Complete Schedule for Google I/O Now Available

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The full schedule for Google I/O, coming up on May 10-11, is now available. If you are planning to attend, you can start planning your schedule for the event. If not, never fear, Android Community will be there in force, covering the event for you. The schedule for the I/O BootCamp, held on Monday, May 9th from 8am-6pm is also up.


The bootcamp includes sessions like “Android for Beginners”, and “Google TV, the new frontier for App Development”, along with quite a few sessions dealing with Google APIs. The full conference schedule has fourteen different tracks, two for Android on the first day, and three on day 2. Topics include NFC, Mobile Apps, HTML 5, Apps for Google TV, developing Android games, and much more. It looks to be a jam-packed session, and we will covering it in-depth.
You can also access in depth descriptions of the sessions on the sessions page of the I/O site. Google engineers will also hold office hours to answer questions about products and technologies discussed at the conference. Office hours topics include: Accessibility, Android, Apps, App Engine, Chrome, Commerce, Developer Tools/GWT, Geo, Google APIs, Google TV, Google Mobile Ads/AdMob, and YouTube.
Two special sessions are being held towards the end of day one, and the Google Code Blog has this description of them:

Ignite. Fast-paced, fun, and thought-provoking, Ignite captures the best of geek culture in a series of five-minute speed presentations. It’s a high-energy session of short talks by people who have an idea—and the guts to get onstage and share it. This year we will learn about the Brain API, the similarities of Disneyland and Burning Man, and a dissection of the Tiger Mom myth.
Google Ventures Meetup. Google Ventures will be holding an experiment in controlled chaos. This event will bring attendees together with members of the Google Ventures core team (investors and experienced startup veterans), and select portfolio companies ranging from small, new teams to later-stage, successful companies. The room will be arranged to enable attendees to speak to panels of “experts” in bite-sized, three-minute 1:1 conversations, otherwise known as VC speed dating. Our goal is to connect both practicing and soon-to-be entrepreneurs with experts who can impart advice, lessons learned, and quick tips.

See you at the event, and stay tuned for our full coverage here at Android Community.
[via The Official Google Code Blog]
 

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Android 2.3.4 OTA rolling out to Nexus S and Nexus One

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This news is fresh off the twitter account from @GoogleNexus so that is as official as it gets, being a verified account and all. I’m assuming this will have the call wonk issue fixed for the Nexus One, as well as a few other Gingerbread fixes we have all been waiting for. You can bet these updates will be opened up and merged with all of our favorite roms like CyanogenMod as soon as possible.
So start hitting that “check for updates” button if you are on a stock Nexus One or Nexus S, I know mine is far from that myself. Or be sure to keep an eye over at the xda forums as these will be popping up as soon as anyone gets them, and probably rooted within a few minutes after that. I wonder if Google plans to update Gtalk in the market for other devices with front facing cameras or if that will be for Android 2.3.4 devices only. Either way this is exciting news.
GoogleMobileBlog has now posted some pictures and video of Google Talk, with video and voice chat. Coming to all Android 2.3.4 devices and it will work on 3G/4G and on Wifi.

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NFL Android Apps, Path to the Draft

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Today is the day, and what day is that some of you android nerds might say, Draft Day 2011. Today is the NFL Draft and it should be exciting for sure. With all the drama around the NFL lockout as of late, I can only imagine this being a little different than the past few years, but teams still need to draft well and trust me they will be trying their hardest. So for those like me that are Android, and NFL nerds I’vedecided to post a little information to help you all follow the NFL Draft on our favorite phones.

I wont get to much into the NFL part of this, or mention I think the Panthers will pass on Cam Newton and go for someone else. Do they really need two over-rated QB’s. Oops! did I just say that. Maybe the Cardinals will get lucky and get Newton instead, we will see. For now I’m just going to give you guys a few suggestions for applications for our android devices so we can enjoy the draft if we can’t be watching from home, or our computers. This isn’t quite a round-up, just more of a few of my top suggestions for android apps.
First off I’m starting with NFL Mobile, available exclusively for Verizon Customers and I wish I had it. It has recently been updated to help you all follow the NFL Draft for 2011 and it is top notch, as always. You lucky Verizon customers get FREE live coverage of the NFL Draft without paying for the NFL app fee. Can’t get any better than that.

For everyone else like me that is not on Verizon, we have to find something else but luckily for us there is some great alternatives. NFL Enterprises have a few apps of their own and they have just been updated last week to be ready for the draft. I suggest you take this route and get NFL ’11 Lite available in the Android Market here. It may not have live coverage like the NFL Mobile app but you will be able to keep track of everything pretty good.

The NFL also offer a premium version of the new NFL 2011 app called NFL Premium also in the Android Market here. It features basically everything the lite version has and more. Draft Alerts, Team Needs, News and more. Get this if you want the full paid version.

