Android Community

Myriad Dalvik Turbo engine promises up to 3x faster Android apps

Chris Davies — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 16:44:03 +0000

Applications running up to three times faster on Android devices, with longer battery and just the same processor as in your existing device? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it, but according to mobile software company – and OHA member – Myriad that’s just what we can expect from Dalvik Turbo.

Dalvik Turbo is, as the name suggests, a supercharged version of the underlying Dalvik virtual machine that’s used by the various Java apps that run on an Android phone. Myriad reckon their updated build can boost performance by up to three times, without breaking backward compatibility with previous apps.

Myriad will be demonstrating Dalvik Turbo at Mobile World Congress 2010 next week, and we’re hoping that it’ll start showing up in Android builds soon after.

[via Engadget]

Press Release:

Myriad brings 3x Faster Applications, Richer Game Graphics And Better Battery Life To Android

Replacement Virtual Machine Technology Increases Android Application Performance by Three Times
Myriad Opens the Door to Developers to Create a New Category of Applications Requiring High Computing Performance

DUEBENDORF‐ZURICH – February 08, 2010: Myriad Group AG, a global leader in mobile technology with software in over 2 billion phones, today unveiled the high performance Dalvik Turbo virtual machine, which replaces the standard Dalvik engine powering applications on the Android platform.

Dalvik Turbo increases application execution speed by up to three times ‐ allowing OEMs and operators to bring smoother delivery and more complex applications to Android phones, while also providing substantial battery life improvements when running resource intensive tasks. It also enables developers to take full advantage of Android, allowing them to create games boasting advanced graphics and complex models while retaining full compatibility with existing software.

All this is achieved without a significant increase in the memory requirements of the device.

“The Android ecosystem continues to gain momentum with a regular flow of new devices being launched by operators and OEMs globally,” said Simon Wilkinson, CEO of Myriad Group. “By bringing together Myriad’s heritage in virtual machines and Linux platforms we have been able to significantly improve the performance of Android handsets, leading to a greatly enhanced user experience with richer applications and games and improved responsiveness.”

Dalvik Turbo leverages Myriad’s virtual machine expertise to provide this significant increase in performance while retaining full compatibility with existing applications. The technology replaces the existing Dalvik virtual machine in Android and boasts rapid integration, with Myriad engineers demonstrating installation on an untested target device within minutes. Dalvik Turbo also supports a range of processors including those based on ARM, Intel Atom and MIPS Architectures.

As a founder of the Open handset Alliance (OHA) Myriad has contributed significantly to the Android platform and today continues to heavily invest in technological advances specifically targeted at Android. These include stand‐alone applications such as a WAP browser, MMS messaging, SyncML client, DRM module and IMPS client. The company is also responsible for the Compatibility Test Suite (CTS) framework within OHA, which is used for testing the compatibility of Android systems.

Myriad will be demonstrating Dalvik Turbo in action on its stand (AV86) at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona from 15th‐18th February 2010.

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Might Be An Early Release For The Motorola Devour

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:50:39 +0000

Following the official announcement made by Verizon that do indeed intend on introducing this phone soon, phonearena.com is hearing rumors that this phone could be released on February 25^th.

Maybe their Megan Fox Super bowl commercial created enough buzz for this device so they are trying to get it out while it’s hot. Either way, more Androids are welcome, with the usual phone delays I am glad that Motorola seems to be pushing this out earlier than anticipated. This is looking like a solid rumor, the Devour page has been active for quite some time now.

[via phonearena]

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Google Maps Navigation In Europe

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 15:17:11 +0000

This has been one of the most wanted additions in Android since the release of the Droid. It has since then been added to most Android phones here in the US but our friends across the pond cant join in the glory that is free voice turn-by-turn navigation.

