China Unicom drops 3G iPad 2 quest

China Unicom must have gotten sit and tired of all the waiting, that the company has decided to give up on introducing the 3G enabled iPad 2 to the masses in China directly. Deputy general manager of the leading telecom carrier in China, Li Gang, recently commented that the iPad 2 was a far more suitable candidate to be sold through the standard IT sales network model, making it very different from the iPhone. This has led China Unicom to ditch their initial plans of introducing the 3G iPad 2 for the moment, where the company will instead work on delivering a more convenient 3G data surfing service to the masses.
I must say, it has been quite some time already that China Unicom talked up about an iPad rollout since last year. Unfortunately for them, the 3G iPad has yet to pick up a network access license from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), so after spending so much time waiting, China Unicom finally decided that they have had enough and will concentrate on other aspects of their business first – that is, unless, the MIIT does an about turn that is so sudden, the possibility of a directly available 3G iPad 2 remains as slim as the device itself.

Read more »

Facedroid delivers custom tablet Facebook interface

Independent developer Platinum Apps knows that Facebook has well and truly taken over the world. In fact, Facebook is the most popular app on the Android platform, so much so that Facebook for Android beats out all the other Google-powered software, how’s that for beating Google on their own turf? Well, the app might not be perfect nor does it hold all the bells and whistles that one sees on the desktop version, but at least it is functional enough to be uber popular. Platinum Apps wants to ride on the Facebook momentum with an app of their own, calling it Facedroid – where this is an alternative Facebook client for the Android ecosystem.
Needless to say, the name gives it away, with this being a tablet-only app that is said to deliver a full-screen Facebook experience to large screened devices running on Android 3.0 Honeycomb or above. Not only that, Platinum Apps isn’t asking much for their effort, with an introductory price of just £0.69, surely you can spare them less than a quid to have a more tablet-friendly Facebook experience, right?

Read more »

Eric Schmidt: Google Does not Work with or Support Carrier IQ

If the name itself wasn’t enough to suggest that the carriers are the one behind the installation of Carrier IQ onto mobile devices, perhaps the word of Google’s Eric Schmidt can clear things up. “We certainly don’t work with them and we certainly don’t support them,” Schmidt said of the tracking software. Despite the claims of the analytics company to the contrary, Schmidt said of the service, “it’s a key-logger, and it actually does keep your keystrokes.”
Though even if Google does not support Carrier IQ at the OS level, as mentioned earlier network providers still have the option to install the suite of data gathering software. Android is, after all, an open platform. “It’s possible for people to build software that’s actually not very good for you,” said Schmidt, “and this appears to be one.”
[via Reuters]

Read more »

Samsung Says Annual Handset Sales have Surpassed 300 Million

Over the past few years, Samsung has been making a case to be the world’s number one mobile handset manufacturer. They still aren’t quite there, but with a few more weeks to go in 2011 they have already surpassed last year’s figure by 20 million. The over 300 million handsets sold this year is the most ever in Samsung’s history as a mobile manufacturer, and the Android-powered Galaxy series of devices has a lot to do with it. Both the Samsung Galaxy S and Galaxy S II were hot sellers this year, their totals supplemented by devices like the Galaxy Note and other devices landing in the more budget-minded end of the spectrum. Non-Android handsets also played a role in the final tally.
For what it’s worth, we’d guess the number is actually totaling units sold and shipped to retailers, which doesn’t necessarily equate to a sale at the consumer level. Still, the demand alone is impressive and looks to only increase in 2012.
[via Reuters]

Read more »

The Galaxy Tab gets some iLuv with ArtStation Pro speaker dock

Despite beating the pants off of iOS in basically every market, Android’s plurality of devices and form factors makes it tough for accessory manufacturers to commit to anything more risky than cases and chargers. But iLuv is serving users of one of the most popular Android tablet lines with its very own speaker dock, to the joy of Galaxy Tab owners and the sorrow of their suddenly slimmer wallets. The ArtStation Pro Audio Dock is compatible with the Galaxy Tab 7.0 Plus, 7.7, 8.9 and 10.1.

Samsung’s tablets use a proprietary iPhone-style dock connector for charging and syncing, much to the consternation of those of use who have a few dozen Micro USB cords lying around. That makes it incompatible with universal docks like Philips’ Fidelio line, which relies on a Micro USB connector for charging. But iLuv’s dock sports the proprietary Samsung connector for both charging and audio playback, meaning no extra cables and no Bluetooth audio quality loss, as in the Philips dock.
The dock retails for $149.99 – pretty pricey for a single-function accessory that only works with four devices. But on the plus side, it comes with a full set of big, easy-to-use playback controls on the dock itself and an infrared remote for good measure. The ArtStation Pro’s unique styling won’t be everyone’s cup of tea, but with the market starved for Android-friendly audio docks, beggars can’t be choosers. The dock goes on sale this month at retail outlets.
)

Read more »

Facebook tops Nielsen’s list of most popular Android apps

I know, I know, stop the presses: Facebook is the most popular app on Android. The statistical wizards at Nielsen reached this conclusion based on active usage, not total downloads, noting that the recently-updated Facebook app has the most penetration across all of Android’s user groups after the Android Market itself. The fact is at least a little surprising, since Facebook beat out Google’s entrenched apps like Search, Gmail and Google Maps, which all had slightly lower user groups in every category.