My last suggestion is an app I use most in general for sports because it has a little of everything, and it does it Well. Yahoo! Live Scores. It has just been updated today to also feature things like live updates, as well as NFL draft alerts so this is your best choice for the rest of us. I’d highly recommend you download Live Scores from the market here if you like sports in general. It is a great app overall and I use it to follow everything. They offer all types of Widgets so you can get up to date sports news right to your home screen.
So there you have it, those are my suggestions for a few great applications for Android to help everyone follow the 2011 NFL Draft. It is today starting soon so you better hurry and get your apps ready, your widgets set up and draft alerts for your team of choice set up and all ready to go. I know I’m set, but I’ll be watching from home myself. You never know what might happen this year, the Bengals might even pass on A.J. Green and go for a QB themselves, as they’ve had some controversy in that position lately. I’m excited to see how this all plays out and I hope you guys enjoy it also with a few of the above suggested apps. Go Packers!
 

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Motorola Droid 3 Leaks again, 4.0″ screen and front facing camera

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Well this is some interesting news, and a odd way to find it also. Apparently we have some new information about the Motorola Droid 3 we told you about in March. This news comes from globaldirectparts.com and they sell OEM parts for mobile devices. They have screen replacements for all types of devices. Usually the device has been announced, or released before they have parts listed so that makes this a little odd.


According to Global Direct Parts, this is the Motorola Droid 3, and it will be coming with an upgraded 4.0″ screen and a front facing camera. It also has lost the lip and edge on the bottom of the device making it flush and much prettier. Looks like the pictures leaked in the link above were just prototype designs. That is if globaldirect is right with these pictures but there is no reason to doubt them for now.

What else is weird is they have it listed as the Motorola Droid 3, and the Motorola Targa both, we were under the impression they were different devices, and the Targa might be the redesigned Droid Bionic. Either way this is good news to see the Droid 3 getting closer to a release. The Motorola Droid has been very popular since it first launched and hopefully the Droid 3 will have an unlocked bootloader.

One good sign is according to the image above Motorola has finally decided to keep the capacitive buttons in the same order for once. Almost every device they have changed a little and it would be nice to have a universal design and them in the same place on all phones, but companies like to be “different”. Check out the source for full photo’s and even more information on the Droid 3.
[via GlobalDirectParts]

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Shazam App updated, Unlimited tagging free til next year

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I’m sure you have all been out to dinner, or getting drinks with the friends and a song comes on you wish you knew the name to. That is where Shazam comes in handy. You’ve probably all used it at one point or another. It is that fancy app that will discover music for you. Takes a few seconds to “listen” and then you get all the details you possibly would ever need. Now users get free tagging for the rest of the year basically. The free app has just been updated in the Android Market.


Instead of buying Shazam Encore for $4.99 you now get unlimited free tagging of music until January 1st 2012 on the free app thanks to none other than Ebay. They have a promotion going on with Shazam and we all get to reap the benefits. I’ll take it since I missed out on SoundHound Infinity free at Amazon a few weeks ago.

The new version 3.0 available in the market now also has the new Shazam Friends feature where you can share tags with friends, or on Facebook. A feature Android has been waiting to get. So what are you waiting for, next time you hear a commercial and wonder who sings that song be sure to break out Shazam and capture the moment.
Press Release:

Shazam Launches “Unlimited Tagging” Globally in Free App for Android
First of its Kind Sponsorship with eBay and Facebook® Integration with Shazam Friends makes Discovering and Sharing Music Effortless
London, UK – 28 April 2011 – Shazam®, the world’s leading mobile discovery company, today announced a major update to its Shazam App for Android which brings with it two exciting new features: unlimited tagging sponsored by eBay for all Shazamers using the Shazam Free App and “Shazam Friends”, a real-time feed within the App of songs that Facebook friends have tagged, creating a continuously updating list for Shazamers to discover and share new music with their friends.
This is the first exclusive App sponsorship deal agreed by eBay anywhere in the world, and the first time Shazam has selected a partner to provide free services to their customers.
Alex Musil, Executive Vice President of Product Marketing at Shazam said, “eBay is a brand people know and love, and we’re excited to announce them as our exclusive sponsor, bringing all Android Shazamers the benefit of unlimited music discovery.” Musil continued, “In addition, we’re pleased to offer Android Shazamers access to the Shazam Friends social feature, allowing them to share their music discoveries with their Facebook friends and family while discovering exciting new music and content themselves in a continuously updating feed.”
This update of the Shazam Free App – which usually comes with five tags per month – will enable new and existing users to receive free unlimited Shazaming until January 1, 2012.
Steve Yankovich, Vice President of eBay Mobile said, “Like eBay, Shazam connects consumers with the content, products and information they want. We are excited to sponsor Shazam’s Android App offering millions of consumers the chance to do even more of what they love, while expanding their ability to Shazam and share the music they’re most passionate about.”
Shazam Friends is easy to set up and, upon updating the App, a new “Friends” tab will appear. Once a Shazamer logs into their Facebook account and confirms they would like to connect and share with friends, they can:
* Browse all of their friends’ tags, watch music videos, read reviews, access biographies and get artist tour information
* See all recent tags from a particular friend in one list
* Add friends’ tags to their Shazam tag list
* Purchase the track
* Where available, use streaming services to play the song from their playlist
* Post tags to Facebook and Twitter, add comments, and give their friends a chance to comment
* Encourage friends to join them in using Shazam Friends
Shazam Friends is already available in both Shazam Free and Encore Apps on Apple’s iOS devices and now on Android devices. Shazamers can manage the sharing of their tags and decide to stop sharing at any time, while still being able to see their friends’ tags. For two friends to see each other’s tags, they both have to connect their Facebook accounts to Shazam.

