10 Billion Apps promo, day 5: The Sims, Age of Zombies, and SlideIt Keyboard for 10¢

Google’s celebration of 10 Billion Android Market downloads marches on, and just like the last four days. there’s plenty of vastly reduced premium apps on offer. Google’s chosen some of the most loved apps on the Market and droped them to a ridiculous 10 cents/pence price. Today’s highlights, spotted early by the keen-eyed folks over at Reddit, include The Sims 3, quirky shooter Age of Zombies and SlideIt Keyboard, AKA “I Can’t Believe It’s Not Swype.”

The full list is as follows: Apparatus, The Sims 3, SlideIt Keyboard, Snowfall Live Wallpaper, Asphalt 6: Adrenaline HD, Season Zen HD (live wallpaper), Pano (panoramic camera), Drop7, Age of Zombies and Kids Connect the Dots. As usual the banner on the Android Market home screen isn’t up yet, so just use the links above as needed. Yesterday’s deals are still in effect at the time of writing, but they won’t last long!
The flurry of amazing price reductions has put a serious strain on Google’s payment servers, and a lot of Android users are experiencing problems getting their apps to register to their accounts. Luckily Google is feeling generous, and if you can’t purchase the apps right away, the company might just give them to you. If you’d rather avoid the whole mess, wait until the evening to download your new apps – it’s worked for me so far. While you’re waiting, be sure to check out Google’s graphical breakdown of its app achievement.

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Google vulnerability reward program could really tighten up security for Android

I’ve known about Chrome’s vulnerability reward program for quite some time, but never considered moving the design over to Android. Reddit user CunningLogic suggests it would give developers a monetary reward for their handwork while making Android more secure in the long run. Sounds good to me. Just like development within Chrome, the developers hard at work within Android have been extremely good at pointing out OS security flaws; with a form of payment, devs will get that extra incentive/motivation to tighten up loose ends and help make Android OS better.

It is known that compared to other mobile operating systems, Android is by far one of the most vulnerable. Carriers have even gone as far as offering protection applications (such as LookOut) for free in the Android Market to make sure their customers don’t have a bad experience on their network. It’s an obvious issue, and knowing your device is secure means the world to many.
With the recently found Carrier IQ security vulnerabilities, it would be a great time to implement such a program. If developers have been preparing security patches and modifications for their love of Android, imagine how hard they’d work for a bit of cash too. And Chrome’s base reward is $500.00 – but if the bug appears to be “severe or interesting”, the value can rank up to $3133.70! Implement that in Android and you’ll add an entirely new team of energized developers!
[via Reddit: CunningLogic]

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Android Facebook is getting much needed update

Well a few days ago Facebook released a much needed update for Android users the app brings a whole new UI, and is said to be much faster and easier to use. Now the Photos and albums will be up to two times faster than the previous Android app. It's said to be easier to share photos, view comments and edit captions on the go.Also you can quickly access your News Feed, Groups, games and apps from the new left-hand menu. The features you use most are now at your fingertips.Facebook for Android is available on Android Market. I am excited about the new app and have been using it since it's release on my Dell Streak 7 , and I hope you check it out.

1. What's in this version:
2. Navigate anywhere, fast: Get to your groups, apps, pages, and settings with a single press
3. Search and you will discover: Look through friends, subscribers, apps, and pages
4. See your friends tags on pictures and zoom: New photo viewing experience
5. Faster notifications: Get alerted in real time with new push notifications
6. Games & Apps: Play games and access your favorite apps on the go
7. Access to mobile timeline (If you already have a timeline)
8. Access to friend lists and subscriptions

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Galaxy Nexus delayed because of Google Wallet conflict

After Verizon Wireless partnered with ISIS to support their future NFC payment service, there was skepticism whether or not this was indeed the reason Google Wallet was to be unsupported on the Galaxy Nexus. It turns out this little feature may be the cause for the seemingly infinite delays, and until Verizon and Google sort it out – we may not see the Nexus on shelves. A source over at Phandroid mentioned the new target date for the Galaxy Nexus will be December 15th, but don’t get excited quite yet.

