Technomaly » google phone

Android Phones Outsell iPhone in Q1

J. Matthew Zoss — Mon, 10 May 2010 15:45:12 +0000

The end of Apple’s dominance of the mobile phone market is at hand! Okay, that’s overstating it by a long shot. But the analysts at NPD are reporting today that in Q1 Android-based phones captured 28 percent of the market, while the iPhone claimed 21 percent. Of course, there are several important caveats here. First, both Google’s Android phones and Apple’s iPhone were outsold by Blackberry-based phones, which grabbed 36 percent of the market. Second, there are multiple different Android phones (Droid, Nexus One, MyTouch, etc.) and only one iPhone, meaning that no individual Android phone is presenting a real threat to the iPhone. Third, a strong “Buy One Get One Free promotion” on phones like the Droid definitely helped with sales. So even though I recently joined the Android team, it’ll be a long time before we can declare victory over our rival Apple.

Source: Android Central

Nexus One Now Available for AT&T and Rogers 3G Users

J. Matthew Zoss — Tue, 06 Apr 2010 18:37:51 +0000

Just as was widely expected, Google’s Nexus One phone has been made available for additional 3G wireless carriers. As of Tuesday, March 16th, you can buy the Nexus One for use one AT&T’s 3G network, as well as the Rogers 3G network in Canada. Of course, you’ll pay the unsubsidized price for the phone ($529), but that means you’ll get an unlocked phone with no contract.

The Nexus One can already be run on pretty much any cell phone network, including many 3G networks. However, different 3G protocols have been a stumbling block for the phone on the AT&T/Rogers networks before. Full press release from Google below:

Nexus One now compatible with the AT&T 3G network and shipping to Canada

In early January, we announced the Nexus One, the first device sold through Google’s web store. The Nexus One is unlocked, which means you can use it with a SIM card from most GSM operators worldwide. Currently the device is compatible with most 3G networks, including T-Mobile in the US. However, there are some carriers that have different 3G frequencies, such as AT&T in the US and Rogers Wireless in Canada, so users with these SIM cards can only access 2G or EDGE networks on their Nexus One.

Starting today, an additional version of the Nexus One is available from the Google web store that is compatible with AT&T’s 3G network. This new model can be purchased as an unlocked device without a service plan. In addition to AT&T’s 3G network, this device will also run on Rogers Wireless in Canada. And like the first version of the Nexus One, it can be used with most GSM operators globally.

Additionally, Nexus One devices can now be shipped to Canada from Google’s web store, and will work with a SIM from Rogers Wireless. To find out which version you should purchase, based on your mobile service provider, please visit our Help Center.

Source: Engadget

Multitouch Comes To Nexus One!

Nick Upton — Wed, 03 Feb 2010 01:02:31 +0000

A small section of a Google announcement carried a lot of weight today.

Pinch-to-zoom functionality: devices will now include a new pinch-to-zoom mechanism in the phone’s Browser, Gallery and Maps applications

That little, innocuous and unpunctuated comment is HUGE! Until now, only the iPhone has had native multitouch — and it took a lot of hassle, hacking and unlocking to get it on other phones.

The Nexus One was already at the top of my gadget wish list, and now it’s taken over part of my number two gadget.

Watch the video to see the multitouch in action.
Also included in the update was native Google Goggles AR application and synchronization with online Google maps via the Maps application — making it easy to search online and mobile history on board.

[Via Google]

5 Ways That Google Could Have Spiced Up Their Nexus One Debut

Geoffrey Golden — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 16:40:41 +0000

When Apple announced the iPhone, Steve Jobs’ presentation was met with thunderous applause and awe. On January 5th, when Google launched the Nexus One at a press event, you could only hear the sound of critics scoffing. Come on, Goog. You can do better than that. After all, when you launch a tech product, people expect you to put on a god damn show. Here are some ways Google could have made their Nexus One debut a buzzed-about affair:

5. A line of chorus girls walk out in long black turtleneck sweaters. They rip off the sweaters — take that, Jobs — to reveal sexy hip-hop dance outfits.

4. In walks Jay-Z, with Alicia Keys wheeled in behind on piano. They sing a new variation on their hit song, called “Nexus State of Mind.” When they’re done, Jay-Z drops the mic on stage.

3. Whenever a Google executive demonstrated a feature, like the touchscreen and voice recognition, there should have been corresponding fireworks and pyrotechnics.