 

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HTC Doubleshot Rom leaked, Gingerbread for the G2 leaked also

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It looks like overnight some good things happened for the Android and HTC hacking communities. We have what appears to be confirmation that there is a HTC Doubleshot coming to T-Mobile, as well as a leaked build of Gingerbread for the G2. Earlier we mentioned the G2 should have Gingerbread by summer, but things are looking like that might be coming sooner than later.


The guys from 911Sniper have what looks to be leaked builds of Android 2.3 Gingerbread for both devices, the HTC Doubleshot we still don’t know much about, and the G2 that we all know and love already. I am told both leaks are more for developers or cooks, and you should be able to make a nice Gingerbread ROM for the G2 and other HTC devices with these files. Feel free to open them up and look around if you’d like.

HTC DoubleShot
HTC G2 Gingerbread
According to some recent information and from what people are saying about this HTC DoubleShot leak, the Doubleshot is real, and coming to T-Mobile. There is no keys or buttons and it looks like it will possibly be a MyTouch4G Slide, coming with a full slide QWERTY Keyboard. This is not confirmed yet, but we will update you all on that as we hear it.

 

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HTC Droid Incredible 2 for $99 at Amazon

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Looks like Amazon is at it again, trying to 1-up the carriers and offer a lower price. This should be more than enough of a reason to order through Amazon. This is the Droid Incredible 2 for Verizon Wireless at Amazon.com now for the low price of $99. For more information and live shots check out our sister site SlashGears Hands-On, they mention it feeling great in the hands. This phone is up for sale starting today, April 28th.

It may not be a 4G LTE Device like the Samsung Droid Charge, but it is $100 cheaper for those that are on a budget but still want a great phone. HTC makes some of the best hardware out there.
Earlier in the week we told you about the original Incredible at Amazon for a penny. It looks like they were selling some stock to make room for the Incredible 2. Amazon has been known to do this in the past to get buyers, obviously this low price is with a new 2-year contract of course. Take note the Incredible 2 at Amazon is listed as back-ordered but was scheduled to be released today, so they should start shipping any day now. Will you be getting one? Or are you holding out for a 4G LTE Phone?
 

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HTC Rider, and Kingdom pictures leaked

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Well what do we have here, these could be really fun to see. Next generation devices from HTC possibly? Or they might be the European version of upcoming phones like the EVO 3D or the HTC Sensation. We aren’t sure as they look pretty familiar. See for yourself below.

The first photo above is being called the HTC Rider, it looks to be very similar to already released phones like the Thunderbolt with a 4.3″ screen and front facing camera, only it is red. We don’t have much to go on here but thought you’d all like to see it anyways. The HTC logo is covered by something and we don’t see the Verizon branding in the top right either. Maybe it will say T-Mobile there instead, Just saying!
Next we have the HTC Kingdom below, and just like its brother or sister above it also looks like a possible twin of current phones on the market with that strikingly similar speaker grill and front camera as well. I will mention that just as our source said the Kingdom looks to be a little thinner than the other phones out. It still looks 4.3″ but seems thinner and taller like the Droid X rather than the EVO. Interesting indeed. Hopefully we will be finding out some more information on these soon. We will be sure to keep you all posted.

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Motorola Xoom Camera Connection Kit now available at Verizon

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It looks like Motorola has now introduced a Camera Connection Kit for the Motorola Xoom. I know this may be as of use to some of you out there, but for me I just transfer with Dropbox or over USB from my computer. This is basically a cable that will let you easily, and conveniently transfer pictures from your camera right to the Motorola Xoom.

For me personally, I don’t think I’d spend the $20 on this cable being how easy it is for me to transfer things like photo’s to the Xoom, but those that transfer large amounts of photos and often, this may be extremely useful. It is available now according to sources, but only through Verizon.
So if this is something you’d like, or need then feel free to call your Verizon Wireless customer service or stop by a store today and get your own. They should be able to get one to you right away, or shipped at least. You might need the following SKU - MOTMZ600ADPKIT or just tell them you want the Motorola Xoom Camera Kit. In case you haven’t heard we are expecting a OTA update for the Xoom today, and we are still giving some away for FREE.
[via Phandroid]
 

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