When will Froyo actually be an Update?

Froyo may be "released," but for a great many Android handset owners, the update is still just a theory. The latest and greatest Android phones are being released with Android 2.1 and the promise of an upgrade sometime this summer. It is a theory because postponements are being leaked and pushing back the timetable as far as next Christmas for some devices.

On a side note, this is strengthening Android's rooted community where Froyo is making its debut on custom ROMs like Cyanogen's version 6 RC1. Ironically, the only Android phone ahead of the curve is Google's now discontinued Nexus One. The Nexus One, in most cases, already has the official Froyo update because it is the only phone running a pure version of Android and a pet project of Google.

However, Android handset owners unwilling to risk rooting there devices still have to wait.

HTC Devices, excluding the Nexus One

HTC makes it clear that Android phones bought in 2010 will get an update to Froyo. This includes the Desire, EVO 4G, and Droid Incredible.

In broad terms, this update is slated for the second half of the year with some blurry details regarding the third quarter. Just in time for the holiday rush. Keep in mind, even though HTC is hinting at having updates ready by the end of July and early August, different carriers are involved and they have to be satisfied with the update before pushing it their users.

Motorola Devices

If you own a Backflip, forget about it, even in the rooted community there is no hope. Droid and Droid X phones, however, are going to get the upgrade. When is a big question, there is nothing listed on Motorola's Android Software Upgrade page past Android 2.1. However, a few backs the word for the Backflip was it would get an update to Android 2.1 and nothing appeared on Motorola's list either, but now the update is listed for quarter 3 of this year.

In fact, it is pretty reasonable to believe HTC's timetable is a good idea for when anything more than rumors can be counted on. The Droid had continual delays and postponements just to reach Android 2.1, so anything that might officially come from Motorola would most likely just be a timetable for when to expect a delay.

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What Android users are running into with their expectations is the problem of fragmentation. While the latest crop of smartphones running Android are quite capable of running Froyo, it is the custom tweaks, like HTC Sense and Motorola Blur, on top of the OS which slows the update process.

A guesstimate might be six months after the release of Android 2.1 on a new device or through an update.

Will smartphones running Google's new Android mobile software eventually replace the iPhone?

In some people's minds, Android already has surpassed the iPhone. In terms of market percentage, NPD Group reported Android phones outpaced the sale of iPhones in the first quarter of 2010. This puts Google's Android in second place right behind Blackberry in terms of market share and paints an optimistic future for the platform. iPhones, however, have a rabid fan base and Apple's Worldwide Developer Conference scheduled in June carries with it the expectation for announcing the new iPhone HD. If true, iPhone sales will skyrocket. Sales and market share will be heavily contested this year but the long term trend points to Google as the big winner.

Currently Apple is tied to a single US carrier while Android is available on all the major networks. Apple has similar outlets for its product in European and Asian Markets and, while it has served Apple very well so far, this approach to the marketplace is a liability. Now that Google's Android has matched, or even surpassed, the iPhone's capabilities, consumers no longer have envy helping them make a smartphone purchase. Instead, buyers can concentrate on pricing plans and which carriers serve their needs best. It is only when someone lands at AT&T, or another exclusive iPhone carrier, that this tug of war between the two smartphones exists.

Apple' advantage is that it did lead the way, showing the world how a mobile device should be personal, intuitive, and just plain fun. It has made the term "app" synonymous with the iPhone and erected an ecosystem every competitor is trying to duplicate. Google's emergence as the only company capable of competing with Apple is a difference between strategies. Apple is singularly responsible for all facets of its handset while Google pushed for openness in its approach and can draw from a collaboration of partners who can provide brandable differences between phones. It is not that Google dismisses a proprietary place for software, it has provided things like voice search and maps while allowing third party products like Adobe's Flash onto the platform.

Recently, when Apple tightened the criteria for developing on its OS, it made the already notoriously picky App Store even less attractive for developers. With Google's Marketplace already growing by leaps and bounds , Apple's move is alienating developers and jeopardizing one of the key reasons the iPhone is still an attractive choice over Android, its number of apps.

Google has simply used openness to upstage Apple. Open means there is a larger pool of manufactures, developers, and carriers to draw from. Open also means the innovation, creativity, and speed of Android's development will outpace the iPhone. Open also means consumers will have a far greater choice and this is why Android will dominant.

Originally Posted on Helium

What to expect from the Motorola Backflip

Motorola's Backflip with Blur is a unique smart phone with a physical keyboard running Android 1.5. What makes the Backflip stand out is that the keyboard folds open like a book instead of having the kind of slider keyboard found on the Droid or G1. Another difference is something called "backtrack" which is a small indented square behind the screen meant to be used much like a mouse and keep the screen clear of fingers when trying to access its apps or the web.

