Posts Tagged ‘Froyo’
Is Google’s Nexus Two coming from Samsung on Nov. 8?
Google and Samsung may be gearing up to announce the Nexus Two Android phone at a press conference in New York on November 8, .
Earlier this week, Samsung to the event for an unveiling of “a new Android device.” Given that the company just recently rolled out, the new device must be something special to warrant a media event of its own.
Anonymous sources tell the site that Samsung’s new phone will be the first device to ship with the just-completed Android 2.3 version, which also goes by the codename “Gingerbread”, and it will soon be available on multiple carriers.
Google’s January release of , which was built by HTC and dubbed a “superphone” because of its next-generation hardware, gave Android manufacturers a template to follow for the rest of the year. Given that Samsung just released some of the most polished Android hardware on the market, it makes sense that Google would want to leverage that to carry on the Nexus phone line.
Even if it’s not officially dubbed the Nexus Two, Samsung’s upcoming phone could well be a “Google experience” phone just like the Nexus One — meaning it will be getting its software updates directly from Google, instead of from the mobile carriers. Google has historically brought out major Android releases to the Nexus One faster than the carriers. Samsung Galaxy S users are still awaiting the Android 2.2 “Froyo” update, which has been delayed several times .
Another possibility is that Samsung is gearing up to announce at the event, which sports dual displays.
The big takeaway? Wait two weeks before buying a new Android phone, because it seems like Samsung definitely has something interesting planned.
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Google’s new search mantra: “Did you know?”
Google CEO Eric Schmidt that the future of search was blazing-fast, “autonomous” searching that constantly provides users with results. He made the comments at a keynote speech at the German IFA home electronics event in Berlin Tuesday.
But autonomous search isn’t really search as we think of it — a user querying a massive database to get a result. Schmidt likened it to telling a user what he or she didn’t know, but was probably interested in seeing. Google already sees more than a billion searches cross their servers daily, and providing an automated process that is constantly providing search data can only boost those numbers.
That means more potential ad revenue from Google’s advertisements running with searches. Advertising made up about 96 percent of Google’s revenue in the first six months of 2010, according to company financials. Try as it might to diversify away from that revenue stream, for now, search-linked advertising is Google’s highly lucrative trick.
The company brought in $6.8 billion for the quarter ending June 30. Improving that by even a small percentage could bring a huge payout for Google.
For now, old-fashioned search is growing quickly on mobile. Google said about 33 percent of mobile searches related to users’ location, and mobile search grew by 50 percent, and searches on Google’s Android mobile operating system tripled, in the first half of 2010. But tech pundits theorize that users will increasingly use task-specific apps to find what they need rather than perform general searches.
The autonomous approach faces risks, from provoking a privacy backlash to draining users’ batteries through constant queries. But the biggest risk is that mobile users will drift away from Google, which has become all but synonymous with search on computers.
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Evo 4G users to get Android 2.2 “Froyo” update starting August 3
Google’s Android 2.2 “Froyo” update is finally hitting more phones than just the Nexus One. Sprint announced today that it will start rolling out the update to Evo 4G users starting next Tuesday, August 3, .
Android 2.2 comes with , including OS-wide speed increases, a more polished user-interface, a faster web browser, support for Adobe Flash 10.1, built-in tethering capabilities, and improved camera options. Google has been saying for some time that Android 2.2 will be available by the end of the summer, so other Android phone owners can expect the update some time in August as well.
Sprint will begin sending out update notifications to Evo 4G users on August 3 — at which point users only need to choose to download, and then install, the update. Since it will take the carrier until the middle of August to bring the update to all Evo 4G owners, it’s allowing more impatient Evo fans to grab the update manually. The simply need to head to their Evo’s “System Settings” menu, select “System Updates” and then “HTC Software Update”.
Evo owners have waited since the device’s June 4 launch to receive the update, and they will likely find much to love about Android 2.2. I used an Evo 4G for several weeks, and while it was certainly a well-built phone with a gorgeous screen, the device’s software issues — including instances of slowdown, and general instability — made it more of a pain to use than my older iPhone 3G S. The Froyo update should resolve much of those issues, and it will bring a level of polish to the Evo and other Android devices that will make them closer to the iPhone’s more mature user experience.
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Google to bring tethering and WiFi hotspot to Android 2.2 “Froyo” (report)
In addition to being a delicious frozen treat, is also the codename for the next major version of Google’s Android mobile operating system. We knew it was , but now, according to , Android users have something else to look forward to: USB tethering, which will let you share your phone’s internet connection with your laptop, and the ability to turn your phone into a wireless hotspot.
Apple introduced tethering for the iPhone 3GS when it launched, but has yet to convince AT&T to make it an option for subscribers (it remains a very popular hack among iPhone users). Meanwhile, many international carriers, like , have been offering it since last year. It’s a feature that carriers have to approve — since it will lead to vastly increased data usage — and there’s no word if U.S. carriers will allow it on their Android phones, or if they will charge extra (bet on it).
We can rule AT&T out, but carriers with popular Android phones like Verizon, Sprint, and T-Mobile can use the feature to lure users away from the more restrictive iPhone. Some carriers, like Sprint with the , have come up with their own solutions for sharing net access on Android phones. The promise of wireless hotspot capabilities is to sell more Palm devices — the carrier has gone so far as to offer it for free. By building it into the operating system, Google will make it even easier for carriers to offer the feature.
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