A ‘Black Hole’ called Android (I)

19/01/2012 — AndroidZoom

This is part one in a two-part series about why smartphones are becoming our main tech devices.

A black hole is a region of space having a gravitational field so intense that no matter or radiation can escape (Oxford Dictionary definition).

No intention of sounding pretentious, I cannot help thinking that a similar phenomenon is already going on with smartphones over other devices, electronic or not, that used to be part of our lives. Thus, there’s an ongoing process of integration of lots of tasks that, until now, required different devices to carry them out. For example, calculator, GPS, notebook, PC’s, camera, mp3 players, physical maps, agenda, books…

The assimilation of that issues has been only possible thanks to the smartphone apps. That’s probably the best gift that Steve Jobs has bequeathed to humanity due to all what it implies. Android took that idea and turned it upside down to give it back open-sourced aiming to be the actual catch-all OS.

The apps are the mean to provide our smartphone of new functionalities, as we used to do with our PC’s by installing software. The main difference lies precisely on the mobility. Ok, it’s true that laptops are also mobile. However, they aren’t as mobile as smartphones are (you cannot bring a laptop in your pocket, unless you have a big one). In a nutshell, the smartphone is the natural consequence of the technological evolution of the last times. First, came the revolutionary PC, then the spreading of the Internet, next we assimilate both elements in our lives to the point that we needed to carry them everywhere, so the laptops came up.Smartphones rid ourselves of the laptop’s backpack and then we met real mobility with no leaks on technological potential.


So, here we are. Size doesn’t matter anymore. What users expect from manufacturers is enhancing current hardware constantly (battery, graphics, screens) and, what they expect from developers is to provide their smartphones with more and more new functionalities that allow them to empty their pockets of gadgets. And that’s where apps come in, as virtual gadgets into an all-in-one mobile device: your Android. Users want it all, and want it now. Are out there developers willing to cover that huge market niche?

This is the first part of the article. The second part will be post tomorrow, 20/01 Friday: a compilation of must-have Android apps that free us from only-one-task devices.

Posted in AZ Week, AndroidZoom, Apps, Developers, Games, Google, Opinion, Reviews. Tags: , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »

5th Edition of AndroidZoom Cartoon Contest released

12/12/2011 — AndroidZoom
Here we are again, with a new edition of AndroidZoom Cartoon Contest. Christmas is just around the corner and its spirit has possessed Android or rather the opposite: Android has grabbed Christmas spirit. It seems that this Christmas is going to be greener than ever: Android growth is unstoppable and it’s expected that throughout Christmas a mob of new users will join the Android community. We took these three ideas: Christmas, green and Android community, to give birth the 5th Edition of AndroidZoom Cartoon Contest, this time starring The Grinch, although from a different approach.
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As you can see, the bubble is blank: we expect you to fill it with witty, fun and original dialogues. Participating is as easy as attending this Facebook Event and posting your proposal on the wall. You can propose as many dialogues as you want until the deadline: December 19th at noon.

The winner will be chosen by AndroidZoom among all the dialogues posted. Although likes will be taken into account, other regards like wit, humour and originality will play a decisive role. Bear in mind that any user, developer, website or brand can post dialogues. It’s open to everyone. Indeed, this cartoon is unfinished because we expect all the members that made Android community up to work together on it. This is what Christmas spirit is about, isn’t it?

The complete cartoon with the chosen dialogue will be signed by the winner as a prize. Check out the AZC Album of previous editions to know how it works. Likewise, his/her name will be published on Facebook, Twitter and AndroidZoom blog the day after the deadline (December 20th).

You can get a personalized Android-like Christmas gift. It all depends on your wit and creativity.

Do you accept the challenge?

Posted in AndroidZoom, AndroidZoomCartoon, Developers, Google, Green. Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . No Comments »

AndroidZoom gets plus

14/11/2011 — AndroidZoom

As soon as Google opened G+ to brands and companies, we rushed in. And we did it while remaining faithful to ourselves, so therefore don’t expect to read content published twice or thrice. Unless major updates, of course, that we know beforehand you’ll be interested in. If we may, we’d like to go over our social media network:

Our G+ stream will be a channel where we will share the most relevant news we find about Android or AndroidZoom until further notice. Anyway, our editor team has been playing around for a while, so expect anything to come.