The misunderstanding between Google Wallet needs to be mended soon, because many loyal Google Nexus fans are quietly rioting throughout the net. No, this is in no way destructive. But they all have one thing in common – they aren’t pointing the finger at Google, Verizon is taking all the heat. Considering an unlocked version is already available in Canada or internationally, Nexus fans can easily jump carriers if they’re due for an upgrade.
Verizon should at least show some courtesy and announce their future plans of the Galaxy Nexus, not to just keep subscribers from changing carriers, but to let us know what the hold up is. I’m sure many would be more than understanding from the delays if there was a legitimate reason to postpone the device. It would only suit them to reach out to the public at this point.
[via Phandroid]

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Android Market apologizes for downtime: Free Apps

You may not have experienced it, but the Android Market (and even Google Wallet) had been down intermittently just yesterday and part of today. Apparently, Google’s answer to solving many of the accidental cancellations was to simply offer “free access to all the apps you attempted to purchase” during their 10 Billion Downloads promotion. The Android Market has been celebrating with 10 cent app sales, and the titles were so hot that they had caused issues during checkout.

Fortunately, a fellow over at Reddit posted a screenshot of a no-reply email from Google with instructions on how to obtain your “lost” app. it turns out that the application is located in your “My Apps” section of the Android Market and labeled as either “Purchased” or “Not Installed”.
If you would like to avoid your chances at an Android Market problem, Google suggests that the most popular time people download applications is 9PM on Sunday – so I’d try to avoid this timeframe. Also, keep your eyes peeled for the $0.10 promotional deals if you haven’t already! Day 1 had titles like Asphalt 6 and Sketchbook Mobile. Day 2 consisted of Fruit Ninja, Beautiful Widgets and a few others. Day 3 saw ADW, Tetris and Homerun Battle – and today you can nab Need For Speed, Jelly Defense, and Farm Frenzy! Of course we’ll keep you up to date daily – so you can always check back with us if you can’t find them on your own!
[via Reddit]

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U.S. Cellular upgrades the original Samsung Galaxy Tab to Gingerbread

Still got your original Samsung Galaxy Tab from U.S. Cellular? Then today is a good day. Assuming that you’re still running the stock firmware, you can download an update to Android 2.3 Gingerbread from Samsung’s site and install it at your leisure. Better late than never, right?

Though Gingerbread won’t bring the full tablet interface seen on the Galaxy Tab’s younger descendants, there are definitely plenty of reasons to upgrade. Better resource optimization, an updated and generally smoother UI and better support for various apps should be reason enough for you to download. You’ll need a PC to initiate the upgrade; unfortunately, it can’t be done over the air or by simply jumping in to your recovery.
We’d be remiss if we didn’t mention that the Galaxy Tab has seen far more support in the dev/mod community than it has from Samsung or any of its carriers. The Gingerbread-based CyanogenMod 7 is a solid choice for a custom ROM with great reliability and support. It even includes tablet features in the latest version, like a lower-screen status bar. If you’re the adventurous type, you can try an early version of Ice Cream Sandwich and make all your buddies rocking the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus jealous.

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Coby shows off a quintet of Ice Cream Sandwich tablets for 2012

Not one to be left out in the cold, budget manufacturer Coby has announced no less than five new Android tablet,s all of them running Ice Cream Sandwich. The devices will cover the gamut as far as screen sizes for tablets go, with 7, 8, 9, 9.7 and 10inch varieties. There’s no specific launch date available, but Coby says that the tablets will be on hand at CES in January.

All five of the tablets will feature 1Ghz Cortex 8 processors and a full gigabyte of RAM, which should be enough to run Ice Cream Sandwich, even if it doesn’t exactly zoom. Naturally they’re WiFi only, but they’ll be equipped with HDMI ports and up to 32GB of storage – not bad. There’s no mention of the Android Market or Google apps, so they may not be included. We’ll see soon enough.
The variety of screens doesn’t stop as sizes. Coby notes that the capacitive screens on the MID8042 and MID 9742 use a 4:3 aspect ratio like the iPad and HP Touchpad, while the MID7042, MID9042 and MID1042 weren’t specified, which probably means either 16:9 or 16:10. There’s no word on price, but given Coby’s position in the market, you can expect them to be competitive; whether you’d want the tablets over more expensive alternatives is yet to be seen.