Google has been listening to the people in the European market who want this feature. But it is not as simple for them to just add it like they can here in the US. There are a few more obstacles to deal with n Europe. For example, Google works with partners such as Navteq (Nokia) or Tele Atlas (TomTom) to provide maps of Europe. Maybe they have been with holding the necessary maps cache Google needs to proper implement navigation. There is a rumor that Google has been working with a company in the Netherlands to help bring this feature to Europe. This is looking like it is the case due to the recent withdrawal of Navteq, which is Nokia’s navigation, from the Android Market.

[via frandroid]

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Google Plans To Add Speech-To-Speech Translation

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 14:59:07 +0000

We are all now familiar with text-to-speech or TTS, as it has been implemented in some fashion ever since the G1 days. Now Google wants to add another innovative idea to the arsenal. Speech-to-speech will attempt to translate your voice input to output your native language into a foreign language.

Google has always been looking into new and exciting was for us to communicate and their ideas are usually really innovative and this is no exception. This will be an awesome feat if they can manage to combine two technologies which is taking the callers voice and translating it through voice synthesis while translating it in the process. With the fast progression of phone technology more and more great new services will become available. Here’s a quote from the man in charge of Google’s translation technologies:

“We think speech-to-speech translation should be possible and work reasonably well in a few years’ time,” said Franz Och, Google’s head of translation services.

This will be great if Google can bring it to Android but there are some obstacles to overcomes such as the ones stated in the quote:

David Crystal, honorary professor of linguistics at Bangor University, said:“The problem with speech recognition is the variability in accents. No system at the moment can handle that properly.
It will be interesting to see how this pans out.

[via bgr, timesonline]

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HTC Dragon, A6388 & other Android phones tipped in Dopod roadmap

Chris Davies — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:58:41 +0000

A leaked Dopod roadmap has filled in some launch details for the HTC Dragon, as well as spilled the beans on a number of other smartphones headed to the Chinese market this year. The Dragon – a 3.6-inch WVGA HSDPA Android phone – is expected to arrive there in Q2 2010, and be shortly followed by the A6388, a cheaper 3.4-inch HVGA Android device.

There’s also news of a 4.3-inch WVGA device, the Huashan, which seemingly started life as an Android smartphone but which is apparently being changed to Windows Mobile. That will drop mid-way through Q3 2010, and be followed in Q4 2010 by the 2.8-inch QVGA Songshan – and Android phone with a keyboard – and the Tianshan, a 3.2-inch QVGA Android phone shortly after.

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Intuitive UI for Android learns & predicts use

Chris Davies — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:43:54 +0000

The Android homescreen has greatly improved – with a little help from developers and handset manufacturers – over the various iterations of the smartphone platform, but that’s not to say it doesn’t still need work. UK-based Intuitive User Interfaces have launched their first “one-touch solution” for Android, a predictive UI that learns from how the device is used and adapts the interface accordingly.

Intuitive UI not only learns which apps and contacts are frequently accessed, but the times of the day at which the user does so. It then dynamically adapts its UI accordingly; the company gives the example of an Android user who regularly checks their email first thing in the morning, and whose phone would therefore offer one-touch access to the relevant account at that time, and then who habitually calls home on the commute home, and so would have the speed-dial for that number offered front and center at that time.

According to Intuitive UI, the app is available now for Android (and other versions for different platforms will follow shortly). We can’t spot it in the Android Market, however, but have a request in for more details.

[via MEX]

Press Release:

Intuitive User Interfaces Introduces One Touch User Experience for Mobile Phones

Intuitive User Interfaces’ Underlying Technology is Based on Understanding and Predicting Which Actions Users Want to Perform in Various Situations, and Enabling Those Actions With One Touch

Intuitive User Interfaces, a developer of innovative technologies which improve and simplify the user experience of mobile phones, today launched its pioneering, one-touch solution for mobile phones, which is based on smart prediction algorithms.
Intuitive User Interfaces’ underlying technology is based on understanding and predicting which actions users want to perform in various situations, and enabling those actions simply and instantaneously. Those personal, situation-based actions are presented in a unique, intuitive 3D User Interface.