Don’t forget to follow us on Twitter to reply and retweet review ratings, important app updates and quick tweets related to Android.

Our Facebook wall is the place where you can take part in our AndroidZoom Cartoon Contest and polls; and know what our reviewer team recommend every themed week. If you have a look at our gallery there you’ll also find cool wallpapers for your device.

The sharpest of you all have already visited for sure our YouTube channel, where we upload our brand new navigable video reviews.

Last but not least, our blog itself would be very much like our flight log to record what we do and what we think about anything which may be of interest, from op-ed articles to accessible comments to rather complex headlines.

Read us, like us, follow us, share us, watch us, plus one us, comment, whatever. We want to hear from you and share with you, and there are five complementary ways to do so. And we deeply believe that even though this five channels orbit around AndroidZoom.com, every one has its own personality and spices up in its own way the AndroidZoom experience of discovering Android apps and games.

Happy Android Zoomplusing!

Posted in AndroidZoom, Google. Tags: , , , , , , , . No Comments »

A tasty Ice Cream Sandwich

20/10/2011 — AndroidZoom

Not bad the ICS features we introduced in yesterday’s post, aren’t they? Well, that was just the starter. We hope you left some room for dessert. Just guess what it is…

Communication and sharing

In this regard, the main feature is the new design of the phonebook which now is called “People”. The new scenery looks like a magazine: all social networks and communication channels available are fully integrated within contact tabs. Thus, we’ve gained a fast access to all social content from our friends. What’s more, our own contact profile is located at the top, over the letter A.

The voicemail is now accessible from the phonebook app. You can even play the last voicemail from the recent calls log. No need to do it from third apps.

Gmail has been also enhanced both appearance and performance. There’s a new smart toolbar that shows different options depending on what we’ve selected as the most important actions for us. The UI is even clearer and easier to use. What’s more, it includes, by default, offline searching.

Calendar’s app has been also adapted to the new ICS layout. You can “Pinch-to-zoom” to check your own tasks for a specific day. This way you can fully manage your schedule in an improved way.

Camera and Gallery

You probably heard rumours about this feature. Camera and gallery have deeply changed in this last Android version. Camera access is now faster and easier. Everything is more accessible. It brings by default filters and photo effects Instagram-like. What’s more, you can take panoramic pictures without downloading any additional third party app. And it does it amazingly because, instead of taking lots of pictures and crunch them all together, it uses a new technology. It “records” a video and then it generates the panoramic photo. And it really works.

Regarding video recorder, ICS provides a continuos auto-focus and zooming while recording. Snapshot while recording has been also integrated as well as time lapse mode. Important enhancements.

Gallery has been re-designed to adapt it to the ICS layout but, in addition, now is easier to create folders and to sort one by one, by album, date or even location. Android 4.0 comes with a built-in screenshot utility what was a well-known Android user’s demand.

Web surfing and connection

As well as the launcher (dock and app drawer), the default ICS browser came to compete with the most popular browser on the market. By now, website can be easily saved and there’s a incognito mode. Navigation is quite more intuitive and faster.

Regarding connection, ICS lands with built-in Wi-Fi Direct which is aim to unseat Bluetooth as the only method of device data transfer. Wi-Fi Direct and Android Beam allows to create ad-hoc networks between compatible devices. This way, users can connect to nearby devices over Wi-Fi no need of any tethering or root access. Compatible devices with Wi-Fi Direct is the only requirement. The evident advantage is that Wi-Fi direct is way faster than Bluetooth and works in a larger range.