The Backflip does have a neat design and provides a physical keyboard for those who need one. Because of its unique clamshell approach for the keyboard, the Backflip can be partially opened and used like a desktop clock. This half folding feature can also be utilized as a way to present information to small group, like when wanting to show a photo album to family and friends.

Blur is Motorola's software layer over the top of Android. It combines messaging streams from SMS, Email, and social networks and pushes the information through Blur, essentially Motorola's brand of widgets for android. If Blur is not your style, you can remove it from your screen or replace it with other options found on the market.

If you are looking for a top of the line new Android phone, this is not it. Despite its cosmetically different look, the hardware is similar to the G1 released in 2008. The Backflip sports a 528 MHz Qualcomm processor, 172 MB of memory, and a 5 mega pixel camera. The screen is smaller than the iPhone's and lacks pinch to zoom.

Google is already leaking Android version 2.2 updates to more capable phones and even though Motorola promised an update to 2.1, it seems unlikely to arrive anytime soon or at all. Also, AT&T has substituted much of the Google experience which makes Android popular with Yahoo. Even if the Backflip does get an Android 2.1, features like voice search might not work due to contract negotiations which obligate the phone to use Yahoo search over Google.

Now that Android's latest update is delivering Flash, apps to SD, and performance/speed boosts, Motorola's Backflip feels like a dinosaur.

However, if you could care less about the cutting edge, the Backflip excels at providing a decent phone capable of running apps and keeping connected with social sites like Facebook and Twitter. It surfs the net and lets you check and respond to email on the go.

Originally posted on Helium

How to use Google Goggles

Google Goggles is scary cool. Point a camera at something and come up with a list of relevant links. This is theory behind a brand new technology harnessing the power of visual search.

The application itself is simple enough. It takes advantage of the phone's built in camera and when opened up looks very much like the default camera application. Once a photo is taken, Goggles provides a line like scanner graphic moving through the picture, which lets you know it is working at finding the results.

The first time I used Google Goggles, I pointed my camera a container of Folgers and ended up on folgers.com. Not too shabby. When I snapped a photo of my cat the application came up empty. I took pictures of just about everything I could and the results favored incredibly popular items, like name brand consumer goods. Otherwise there was a lack of results or at best a series of related images not always accurate with the photo I took.

Google Goggles has another ability, related to taking pictures, but with text and not objects. With Goggles it is possible to have text scanned from one language and have it translated into another. This can be a bit tricky because getting the camera to focus correctly on exactly what you want is not always straight forward, but once it works there is no longer a need to struggle with remembering high school French while sitting at a cafe in Paris.

The potential for this technology is staggering. Dieters could snap pictures of food and have a calorie count at their finger tips. Movie theaters and restaurants could provide show times and menus at the click of a button. Landmarks could serve up detailed histories and provide routes to the best place to purchase the perfect souvenirs. Gamers could take screen shots and get instant cheat codes or a walk through on a particularly difficult spot in their quest for power.

Okay, so the technology is not quite there yet. For now it is more like a fascinating, but geeky, thing to show off at a party. But if Google Earth is any indication of how dedicated Google is at getting their data in order, it will not be too long before I can snap pictures of pretty girls on the beach and get information on where to buy her brand of suntan oil.

Originally posted on Helium

Google Android 2.2 release date and specs

Android 2.2, codenamed "froyo" (as in frozen yogurt), is already being reported as released for the Nexus One. Google had announced at its 2010 I/O conference that the update should be expected in June and speculation for the update being available first for the Nexus One seems to be confirmed. However, the early over the air updates appear to be for the T-Mobile version and so far only to a lucky few. Other devices not tied directly to Google still have to be integrated and a June or a July release of Android 2.2 should still be expected.

A big part of the media swarm surrounding Android 2.2 has been the promise of support for Flash 10.1. Earlier this year Steve Jobs made it very clear Apple has no intentions to allow Adobe's product on the iPhone. Apple's disdain for the technology stated Flash would demand too much of a mobile device's resources, draining battery life needlessly, represent a security risk, and undermine the openness of web because it was a proprietary technology.

Froyo will address some of Apple's concerns in the form of the Dalvik JIT compiler. Google has cited a 2 to 5 times speed /performance boost for all Android 2.2 devices. Demonstrations with Adobe's Flash and Android 2.2 have shown a very good mobile flash experience. In addition, Google V8 javascript engine used in the Chrome browser will also be added to Android's default browser, further increasing speed and performance.

Another highly anticipated feature is support for tethering and the ability for Android to be used as a WiFi hotspot. This particular feature might be vetoed by mobile carriers concerned about the added increase this could mean for their data networks.

SD card application storage is the last of the big anticipated features. Currently, Android phones are tied to a limited amount of internal storage the size of which is unique to each handset. With this implemented it will possible for developers to build bigger apps, which is particularly enticing if what you want are better games.