The company’s technology was developed with a main goal in mind: to make the actions a user wishes to carry out in any given situation available in a simple and intuitive way.

The solution has three major aspects:

Personal – The phone understands which features and actions are important to different users, as each individual user utilizes the phone differently.
Relevant – Users perform different actions in different scenarios. By identifying these associations, a set of the most relevant actions for a specific situation is presented to the user.
Intuitive – The activation of these actions is easy, simple and instantaneous.

“Mobile phones today offer many functions, but if you ask users, they will say that phones are too complicated to operate. People want to carry out actions in a simple manner, not to browse through long menu trees or execute many touches or clicks before completing their actions,” says Eran Aharonson, Intuitive User Interfaces co-founder and CEO. “By making the phone adaptive to the user in any given situation, we bring One Touch Experience to mobile phones.”

Today’s mobile phones offer a wide variety of applications to answer different users’ needs. However, despite the growth in the availability of applications, many are not used. Inherent usability limitations – small screen and limited keypad – turn the activation of these applications into a complicated and time consuming task. Intuitive User Interfaces’ solution offers the user the most appropriate actions for a given situation. For example, if a user usually checks his email every morning, a One Touch access to his email is offered in the morning. Similarly, when he is on his way home in the evening, he will be offered to call home.

“Our innovative technology improves the phone’s usability and brings a new level of personalization to the device by allowing the completion of various tasks with one touch,” says Itay Riemer, co-founder and VP Marketing. “Our aim is to offer phone users exactly what they need, exactly when they need it, through one touch only.”
Intuitive User Interfaces’ first solution for Android OS-based smartphones is now available, and support of additional Operating Systems and devices will soon be announced.

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Philips V900 official for China Mobile

Chris Davies — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:29:31 +0000

It’s been a long time since we heard talk of a Philips Android handset, but over in China the company have just announced the Philips V900. Headed initially to China Mobile, the V900 has a 3.5-inch WVGA capacitive touchscreen, triband GSM/EDGE, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS, and runs the OPhone Chinese Android build.

There’s also a 3.2-megapixel autofocus camera, mini-USB port and 3.5mm headphone jack, and the whole thing measures 115 x 62.4 x 13.2 mm. What remains to be seen is whether Philips have plans to bring the V900 – or a version of it – to US or European shores. If they do, it’ll need to throw in 3G.

[via Mobiset - Thanks Timon!]

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Google opens Nexus One phone support line, (888) 48NEXUS (63987)

Paul Fang — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 09:20:30 +0000

It’s been ages (well, a month) since Google’s official release of the Nexus One smartphone, and the deluge of N1 issues have lead to another Google initiative, a dedicated phone support line to solve the many dilemmas that Nexus One owners have been troubled with since the N1 launch.

Call (888) 48NEXUS (63987) (between 7:00 am – 10:00 pm PST), for additional help that’s claimed to aidGoogle’s lackluster support forums and email support.

Google’s not normally known for taking the initiative with their of customer support, but the Nexus One is anything but a normal Google product. From the tech company, is the line “Live phone support from Google, combined with an optimized on-line support experience, enables a superior Nexus One customer experience.” We hope this clears some problems up for N1 users out there.

[via CNet]

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Unlocked Sony Ericsson X10 now on sale March 29th

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:33:31 +0000

This is great news for our European viewers. You now can put in your order for the very sexy and powerful 1GHZ Sony X10.

This equates to roughly $682.54 USD’s. This is still a high priced phone but at least it is less than the rumored $900. Unfortunately, this phone probably can’t be shipped to the US although I can not verify this at this time. So if you live in the UK head over and put in your order. This ships to most of Europe. Also, Sony has announced that they are planning on upgrading this phone to Android 2.1 shortly after it is released. Here’s some specs:

# Click here to learn more.
# See more images
# Top Features:
# Google-developed Android OS 1.6 operating system
# Google Search, Maps, Gmail, YouTube, Calendar, Google Talk
# 3G / Wi-Fi / Bluetooth / GPS
# 8 Megapixel camera with Geo Tagging, face and smile detection
# 4″ Touchscreen with scratch resistant surface
# Timescape and Mediascape
# 1GB internal memory

[via eurodroid, play.com]

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myTouch 3G And G1 Running At 550MHZ And Stable At 780?