In summary

Although there are still a lot of questions that deserve straightforward answers, e.g. screenshots without becoming root, how much intrusive G+ may be or what will happen to every 2.2 or lower current devices, what we know for sure is that Android not only isn’t losing heart, but stepping up indeed. If there was anyone left who still believed that Ice Cream Sandwich would be little more that an update able to fix just a bugs and make a superficial make-over, there it is a new breed between Gingerbread and Honeycomb that enhances, improves and at the same time will try to put to an end the black legend of Android fragmentation.

What do you think? Is it worth to sink our teeth into this delicious dessert? We’re looking forward it, the same way we’d like to hear your comments and prospects about this long awaited, much anticipated, Android 4.0.

Posted in AndroidZoom, Google. Tags: , , , . 1 Comment »

Google unveils Android Ice Cream

19/10/2011 — AndroidZoom

The Android alphabet is still growing up. After C (Cupcake), D (Donut), E (Eclair), F (Froyo), G (Gingerbread) and H (Honeycomb),  the time of hitherto sweetest version has come: Ice Cream Sandwich (Android 4.0), officially introduced by Google a few hours ago. This new Android version has left us open-mouthed. Let’s zoom in its main features.

Graphic interface

At first sight, we realize that the whole appearance has changed. UI is completely different, a Tron-like style wraps it entirely. It must be said that it looks wonderful with that futuristic interface. Since the first contact, we have the feeling that we’re handling with a higher-end smartphone. Perhaps the new feature that we rapidly notice is that ICS has been developed not to use physical buttons. So you can perform every single thing with the three virtual buttons placed at the bottom. These buttons smartly appear and disappear depending on when they need to be used. Regarding the desktop, the main newness is the folder creation by dragging icons one over the other (iOS style). Developer has brought together the best features of both Honeycomb and Gingerbread to generate an stunning graphic interface. And in case you don’t like it, there will be quite a bunch of launchers around Market plus those which haven’t yet come.

App drawer

The ICS app drawer brings a new interesting feature. Besides the apps tab, there’s a widget tab. From there is easier to manage our widgets, add/remove or place them wherever we want. Actually, the widget preview is specially useful to get an idea of how the widget looks like and where we will place it. What’s more, the widgets have been re-designed to be scrollable and resizable as if they were in Honeycomb.

Lockscreen

ICS Lockscreen is quite similar to Honeycomb: a circle at which you have to approach a point by dragging to unlock the screen. What’s more, it’s possible to launch the camera from the lockscreen and take a picture in record time. From the lockscreen we can display the status bar, no need to unlock the device either. However, without shadow of a doubt, the most stunning feature is the possibility to unlock the device by facial recognition. Flabbergasting.

Inputs and text

Text corrector has been improved regarding accuracy. Editing, copying and pasting is more intuitive and faster now. Likewise, speech-to-text has been enhanced: you can start talkin

g after tapping on the micro icon and, according to the presentation, it really works. The truth is that speech-to-text technology has always been Google’s spearhead long before Siri was conceived, and still is.

Usability

Until now, finding an option in the settings maze was something quite complicate. ICS has been simplified in this regard. Now it’s focused on fast access and user-friendly navigation. This is noticeable in the whole new structure.

Regarding management, ICS contains a built-in data plan monitoring app. This way we can see graphically data usage, set consumption limits, auto enabling/disabling Internet connection and notifications.

If we may paraphrase a bit, those are Android 4.0 principles, and if you don’t like them…well, it has others.

(via elandroidelibre)

Posted in AndroidZoom, Google. Tags: , , , , . 4 Comments »

First steps to understand what permissions mean 2

26/08/2011 — AndroidZoom


This is part two in a two-part series about how permissions work. You can read the first, here.

So what do we can expect when we look at the permissions tab before downloading an app?

Every ad-supported app needs to know at least if you have access to the Internet and be able to reach there to fetch the ads. They usually ask also for your location, so announcers (Google’s AdMob is the most familiar) can enclose you in an area and therefore, offer you relevant ads. The more the ad fits you, the more chances are that you tap on it.

