Category Archives: Android
Google+ Released Publicly and has Several Improvements
Today Google let their Plus service go invite free and available to anyone with a Google account. Now, we will get to see what kind of real competition they give Facebook and Twitter. Along with going live, Google added several new features, which is kind of ironic being they are going public with it. Hopefully the new features will be working solid.
One of the largest additions is the option to do a Hangout on phones, running Android 2.3+ and is said to be coming to iOS and others very soon. Hangouts on Air is a new feature that lets you broadcast your Hangout to up to nine people. Hangouts can be named now, screen sharing is added, sketchpad sharing and the option to view a Google Docs document.
Search has also been improved, now Google Plus profiles will pull up. API’s for Hangout have been released, so now maybe we will see some cool apps incorporate the service. Google is pushing their social network to not fail this time around and from what we can tell they are heading in the right direction.
(via Google Blog)
Google Wallet Begins it’s Launch with First Device
Google told us about their plans for Google Wallet not to long ago and now today they have officially launched the service on the first device, the Nexus S 4G on Sprint. The update will come via over the air for users to install.
The first card to work out of the gate is MasterCard, then Visa, American Express, and Discover have made their specifications available so that their services will be enabled on future versions of Google Wallet. Payment consoles are already popping up in New York City and San Francisco so this is a giant step. With this system out in the open now, we should see more options and updates coming to allow these type of payments coming.
Will this service really keep you from carrying a wallet? Probably not, but it certainly could make paying for something a lot quicker rather than pulling out your wallet and hunting for a card. Now we shall see if the option to pay with your phone really catches on. With recent rumors of the newest iPhone coming with NFC payments maybe this will take off really fast. What do you think?
(via Android Community)
Motorola Droid Bionic Review
The Motorola Droid Bionic is the first smartphone (superphone?) from Verizon Wireless that combines nearly every high-end spec imaginable. It has a 4.3” qHD display, dual-core CPU, 4G LTE, 8MP camera w/ 1080p video recording, Mobile Hotspot, and more! The main question is: “Does the Droid Bionic live up to the eight months of hype?” Find out after the break!
Samsung Nexus, er Droid Prime has a CDMA Radio
We’ve heard numerous rumors that the next Nexus device, name “Prime”, would hit Verizon with LTE. Then yesterday, news broke it might be called the Droid Prime and be an exclusive to Verizon. Today we have even more proof as a Bluetooth filing shows the device with a CDMA radio. Will we really see a Nexus device as an exclusive, or will this be like the Nexus One/Droid Incredible deal where a carrier device shares it’s hardware with the Nexus? Stay tuned!
[Droid Life]
Samsung and LG Getting Concerned about Google and Android
When Google announced their plans to purchase Motorola Mobility the other manufacturers gladly stepped up and said, oh this is a great partnership, we are happy and it shouldn’t affect us at all. However, that is not what we are hearing today.
Samsung and LG are reportedly being asked by the South Korean government to partner along with other companies, leave Android, and push towards using a new mobile operating system built by the companies. The South Korean Government states “In the long term, we cannot go on like this solely relying on Google”.
Surely, this has a lot to do with the fear of Google owning Motorola Mobility, and the fact that they could easily push their own hardware and software to the forefront. With that said we can’t see either company abandoning Android any time soon. Android is the main reason their hardware has done really good in the past recent years.
Can we blame South Korea for trying to put this together to get away from Google in the future? No we can’t, that was the first thing that popped into everyone’s mind when the news about Google acquiring Motorola was announced. Either way there should not be any changes soon, but it looks like the other companies might be trying to make themselves a pathway that goes the opposite way of Google.
(via android and me)