There are also cosmetic changes. The new UI has phone and browser buttons flanking the app drawer icon, the Market has a minor change separating an apps description and comments on different tabs, and holding the Home button will show more recently used apps.

Other highlights include automatic updates for market apps and improved exchange support, particularly for the calendar.

Originally posted on Helium

What is Google Android?

Google Android is most popularly known as an operating system for phones and upcoming tablet devices aimed to compete with mobile products like the iPhone and iPad. It has gained a lot of hype in an Apple and oranges comparison, with the oranges being Google.

But unlike Apple's mobile OS, Android is growing fast due to its open source nature which allows it to be used in multiple ways beyond just phones and tablet computers. Cars , televisions, washing machines... anything with a mere whisper of electricity running through it means Android is a likely being considered as an addition.

When Apple grabbed the headlines in 2007 and heralded in a new era of mobile devices just as personal as the PC, Google was already quietly laying its groundwork. Google purchased Android Inc in 2005, and in 2007 it announced the Open Handset Alliance with the goal of providing open standards for mobile devices.

Android itself is based on the Linux kernel, used most popularly as a server powering web pages and distributing data without the media sex appeal of a personal computer. Its technical strength did not attract mainstream consumers, which required a user to have above average IT skills. In addition, Linux could not challenge an operating system like Windows on the desktop with its deep roots in the industry which provided the developer framework and corporate ties to produce mainstream products like Adobe's Creative Suite or video games.

The emergences of mobile markets has opened up the industry to new platforms and the ability of these platforms are feeding consumer demand. Google and its Android partners has transformed the complex user experience of Linux into something slick and intuitive. Personal computing is no longer the domain of the desktop and Google now has a powerful outlet to provide its cloud applications and strengthen its advertising presence as it solidifies market presence.

Google's Android partners also have the advantage. Android can be customized, like Motorola's Blur on AT&T's Backflip, and create a brandable user experience still compatible inside the Android ecosystem. This customization is not just for phones. A company called Touch Revolution is already adding Android to washing machines and microwaves, complete with touch screens and the ability to play apps like Pandora while cooking a pizza. Car companies, like China's luxury Roewe, are adding the operating system and taking advantage of Google Maps, Navigation, and the ability to browse the web on the go.

Google Android has upped the stakes by supporting an open operating system attractive to manufactures at all levels of industry. For now the big headlines still surround mobile phones and tablets with an Android vs iPhone interest. However, as Google Android becomes more enmeshed and manufactures add it to their products, Android stands a good chance of becoming the most dominate operating system in this new era of personal computing.

Originally Posted on Helium

How can Google Nexus One be a threat to IPhone market?

As a single device, the Nexus One does not kill the iPhone. It is just a remarkable phone in a world of also-rans, and maybe even one ran badly at the start. As a branded Google device spearheading a charge of Android phones, like Verizon's Droids, Sprint's Evo, and HTC's Desire, just to name a few, it has become a formable force of features and choice being delivered to consumers from a variety of carriers and manufacturers.

Android has given Apple its only worthy competitor.

Google has provided the support for an open source operating system capable of delivering a competitive alternative accessible to anyone who wishes to produce a mobile device. The Nexus One is simply Google's own version of a system capable of change on a massive scale. It is the bare bones version of Android and it has been handing it out like candy to both developers and corporate partners alike. Its initial web only sales model might be seen as failure, but it reached those independent, tech savvy, consumers willing to take part in this new ecosystem.

Marking the Nexus One, or any Android phone, by itself, as an iPhone killer misses the point. Google does not need any single phone to be the ultimate winner to provide innovative services, like voice search and navigation, to increase its strength in advertising. The cost of research and development is not Google's to bare alone, neither is the manufacturing of devices.

Anyone can make it better and this is what is competing with the iPhone.

Still, Google has changed tactics and is begun looking for more traditional partnerships for selling the Nexus One. The Nexus One has advantages over other Android phones. Specifically updates are tied directly to improvements made to the operating system without having to go through additional layers found in user interfaces like Motorola's Blur or HTC's Desire. It is the bare bones Android cutting edge and this does appeal to a great many consumers who want their updates without having to wait. As Google puts this device in hands of potential consumers, sales will increase.

That lack of an extra layer means the Nexus One will be one of the few Android phones ready for Adobe's Flash coming with the next update in June. It gives Google one more selling point while Apple and Adobe talk trash over a mobile devices ability to host Flash in the first place. However, Apple has some very diehard fans. June is also the likely time in which Apple releases the new iPhone HD and it would be silly to believe those fans will not generate a crazy amount of initial sales.

Device for device, I am sure Apple will have the numbers. This year anyways. As a collection, and as the strategy towards openness leads to greater consumer choice, Google is definitely winning.

Originally posted on Helium