In fact, nearly all permissions are a logical need. Imagine an app that is an alarm clock. It’s reasonable that it needs to disable your keyguard. Otherwise, you’d have to unlock your phone before stopping the alarm. It’d also need to overwrite your settings to set the alarm and trigger the vibration, because that’s what alarms do. However, if that same app asked for your contact data, shouldn’t we ask why it demands that? A quick comparison with any other similar app will reveal that, unless otherwise specified, there’s no need for an alarm clock to know who your contacts are.

What about games? A game usually ask for your phone state so when a call is incoming, it can pause itself and let you attend the call. It would also need to know your network state, your phone data and have access to the Internet because this kind of stuff is what ad-companies ask for. It could also want to know where you are in order to improve the ad quality. Unless you wanted to lose your progress, game data has to be saved somewhere, usually in your SDcard. In addition, games usually ask for ‘wake lock’ permission to not turning your screen off in the middle of a game.

These were easy examples. Now imagine a standard ad-supported app to create ringtones. First, it’ll ask for the advertising triad of permissions. Moreover, that app will ask your permission for reading and writing your contact data so you can assign the new ringtone to whoever you choose; write over your settings to make those changes permanent and be able to overwrite your SD card to save your new ringtone anywhere. In addition, an app trending towards crashing will also ask to read the device log so it can send crash reports. Altogether, you can count eight permissions for a simple ringtone editor and, if you haven’t noticed, the right to copy all your contacts, send them God knows where before delete them all, along with all your SDcard content.

What ought we to do then? Should we disown Android and return to our dumbphones just because any apparently harmless app can hide a potential serial data killer? No, we shouldn’t. That was the worst-case scenario. Beyond the trusted big companies that develop wonderful apps that no one would ever question, a vast majority of Android developers are loyal and faithful to their users, and Google has always paid attention to malware and looks after its child and takes care of it, but we also have to do our part: be aware and don’t take unnecessary risks.

In a nutshell, the Androidverse is, in all honesty, fantastic in all respects. If we had to plead for something, it would be transparency. Google has to safeguard a balance between open-source and security, being the key to encouraging developers to explain what are they asking for and why. As far as we are concerned, we’ve translated the permissions tab for each app so they are understandable to everyone (an example, here)

Have a nice weekend and happy AndroidZoom safe discovery!

Posted in AZ Week, AndroidZoom, Google, New Feature. 1 Comment »

First steps to understand what permissions mean

25/08/2011 — AndroidZoom


This is part one in a two-part series about how permissions work.

Well, in case anyone hasn’t noticed it yet, every time you install an Android app you need to accept some permissions. It can be really bothering because it usually means that your download will trigger a split second later than you expected, as you have to tap one more time. It’s a luck that Google thinks so much about its users that the ‘install’ button and the ‘accept permissions’ one are in the same place so we don’t have to read what we are really installing. If we had to, we’d better start looking for our old 3210 Nokias that are surely gathering dust somewhere in the attic.

Jokes apart, nobody reads which permissions are needed for each app and even less people knows what permissions mean. Even though tough coders still find themselves downloading and installing stuff they don’t really know what does or can do to their devices or privacy.

Keep in mind that permissions are something key within the Androidverse and everything dances around them. Some permissions are harmless by themselves but critically dangerous when combined with others, the same way that there are a few that should always be written in big, bold and underlined capitals.

Something that should be taken into account is that a same permission can be absolutely normal or totally dangerous according to what kind of app makes use of it. E.g., nobody should be surprised at an app that manages your contacts is able to alter your contact list. Likewise, all ad-supported games need access to the Internet so, in order to have access to the web, they need to know what kind of access you have.

Since we accept permissions without knowing them or worse, without even reading them, does that mean that we’re exposed to any malware that Google doesn’t detect at AM? Mmm, yes and yes. In fact, yes, of course. Permissions are our first, only and last line of defense. It’s a fact that there are some anti-malware apps, but it’s really soon to know how much they can actually protect us. The only reliable tactic is to not download suspicious apps, but that’s somehow tricky.

