easier. Seamlessly view and share photos - Just swipe over from camera to filmstrip view to instantly view the photos you just took, and quickly swipe away the ones you don’t like. Now sharing--and bragging--are a breeze.
A Smarter Keyboard - Android’s dictionaries are now more accurate, more relevant. The language model in Jelly Bean adapts over time, and the keyboard even guesses what the next word will be before you’ve started typing it.
Improved Text-to-Speech Capability - With improved text-to-speech capabilities, voice typing on Android is even better; it works even when you don’t have a data connection.
Accessibility - With Jelly Bean, blind users can use 'Gesture Mode' to reliably navigate the UI using touch and swipe gestures in combination with speech output. Jelly Bean also adds support for accessibility plugins to enable external Braille input and output devices via USB and Bluetooth.
Voice Search - Android lets you search the web with your voice, and it’s convenient for getting quick answers on the fly. It speaks back to you and is powered by the Knowledge Graph, bringing you a precise answer if it knows it, and precisely ranked search results, so you can always find out more.
A new look for Search - Android has search at its core. With Jelly Bean, a redesigned experience uses the power of the Knowledge Graph to show you search results in a richer way. It’s easier to quickly get answers and explore and browse search results.
Nothing in there is unexpected really, but it sure is nice to see it all laid out. Now we'll go back to waiting for it to fully appear on some devices considering this release is just for those involved in the soak test, if you happen to see it land on your Xoom, we wouldn't mind you dropping by the forums and saying so.
----"

when did you get that ....are you part of the soak test group ?

I would suspect that they are in the soak test or know someone who is.
Sent from my Milestone X using Tapatalk 2

jmgib said:
I would suspect that they are in the soak test or know someone who is.
Sent from my Milestone X using Tapatalk 2
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Click to collapse
I was going to do the soak test but gave them the wrong serial number and they couldn't push the update. I was out of town for the weekend and by the time i got around to do it, they told me that they already pushed out the test. So hopefully we will get something (official or leak) very soon.

He probably got it from here http://www.androidcentral.com/case-you-needed-confirmation-it-jelly-bean-will-be-arriving-xoom-wifi

Is it safe to assume that the link would be something like
Code:
http://android.clients.google.com/packages/data/ota/motorola_tervigon/something.signed-tervigon-JRO03H-from-IMM76.something.zip
where the two somethings are obviously some combination of numbers and letters...

well got it from gsmarena.com

Great news
Sent from my MB855 using xda premium

im hoping the update does come soon. I thought it was going to be mid July but, i guess not.

dweezy108 said:
im hoping the update does come soon. I thought it was going to be mid July but, i guess not.
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Yea I hope so soon too. I could use a little BUTTER to help the Xoom slide around easier.

Lothaen said:
Is it safe to assume that the link would be something like
Code:
http://android.clients.google.com/packages/data/ota/motorola_tervigon/something.signed-tervigon-JRO03H-from-IMM76.something.zip
where the two somethings are obviously some combination of numbers and letters...
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
Yep. That would be it.

Can one expect an update for the 3g version?
Sent from my Motorola Defy using Taptalk

US Verizon 3G? Yes. International 3G? Don't count on it.
Sent from my Nexus S using Tapatalk 2

@jmgib... I thought my niece and I were the only 2 people who still have " Milestone X ".. LOL..
Sent from my Xoom using XDA Premium HD app

The FB phone hype ends

“It gave it (Facebook) this soul… We don’t want to build a phone or operating system that some people will use,” he says. “Even if we did build a really good phone we’d only serve 1% of our community… We’re not building a phone. We’re not building an operating system.”
Android is very open, Zuck says, so you can make many changes to it. “You don’t need to fork Android to do this… Today we’re going to talk about the Home Screen of your phone.”
Source:Forbes
More info on what Zuck revealed on FB Blog about "Home"
Well , whenever this gets released we would like to see a port for nexus,wont we?

Its going to be like a launcher that you can download from Google Play Store on April 12 but the devices I seen so far that could download it are Galaxy S3 Note 2 HTC One X & a couple more I can't remember but yea wait until next week & see if you can download! I for 1 Hate Facebook I don't have the app installed on my phone if I do check to see what on FB its through the browser.
Sent from my Nexus S 4G using xda premium

Yeah.But lets see hows immersive is the experience? Waiting to see it on our nexuses.... (anyone listening?)

I don't understand what it is, what feature ?

I do check to see what on FB its through the browser.

New Hangouts V.2.1.311.

For all who can not wait.
http://androidspin.com/2014/06/18/google-hangouts-v2-1-311-update-rolling-apk-download/
Tapatalk Team SlimRoms

Anything new?

goshjosh said:
Anything new?
Click to expand...
Click to collapse
"not a big deal really"

Yes, looks like only "fixes" under the hood
Tapatalk Team SlimRoms

But better be updated than outdated ... Installed

I never used it until about a month ago and I gotta say it's great now. I won't use anything else ever again.
Nexus 5 (4.4.3) running Carbon/ElementalX

Yes, it's getting really great in the last few month, for me the first choice.
Tapatalk Team SlimRoms

coming soon (RUMORS)
Repost of my google+ post "+BenRoberts83/posts/6vn3vFEdtAK"
I've been looking at the Hangouts APK. You can almost definitely expect to see some new features announced at I/O.
From what I can tell hangouts it getting a major update. This latest apk (2.1.311) has quite a bit of new code. Just from an cursory look, I think we can expect to see...
1. Google Voice integration.
No surprise here. Google Voice's integration was only on hold because of some security issue and they had to force developers to use a new API for accessing GVoice. The last day to transition off the old system was almost a month ago. And the amount of references to "Voicemail" in the code, shot up substantially.
2. Google Wallet integration
The amount of code with wallet mentioned in it seems to have shot up. I'm hoping this may actually be a feature to pay a person through hangouts. That would be pretty neat.
3. Remote support
It looks like google may be taking a page from Amazon's playbook and adding a remote control and support feature. I'm guessing this will likely be "helpouts" being rolled in to a remote user being able to show you how to do things on your device. This is purely speculation now.
4.The rest.
I'll leave these up to you to take what you will from them. Here is a list of new folders that seem to have been added. (along side folders like plus, maps, games, etc)
analytics
cast
drive
feedback
gcm (looks to just be some networking callbacks)
identity
playlog
tagmanager
wearable