Nielsen breaks down the distribution of most-used apps by how many users opened the app in the last 30 days. So while nearly 4/5th of the Android population uses Facebook on a regular basis, only about three quarters actually use Google Search, which is built right into the framework of Android. When it comes to third-party apps, Facebook absolutely kills the competition, with Angry Birds getting less than half the active users that Facebook enjoys from the 35-44 crowd. Other notably popular apps by usage include Pandora, QuickOffice, Yahoo Mail, Adobe Reader and Advanced Task Killer Free, despite the latter being unnecessary for almost all current Android devices.
The Android Market beats all, but since it’s a gateway to almost all third-party apps that’s understandable. Strangely, younger users actually seem slightly less inclined to download apps than their 25-44 counterparts. Among 18-24 year-olds, 89% use the Market regularly, compares to 92-95% for older users. Angry Birds is also significantly more popular in the older age group, a fact that lines up with some personal observations. Don’t install Angry Birds on your grandmother’s shiny new DROID this holiday season, unless you’re keen on hearing a dozen different varieties on the theme of “SQUUAAAAK” all weekend.
[via Androinica]

Read more »

Barnes & Noble readies massive Nook Color update with Netflix and Marvel Comics

It’s always nice to see a company supporting its products after an erstwhile successor has been introduced, and it looks like Barnes & Noble is doing just that with its Nook Color tablet-reader. The bookseller just released a huge update to the Nook Color’s software, well over a year after its original release, and almost a month after the Nook Tablet relegated it to the second tier of Barnes & Noble’s hardware offerings. Customers who weren’t swayed by the incremental updates in the Nook Tablet will no doubt be appreciative.

The update focuses on more media consumption, with the most notable addition being baked-in support for Netflix streaming. Flixster is also coming along for the ride. Barnes & Noble is also touting “the largest collection og Marvel graphic novels” coming to the 7-inch tablet, apparently integrated into the Nook bookstore instead of in a stand-alone app on the Android Market. The comics are formatted specifically to look and read well on the Nook Color, making the jump from the more expensive Nook Tablet where they debuted.
All this is likely to pass nearly unnoticed by the Nook Color’s active community of Android modders. CyanogenMod 7 continues to be the most popular aftermarket ROM for the easily-hacked tablet, and CyanogenMod 9 will likely make Ice Cream Sandwich available to them early next year. That at least is one reason to go with the Nook Color over the Nook Tablet; Barnes & Noble placed a locked bootloader on the newer hardware, putting the kaibosh on most custom ROMs. Stock Nook Color users can download the update from Barnes & Noble’s website.

Read more »

European Union slams the breaks on Google-Motorola antitrust review

Excited at the prospect of Google having its own in-house hardware branch? Prepare to curb your enthusiasm: Bloomberg reports that antitrust proceedings for Google’s acquisition of Motorola in the European Union will take even longer than normal, after the European Commission has halted its investigation to allow for more discovery. The Commission is requesting “certain documents that are essential to its evaluation of the transaction”, with no ETA on the continuing process.

This sort of thing isn’t entirely unexpected from the European Commission, but it does serve as a considerable roadblock for Google’s high-profile purchase of Motorola’s hardware division. While the EU couldn’t actually stop the two American companies from merging, it could essentially bar them from operating in its member nations, meaning that the merger almost certainly will not be finalized without the EU’s consent. Dedicated followers of technology news will recognize the pattern: the EU has a long history of strict regulation on large American tech companies.
A Google spokesperson in Brussels notes that the request is routine, and doesn’t expect it to seriously impede the merger, now expected to complete some time next year. “We’re confident the commission will conclude that this acquisition is good for competition and we’ll be working closely and cooperatively with them as they continue their review.” said Al Verney, in an email with Bloomberg. Motorola’s stockholders have already approved the merger, so approval form regulatory organizations is now the biggest hurdle for the two companies to overcome.

Read more »

LG Spectrum/Revolution 2 pics surface

Some photos of a new smartphone from LG called the LG Spectrum have surfaced. The phone will head to Verizon and be called the Revolution 2 on the Verizon network. The photos surfaced after the rumor that the handset was coming reports PocketNow. The Spectrum has now been confirmed as the Revolution 2, which surfaced in the Verizon system last month as model number VS920.

A photo showing the phone from just about all angles has surfaced and a few specs are tipped as well. The phone will run Android and pack a 1.5GHz dual-core processor. It will have an 8MP camera and will rock LTE connectivity for the Verizon 4G network as shown with the little 4G logo on the back of the smartphone.
The phone appears to be reasonably slim and has the three buttons on the bottom of the screen that are seen on most of the Verizon Android devices recently. Hopefully, we can learn a bit more about the hardware in the coming weeks and see how well the smartphone performance against the other high end Android devices like the Razr and Galaxy Nexus that Verizon has in its line.
[via Pocketnow]

Read more »