One simple, yet easy way to know if there’s something strange out there is to compare the app to similar ones. In addition, if we understand at least what permissions mean, it should be easy to sense if there is something odd going on.

Some news have caused alarm among Android users and some bloggers and sites have echoed alarmist declarations. Anti-malware developer app descriptions are more than alarmist, apocalyptic. There are developers who claim that spyware comes “from browsing the Internet through Google, Firefox and Internet Explorer” (read here) as an example used for scaring newbie Android users. Fear is nothing to play with, especially when our young and full of potential Android community keeps growing. We here at AZ are really worried about how malware will evolve in the next months, but we don’t believe that things are or will be worse than in any other OS.

That was theory. Tomorrow we’ll get practical.

Posted in AndroidMarket, AndroidZoom, Google. 1 Comment »

Google apps you may or may not hear about…

18/08/2011 — AndroidZoom

We’ve talked several times about why Google apps like Maps, Sky or Translate are a reason by themselves to buy an Android device. However, Googleverse is wide enough to fit in apps that could be considered at least eccentric just a few years ago. Let’s not only take a look at those high-end apps, but also let our imagination run wild by the way.

- Google Goggles represents what Google wants to become in an early future. Image recognition technology looks like the first step in a long road walk. Who knows, why not dream about a day when our devices will smell something and tell us what it is. The slogan would be a sort of ”Thanks to Google Noose my Android smells what my neighbor is cooking, looks for the recipe and a how-to-do video”.

Google Goggles
Discover more Android apps

– Google Chrome to Phone syncs your computer Chrome browser with your Android, as it wasn’t already enough. Export navigation history, Youtube links and bookmarks to your phone.  There might be a day when our phones can predict what we’re going to do when we arrive home and our PCs will be switched on, ready and eager to continue what we started from our Android. All this without mentioning Chrome TV… possibilities are almost unfathomable.

Google Chrome to Phone
Discover more Android apps

- Gesture search, as Mr. Lund said, is not indispensable, but we’d like to speculate with an ‘advanced gesture search’ that allow looking for stuff in your device through icons instead of just letters and numbers, and even making actions. E.g finger drawing a moon to set an alarm, a sad smiley to call your psychologist (or your ex, or mum…), a secret symbol to share your location with city police in case you were in danger…it’s as easy as bringing the actual unlock patterns just a little bit forward.

Gesture Search
Discover more Android apps

– Listen. Has really Google a radio and podcast app? Why haven’t we noticed? Listen is one of those apps that well up from Google Labs from time to time. Listen works with Google Reader and it isn’t hard to believe that both will be integrated in G+ soon.

Listen
Discover more Android apps

Next time we could talk about Google Body. Or about those apps Google develops for blind people. Or…

Posted in AZ Week, AndroidZoom, Apps, Google, Reviews. 2 Comments »

One small step for Google… a giant leap for Android?

16/08/2011 — AndroidZoom

First thing first, the breaking news is: Google announced yesterday on its blog it has acquired Motorola Mobility for $12.5 billion. The importance of this acquisition lies on that Google is reaching now the same status as its main competitor (Apple) since it becomes at the same time both OS provider and device manufacturer.

Actually, Apple has enough reasons to fear such operation: Android is the most used OS on smartphones so far, and the only field that Apple overtakes Android is on the amount of devices sold (basically due to the fragmentation). The acquisition of Motorola Mobility feeds Apple’s fear of a future Android integration. However, it could also raise doubts on the other smartphones manufacturer using Android OS.

Surprisingly, most of these manufacturers have taken the news as something positive (at least that is what they have officially said).

“We welcome today’s news, which demonstrates Google’s deep commitment to defending Android, its partners, and the ecosystem.”

- J.K. Shin
President, Samsung, Mobile Communications Division

“I welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”
- Bert Nordberg
President & CEO, Sony Ericsson

“We welcome the news of today‘s acquisition, which demonstrates that Google is deeply committed to defending Android, its partners, and the entire ecosystem.”
- Peter Chou
CEO, HTC Corp.