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Verizon reseller says the Galaxy Nexus releases December 15th

Once more, with feeling. After Verizon apparently cancelled the December 9th launch of the highly-anticipated Samsung Galaxy Nexus, the rumor mill is buzzing with December 15th as the popular date for the latest non-delay delay. After some independent investigating from Android Community, this appears to be the case. This is not a confirmation, but a second-party Verizon reseller said that the phone would be released next Thursday. We’ve also heard December 15th from another source, who wishes to remain anonymous.

This morning we called up Verizon’s customer support looking to order the Galaxy Nexus, on the off chance that the rumors surrounding its continued delay were greatly exaggerated. While we couldn’t order the phone itself, the Verizon representative said that it had indeed been scheduled for release today, but that the date had been changed at the last minute. The representative did not have a new date available to her, or would not give it.
We then called a second-party retailer, which has its own chain of stores but also sells Verizon devices and service. The store had Verizon’s LTE version of the Galaxy Nexus in stock, but couldn’t sell it due to restrictions from Verizon. When we pressed for a release date, the manager kindly called Verizon on our behalf. The manager responded that Verizon would authorize them to sell the Galaxy Nexus at the opening of business on Thursday, December 15th.
Once again, we stress that this is not a solid, confirmed date – it’s information acquired second-hand from someone who’d like to sell the Galaxy Nexus just as much as you’d like to buy it. But this new date jives the reports from other sites and we’ve now heard it from multiple sources, so it’s the best we can hope for at the moment. There’s nothing keeping Verizon from bumping its internal date back once again, if indeed Thursday is the day that the phone is scheduled to go one sale.

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HP going open source with WebOS

This isn’t technically an Android story, but we know there’s lots of Palm Pre and HP Touchpad users out there in the reading audience. After months of indecision over the future of WebOS, HP has decided to release open source code for the operating system, allowing anyone from hobbyists to manufacturers to create versions of WebOS for different devices. There won’t be any more hardware from HP featuring WebOS, at least not in the immediate future.

WebOS started as a new operating system, built from the ground up by Palm to compete with the iPhone. When the first two generations of the Palm Pre failed to impress and its former PalmOS and Windows Mobile Treo phones kept losing ground in the market, PC manufacturer HP bought the company in April 2010 and moved its employees to their largely stagnant mobile division. The company released a low-end WebOS phone, the Veer, and the HP Touchpad tablet. Neither managed to gain a foothold in the market, and HP decided to discontinue production on both devices, and completely shelved its plan for the Pre 3. The announcement came less than two months after the Touchpad was released.
That’s where things started to get interesting. Once HP had decided to kill the Touchpad, they liquidated remaining stock in a firesale, pricing the $500 16GB version at just $100. They sold hundreds of thousands of tablets overnight. Immediately Android developers set to work on a version of Android Gingerbread for the 10-inch tablet, spurred on by renewed interest and a few small monetary prizes raised for the purpose. The CyanogenMod team was the one to finally release a stable, reliable version of Android for the Touchpad, which is still being updated. A version of the recently open-sourced Android Ice Cream Sandwich is already in the works.
So what does this mean for Android users? Soon you may have yet another choice for your device’s operating system, if there’s a developer willing to modify WebOS’ open source code to run on your hardware. If you’re skilled in that area you’ll be able to try yourself. You can expect versions of WebOS for the most popular devices, like the Galaxy S II and the various Nexus phones, and at least a few tablet versions should be available as well. Whether or not it’s something you’d want to use depends on your personal taste and the skill of the developers. I hope that some of WebOS’ more unique features, like the card multitasking system and edge gestures. HP said that it will continue to add to the project.
On a personal note, I’d like to say goodbye to Palm, Inc. Now that HP is basically throwing the last Palm project to the wind, it’s truly the end of an era for a company that helped define mobile computing for decades. So long, Palm – it was great while it lasted.

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