2. Live tigers.

1. Build a Steve Jobs robot to host the presentation. Learn from the robot, Google executives. Learn.

Photo Source: TechTalk

Google Android’s Super Sucky Tech Support

Geoffrey Golden — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 19:29:14 +0000

Google Android is the most buzzed about tech today, but not all the buzz is good. Reports say that customer service for the smart phone is abysmal. Slow response to consumer problems may be because the search engine giant doesn’t have adequate tech support in-house for dealing with hardware issues. Until this point, Google was never in the hardware business.

Google insists that the complaints about their service are coming from only a small number of customers. Still, reports of consumers having to email their technical support questions to Google, and getting a response 2 days later, does not speak well of Google’s support strategy. Hopefully, T-Mobile can pick up the slack while Google gets its groove back.

[Image via]

Google’s Nexus One: It’s Here! And I Want It!

Nick Upton — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:15:57 +0000

It’s been hard to jump on the hype train for the Nexus One, but I held my itchy blogger finger and waited. But now it’s here!

Google’s first act of a big year was to unveil the Nexus One at a press event.

It looks like the Nexus One is at the top of the cell phone pile with a lot of impressive specs, but how do the official specs compare alongside the iPhone or the Droid?

Firstly, it has a sick processor, the Nexus One clocks into the cell phone fray with a Qualcomm QSD 8250 1 GHz. You’d have to put the Droid (550 MHz) and the iPhone 3GS (833 MHz underclocked to 600 MHz) to beat that — and I doubt that would work.

HD video at 720×480 is the second thing that sets the Google Phone apart, encoded as H.263 at 20 fps it rivals most current, quality point-and-shoot cameras and dominates the cell phone market. It’s a good step toward better video sharing across the industry. I have a dream of America’s Funniest Home Videos in full HD glory.

The megapixels on the phone are on par with the competition at 5 megapixels — compared to the iPhone with 3 and the Droid at 5. It’s good, but well behind dedi dedicated camera-focused phones like the Samsung Memoir or the Sony Ericsson Cyber-shot (with 8 megapixels).

The camera does have an LED flash, which is a sticking part of some other Android devices such as the MyTouch.

Connectivity is key to the Nexus One, It’s got plenty of wi-fi capabilities (b/g/n) and download speeds up to 7.2Mbp so you can go right to Google, Gmail and the rest of the internet.

The AMOLED screen is nice and big at 3.7 inches with a resolution of 800×480 it trumps the iPhone’s screen at 3.5 inches at 320×480 and the same size as the Droid’s screen at 3.7 inches at 854×480. The iPhone’s standard multi-touch functionality isn’t there, but some people have gotten similar capabilities on other Android devices. Android 3 is also due out this year, and rumor has it that multi-touch will be included.

The Nexus One also has a large capacity for memory with a 32Gb expandable slot — on par with the iPhone 3GS and the Droid’s 32Gb. Filling that 32Gb with music and movies is perfect pairing with the wonderful, great, should-be-necessary-in-all-phones 3.5mm headphone jack.

And finally, it looks great and if the other HTC trackball phones are any indication, it’s incredibly intuitive and the Android system is quick and easy to use — but there is still a lack of sleek apps. Hopefully the popularity boost will bring more developers from the iPhone market.

Via Google/Phone.

Space, Google To Dominate 2010 In Tech

Nick Upton — Fri, 01 Jan 2010 05:02:14 +0000

Take a look at what is expected for 2010 on the tech front — big leaps in space exploration and everyone will be watching Google once again.

Space Is The Place

New information from Kepler, a bigger better International Space Station and more Jupiter-Titan and friends news will make for a fascinating year in space exploration and habitation.

Space Tourism Boost

Find your “local accredited space agent” soon though, the first “around 250″ astronauts have already paid $200,000 to spend a few minutes in space.

Virgin Galactic unveiled the SpaceShipTwo in late 2009, the 6-passenger shuttle that will carry the first commercial space tourists into space.

When those astronauts will make it to space is a murky subject, but one that the proposed 2010 test flight will address. The flights have been pushed back before numerous times, but a test flight in 2010 doesn’t seem unreasonable. If the craft performs well and the slew of FAA regulations are completed, the first paying customers could look down on Earth in 2011 or 2012.

Sir Richard Branson said he and his family would be aboard the first flight and a crew of rich Russians have dibs on the first commercial flight.

Party On The ISS

The International Space Station won’t be getting much bigger in 2010, but it will become more habitable with a new life support system that recycles waste water and generates oxygen for the crew to breathe. Dubbed “Tranquility” the new update — currently slated for February 4 — will also add four new “birthing locations.” No, there won’t be any space babies in 2010, but the new hatches will allow for more spacecraft and space for future lab and living modules. More than one shuttle will be able to dock — which is a crucial point for future space travel.