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:17:23 +0000

Yes it is possible and in fact ist has happened. Another great Android Modder has successfully overclocked the 528MHZ on the MT3g and the G1 to 780MHZ.

Eugene373 has done it again, this time he successfully managed to overclock the MT3G and G1 to 780MHZ. This is insane given the fact that the processor was only rated at 528MHZ max. There has even been reports of them running at 1GHZ, this is Nexus One speeds! As usual, try this at your own risk, this does void your warranty and may kill your phone. The only person responsible for that will be you. With that being said enjoy and ther will be more to come.

[via eugenge373 twitter, XDA]

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Part 5, History Of The Nexus One

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 02:03:14 +0000

Here it is, the 5th and final video on the Nexus One. This one is entitled, Nexus One: Day One.

This video shows a regular person and how they would use this phone in their daily life. There are a few of the phone’s features being displayed in this video. There is even hints of whats to come and a quick shot of the car dock in the video. Hope you all have enjoyed this little series because I know I have.

Click here to view the embedded video.

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Nexus One ETF Lowered To $150 from $350

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:52:18 +0000

This was one of the downsides of an otherwise great deal for the first 1GHZ Android. A lot of people was in an uproar when they found out that Google would impose an ETF in the amount of $350 if you canceled your T-mobile service within the first 120 days.

Apparently the FCC has been investigating this and most likely that asked Google to lower this fee and they agreed. The new lower ETF will attract more buyers to Nexus. This coupled with the upcoming car dock will further aid in the increase of sales of the Nexus One.

[via phandroid]

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Motorola Droid Will Get 2.1 This Week?

djunior — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 01:42:43 +0000

Good news for all you Droid lovers. Motorola has made an official announcement via their facebook page that an OTA that includes Android 2.1 will start rolling out sometime this week.

This is great news. Now there will be another 2.1 device to join the Nexus One. Hopefully this will open the flood gates for OTA’s for every Android device including our beloved G1. The OTA for the Cliq should be right around the corner, let’s keep our fingers crossed on this one.

[via facebook]

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Notion Ink readying $1m+ developer competition for Adam tablet

Chris Davies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 18:11:46 +0000

Remember the Notion Ink Adam? Ahead of their Mobile World Congress 2010 appearance next week, we caught up with the Notion Ink team to find out about Flash support, digital content, the latest prototype news and why developers should seriously consider creating software for the Adam.

One of the stand-out devices from CES 2010 last month, the Android-based Tegra 2 tablet beat Apple’s iPad to the slate hype and promises 1080p HD video and of course the power-sipping Pixel Qi display. Now, Notion Ink are planning an App Competition, with over $1m in the prize fund, to push development of Adam-compatible software. Meanwhile they’ve also confirmed that the tablet will run Flash; in fact they’ll be demonstrating that in Barcelona next week.

As for the iPad, well, Notion Ink reckon they’ve got a significant battery advantage over the Apple tablet; in fact they reckon – even without the Pixel Qi panel – they could last 2-3x as long as the iPad can on a single charge. You can read all the details over at SlashGear.

Notion Ink Adam hands-on demo:

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HTC Legend caught in wild

Chris Davies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 17:13:39 +0000

Details on the HTC Legend – expected to be the company’s successor to the HTC Hero – have us anticipating quite the smartphone, and these leaked photos sent to Engadget are doing nothing to disappoint. As we heard a couple of weeks back, the Legend’s casing is made of aluminum and it has an optical joystick rather than a trackball.