“We welcome Google‘s commitment to defending Android and its partners.”
- Jong-Seok Park, Ph.D
President & CEO, LG Electronics Mobile Communications Company

These reactions are due to two basic reasons. First, Google has stated that Motorola Mobility will remain a licensee of Android, and Android will remain open-source Google will treat Motorola Mobility as a separate business. Google says that it is meant to boost Android ecosystem and improve the competence on devices technology. Second, Google has announced that policy on the manufacturing of Nexus devices won’t change.

“We have this strategy where we have this Nexus program, and we have this lead device strategy. That strategy has worked quite well to help focus the team.

What we do is that we select each — around Christmastime of each year — we select a manufacturer that we work very closely with to release a device in that time frame. That includes, also, semiconductor companies and all of the components that go in the device.

We don’t expect that to change at all. The acquisition is going to be run as a separate business. They will be part of that bidding process, and part of that lead development process. And obviously Android remains open to other partners to use as they are today.”

Despite the initial calm with which the major manufacturers have received the news, there are two questions that are still a mystery, and that could be a cause for concern.

Why Motorola?

Although Google has worked closely with HTC (Nexus One), Samsung (Nexus S) and Motorola (Xoom tablet) with satisfactory results, the latter is probably the little brother regarding marketing and business growth. In other words, they haven’t taken advantage (at least not as the other two) of its relation with Android. Since Motorola is, let’s say, the ‘emerging’ company on smartphone and tablet devices, the operation of acquisition was probably easier than with the two others.

What will happen from now?

Despite Google says that “everything will stay the same”, this operation isn’t an accident. From now, Google will make their own products, that means: it will have control over the whole manufacturing process, from the hardware factory to the Android OS developing labs and it’ll hold thousands of patents. The advantage of these lies on that it ensures that all devices out there have been made exclusively for Android and they’re properly tested. Whether the other manufacturers like or not, Motorola will become the jewel in the crown of Google.

(Via our friends from elandroidelibre)

Posted in AndroidZoom, Google. 3 Comments »

Developers are beginning to give priority to Android

08/07/2011 — AndroidZoom

It is widely known that until now, maybe not all but most of the popular apps available for Android were firstly created for iOS, and Android users had to wait for their version to come out after it had succeeded with the iPhones.
Examples such as Whatsapp for Android proved two important things: first of all, iOS had a good app ecosystem after many years in the market; and secondly, app developers were beginning to pay more attention to newcomers like Android, who were making a great effort to gain more users with the help of phone manufacturers.

However, it’s not only about having a bigger number of users but also for the possibilities that Android itself offers…

Developers were trying to fill a gap in a new market and their trust in Android became even more evident when successful iOS apps were brought to Android for free. Some of them were Whatsapp (free the first year) and the much talked about Angry Birds, one of the most downloaded iPhone games, whose users couldn’t help but feel surprised when faced with Android users claiming “I also have it, it’s free for Android”.

The truth is that the app developing tendencies are starting to change. Earlier, most of the applications were developed for iPhone, where they had an excellent reception and a great number of users surrounding a single device. However, factors such as the 500.000 daily Android activations and the possibility of broading its horizons to more phone manufacturer brands are causing developers to focus more and more on Android and even to consider it their first option.

That’s exactly what’s happening with FourSquare, one of the best check-in services based in geotagging and also one of the most populars regarding the new tendency of combining related offers. Foursquare has recently included a new function, Notifications (internal notifications), only available for Android users (for now).

These new notifications let you know about check-in comments and pictures, advices, friends registers, etc. This feature is only available for Android users, whom FourSquare dedicates the following statement:

“Android needs some early-access love!” – Dennis Crowley (FourSquare Co-Founder)

Some people point out that Android could start being used as a testing ground before launching new functions or applications to iOS, but on the contrary, we believe that plenty of developers and companies are starting to pledge their commitment to Android and its increasingly potential is becoming a major point of reference.

[via elandroidelibre]

Posted in AndroidZoom, Apps, Developers, Elandroidelibre, Google. 3 Comments »
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