Having the option of a pair of space-faring vehicles helps bypass the critical weight requirements for shuttle launches. If that second shuttle can take off directly from the space station, the weight isn’t as important.

The ISS will also house more spare parts and supplies, allowing for longer stays for more people.

Sailing The Seas Of Titan

In 2010, NASA scientists will continue to ponder sending a ship to sail in the open seas of liquid methane. The Cassini Equinox mission recently caught the sun glinting off the moon’s massive, 150,000 square mile Kraken Mare. The open sea is the ideal place for a submersible ship to splashdown without having to penetrate thick ice.

The mission will also unveil more news of Titan’s small, unpopular sibling Enceladus; which could have greater implications than any celestial body in the solar system. Researchers have found evidence of “complex organic chemicals” on Enceladus which could provide the ideal place for the growth of primitive life.

Brand New Planets

The American Astronomical Society is expected to release news about new planets found by the 2009 Kepler Mission probe. The AAS meeting in January 2010 will feature NASA’s “confirmation of a number of planets.”

The new planets were spotted by Kepler as it looks for winking stars; and now that the probe and the science team is up and running, these discoveries will become more frequent.

[Via NASA and Virgin Galactic]

All Eyes On Google

Google has a lot brewing for 2010: the Nexus One, the Google Chrome operating system, updated search listings and the future of Google News.

Google Nexus One

Droid Does, but Google is hoping the Nexus One does it better as it jumps into the mobile phone market.

Google dropped a bomb on the mobile phone market, going up against its own partners using the Android system. The tail end of 2009 saw leaked shots and bloggers drooling over the new Nexus One.

Un-tethered and unlocked — what amounts to the first Google phone is set for release in January of 2010 and won’t require any service plan lock-in. The Nexus One will feature Android 2.1 and will likely make it easier than ever to use Google Voice as a dedicated VOIP service from anywhere with an internet connection.

Google Voice everywhere could mean some big changes for the mobile phone industry, especially prices. If Google starts giving minutes away for free, AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon and everyone else may have some major competition on their hands and could be forced to update their networks for the spike in internet usage.

Android vs Everyone

More updates and more apps will find their way to Android users in 2010 and make for more healthy competition. With Android 2.0 still rolling out and 2.1 native on the Nexus One and slated for the Verizon Droid and other phones, Google is demonstrating that it is keeping users in mind. This could attract more developers for the Android Market’s varied but anemic app store.

The last update of 2009 for most phones brought greater voice activation support and free spoken GPS based on Google Maps, so more novel free features are anxiously awaited in 2010.

Though Google hasn’t given much hint at features beyond 2.1, but support for Google Wave and Google Fastflip are anxiously awaited.

Google vs News

Google still has Rupert Murdoch’s blood a boilin’ but that may change in 2010. The issue of paying for news and on-site paywalls is a ubiquitous problem in the news community since the people making the news aren’t getting paid for their work. Google’s Fast Flip could change all that. The service allows a snippet of the actual news site in a frame, allowing users to read part of the article but funneling them to the site if they want to read more.

Google basically beat Murdoch to the paywall punch, allowing an easy way for users to find news via Google but still bring their clicks and revenue to the original source.

There has been no official word, but Fast Flip may find its way to the main Google News page sometime in 2010.

WTF Is Google Wave

Google Wave is fresh, it’s interesting and it’s fun, and despite the fact that the few people with access don’t know what to do with it, it could change how people view the internet.

The real time protocol allows for what amounts to a online conference room. Users can drag in pictures, quotes videos even games and useful tools into their wave to share with others.

It could be a total bust, but allowing online, real-time collaboration could be a great way for organizations to supplement or replace the awkward web meetings and conference calls.

It could also change how blogs are done, a mobile phone with Google Wave could update a site immediately. Citizen journalists, bloggers and online social butterflies should keep an eye on the project and fight for that invite in 2010.

Caffeine Jitters

Google’s search algorithm update aims to be faster and more intuitive.

The update will begin rolling out in early 2010 and will feature more real time results from Twitter and Google News. The update will also penalize slow-loading sites possibly cutting a lot of junk from key search results.

Google Operating System

Google’s head is in the cloud with the impending rollout of the new operating system. Designed with mobile computers and online apps in mind, the new operating system will likely first be featured on netbooks, though no official plans have been set. The Chrome OS will tap directly into Google’s online apps and, ideally bringing the operating system in line with the wired world sometime in 2010.

[Via TechCrunch and Google's Blog]