No new hardware details, so we’re assuming that the last lot of leaked specifications hold true. That means a 3.2-inch HVGA AMOLED capacitive touchscreen, 600MHz processor, 5-megapixel autofocus camera with LED flash, HSDPA/HSUPA, WiFi, Bluetooth and GPS. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack, 512MB of flash and 256MB of RAM. We’re hoping the Legend makes an appearance at HTC’s press conference next week at Mobile World Congress 2010.

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Inbrics M1 Android-powered MID announcing at MWC10

Vincent Nguyen — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 16:35:05 +0000

It’s really no big secret that Mobile World Congress (MWC) 2010 is going to be ruled by Androids. Inbrics will introduce its M1, a “smartphone-like device” powered by Android. There’s no mentioning of the version of Android but what we do know: M1 feature a 3.7-inch AMOLED touch screen, 3MP shooter and a front-facing VGA camera, 16GB internal memory, physical QWERTY keyboard, and a microSD card slot. Make sure to keep an eye on Android Community’s MWC10 coverage during the week of Feb 14 thru Feb 18 for hands-on Android goodies!

[via Pocket-Lint]

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Magic Maze geolocation game demands eyes-on attention

Chris Davies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:53:18 +0000

If you’ve ever been looking for an excuse to walk into things, stumble around and generally put your life at risk, you could always try a quick game of Magic Maze for Android. devGuide’s new game combines physical GPS position with an on-screen labyrinth, which the player navigates by moving around their environment.

The company recommends you play outside, and given the sharp blow we’ve just received to the face thanks to a sudden turn into a doorframe, we’d agree it’s the best plan of action. Your route has to take place within the on-screen game area – if you try to cheat the phone will know, and you’ll lose – but you also lose a life by stepping on any of the green squares.

We’d like to have seen a little more in the way of real-world interaction, perhaps some augmented reality so that the game is overlaid onto the camera’s view of what’s physically ahead of you. Still, maybe we’ll get that in a later release. Magic Maze is available to download now, priced at £0.99 ($1.55).

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CoPilot Live v8 gets free local search & new premium traffic upgrade

Chris Davies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:44:02 +0000

While Google’s own Google Maps Navigation app may be one way to get turn-by-turn directions on an Android smartphone, if you’re outside of the US and not willing to hack your handset it’s not much use. ALK Technologies have just announced that their own PND app, CoPilot Live v8, has now been given the added boost of live traffic information and local search.

Local search is actually a free addition to the app – the latest version is in the Android Market now – and allows you to search for nearby businesses and other things nearby, and get instant directions to their location. You’ll have to pay for live traffic updates, however; £19.99 gets you ALK’s Premium Services package, which not only pulls in route conditions (and feeds that into auto re-routing) but live fuel prices as well.

Press Release:

CoPilot Live v8 adds Premium Traffic and Free Local Search to Windows Mobile and Android App

Premium live services and free local internet search are now available across all supported platforms of award-winning mobile navigation software

London, 8th Feb 2010 – ALK Technologies Ltd, a global leader in mobile navigation software, today announced the availability of Premium Live Services for CoPilot® Live™ v8 customers using Windows Mobile and Android smartphones.

In addition, all CoPilot Live v8 customers across all platforms will be able to access Local Internet search from directly within the app for free.

Packed with new cutting-edge features, CoPilot Live 8 makes turn-by-turn voice-guided satellite navigation technology more accessible, portable and affordable for owners of iPhone, Windows and Android smartphones.

As with previous versions of CoPilot Live, v8 provides useful Live services designed to make journeys easier, and more predictable.

Furthermore, Live Local Search is now included as standard with CoPilot Live 8. CoPilot Live v8 is bringing the power of Local Internet Search into your navigation system. Simply key-in whatever you are looking for, choose from a list of matching businesses, brands and other results nearby, and be guided straight there!

An additional range of Premium Live Services is now available for all platforms, including:

• Live Traffic information* – High quality, constantly updated traffic information about your route with automatic warnings and re-routing. Avoid stressful delays and always be informed on route conditions with CoPilot Live’s real-time traffic service.

• Live Fuel Prices* – CoPilot Live v8 can instantly guide you to the closest – or the cheapest – petrol station near your current location. Spend less. The new Fuel Price service in v8 can help you find the cheapest petrol station nearby or on-route. So whether you are running on empty or want to fill up without emptying your pocket, let CoPilot Live lead the way.

Real-Time Traffic and Live Fuel are available as Premium Service package for £19.99 to purchase as upgrades through CoPilot Live Central 2.0 desktop software or CoPilot e-store. For iPhone users, it’s available as in-app purchase.

Existing Windows Mobile and Android users can find out how to upgrade to free Local Search by visiting the CoPilot site: http://www.alk.eu.com/copilot/localsearch/.

CoPilot Live iPhone customers will receive access to Free Live Local Search in a forthcoming update via iTunes.

*Live Local Search is available for CoPilot Live v8 in the following regions: UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Netherlands, USA and Canada. It is not available in Republic of Ireland.

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Sony Ericsson XPERIA X10 will get Android update… eventually

Chris Davies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 12:03:20 +0000

It’s not exactly the shortest explanation we’ve seen, but over at the official Sony Ericsson blog the company have confirmed that they’ll be upgrading the XPERIA X10 to the latest version of Android. That is, they will do at some unspecified point; the issue is, as expected, the custom UI and Sony Ericsson’s Mediascape and Timescape apps, which were built for Android 1.6 and will require re-working in order to integrate with newer versions of the platform.

“Then I introduce the signature applications; Sony Ericsson Timescape and Mediascape and the focus of the discussion shifts from talking about this layer on top of Android, that I refer to as the Sony Ericsson User Experience platform. I now find myself discussing the total experience rather the OS version in isolation with a great appreciation about what we are bringing to the table. Then the interest of the User Experience platform future roadmap gets to be the talking point instead. What I hope to get across to you all, is that there will be a software update for Xperia X10 that will upgrade the complete Sony Ericsson User Experience Platform based on newer version of the Android OS.” Sumit Malhotra, Official Sony Ericsson Blog

The company reckons that – when considered as a whole software environment, with their customization works – even running OS 1.6 the XPERIA X10 holds up to the generic Android 2.1 competition. Still, there’s no timescale for when we could see a newer Android build on the X10 – look at the delays in updating the HTC Hero for an example of how a promised refresh can take longer than expected – so the short answer is to only buy the phone if it suits your needs out-of-the box.

[via the::unwired]

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LEGO Mindstorms gets Android remote control [Video]

Chris Davies — Mon, 08 Feb 2010 11:06:11 +0000

The Japanese PLEN robot – that used an Android smartphone as its remote – is great, but at $3,000 it’s a little too expensive for the casual hobbyist. Instead, how about using some more affordable LEGO Mindstorms kit; that’s what the Enea Android team have done, taking advantage of the Mindstorms’ integrated Bluetooth to remotely control it from an HTC Hero.

Movement is handled by physically tilting the phone, and the user can switch between guiding more than one robot. It’s not quite as straightforward as pairing the Mindstorms ‘bot with the Hero, however, since the Android 1.5 OS the smartphone is running doesn’t actually support the Bluetooth serial profile (SPP). Instead, the Hero gets a WiFi link to a nearby laptop, and the laptop bridges the connection via its own Bluetooth adapter.

Still, Android 2.1 supports SPP, and so we can only hope an update to the app is in the works. There’s plenty of cheap LEGO Mindstorms kit on eBay, after all.

Click here to view the embedded video.

[via Recombu]

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Android Community

Myriad Dalvik Turbo engine promises up to 3x faster Android apps

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Might Be An Early Release For The Motorola Devour

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Google Maps Navigation In Europe

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Google Plans To Add Speech-To-Speech Translation

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Intuitive UI for Android learns & predicts use

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