android

One of the latest misconception to make its way around the blogspehere was that the Motorola Milestone features multitouch functionality whereas its Droid counterpart does not. As it turns out, Verizon's first Google Android smartphone does offer multitouch, just not in the same capacity. What's the difference and, more importantly, who made the decision to water down this feature for the Droid?

Made popular by the iPhone, pinching and pulling has become the preferred method for zooming in on a smart phone. While Verizon's Droid handset is built using the same Android 2.0 OS as the Milestone, users are left using a less-accurate double-tap.

The Milestone has multitouch built directly into the Android framework while the Droid relies on APIs that come with the 2.0 SDK. That means that it's up to app developers to implement the features.

For reasons unknown, however, Google hasn't integrated the capability into apps such as Google Maps. Though it could be added into future updates of select titles, the question remains: Who decided to leave basic multitouch off of Droid?

… Read more

Adobe Systems on Friday introduced a new Photoshop app for Android users that lets them edit photos from their phone, as well as access their online photo collection on Photoshop.com.

The app comes just shy of a month after the release of the company's application for Apple iPhone and iPod Touch users, which quickly became the top free application in the App Store and grabbed a million downloads within a week of its release.

The version for Android shares the same, simple editing UI as the iPhone/iPod version, both of which let users make edits by sliding … Read more

NEW YORK--The new Motorola Droid got a sleepy reception on Friday morning when it officially went on sale across the country in Verizon Wireless stores starting at 7 a.m. in some places.

From New York to San Francisco, most stores around the country had few if any lines when doors opened Friday morning. There was a handful of people waiting outside at the Verizon Wireless store on West 34th Street here in Manhattan. And about 20 people waited in line outside a store here on Sixth Avenue, as well as at one in Clifton, N.J., Verizon officials said.

CNET reporters in San Francisco reported they saw only about 15 customers lined up for the device before a Verizon Wireless store opened there Friday.

The scene was somewhat more lively last night, when Verizon Wireless opened its West 34th Street in New York City from midnight to 2 a.m. About 100 eager Droid customers were in line when the store opened last night. Verizon spokesman David Samberg said the company sold 85 Droids in the first 45 minutes the store was open on Thursday night.

But even though the Droid didn't stir enough enthusiasm to get people to stand outside on a cold November morning, there appeared to be a steady stream of customers in several Verizon Wireless stores. Many customers were interested in the Droid, while some were checking out the new HTC Android Eris, which also went on sale Friday.

Lines are overratedSamberg said that a lack of a long line or shortage of devices is actually a good thing. And he urged people to not prejudge the phone's success on that alone.… Read more

I'm sure you've heard of Apple's App Store for the iPhone. But have you ever heard of an independent mobile app store called GetJar?

No? Well, that's not surprising. The tiny company now based in Silicon Valley has done virtually no marketing. And yet in the nearly five years it's been around, the company has managed to build the second largest application store front for mobile phones in the world, likely making it the biggest mobile app store you've never heard of.

The privately held Getjar claims it has nearly 57,000 applications in … Read more

Verizon on Friday is getting the Motorola Droid and the HTC Droid Eris, a duo of high-end Android handsets. These are the first next-gen handsets the VZN has offered, and its subscribers are understandably happy about that.

And it's about time. AT&T has offered Apple's iPhone for more than two years. Sprint users have been enjoying the Palm Pre for a while and can also opt for the HTC Hero, a sibling of Verizon's Eris. T-Mobile users have had access to Android devices for more than a year.

So why is Verizon so far behind … Read more

As you may have heard, Verizon Wireless' Motorola-made Droid smartphone goes on sale November 6. It's all anybody can talk about and arguably the most anticipated new phone since, well, the iPhone.

Verizon is selling it for $199.99 after a mail-in rebate, but Wirefly has the Motorola Droid for $149.99 shipped, no rebates required. (As always, there's that pesky two-year contract.)

Do you want to know more about this iPhone killer phone? Start with this CNET video, and then read the complete review.

When you're done watching, check out the Android Atlas blog for a … Read more

NEW YORK--More than a hundred people were lined up at midnight outside a Verizon Wireless store in midtown Manhattan to be among the first people to buy the new Motorola Droid.

About 65 eager shoppers lined the south side of West 34th Street across from Macy's in Manhattan at 11:30 p.m. Thursday waiting for the store to open. Verizon opened the store from midnight to 2 a.m. to give people in the Big Apple a head start on the morning cell phone rush. By midnight, when the doors officially opened, about 100 people stood in line … Read more

It's been about a month since we got a peek at the first generation of the Slacker Radio streaming music app for the Android platform. We liked what we saw. On Thursday, other Android users can also cast their own vote about Slacker Radio 1.0 for Android by downloading it for free from the Market application on their Android smartphone.

Like Slacker Radio on other mobile platforms--and also similar to other streaming radio and music discovery apps like Pandora and Last.fm--the app lets you stream music from pre-programmed genres and stations, or from stations you set … Read more

Say salam wa aleikum to an Arabic-speaking android developed at United Arab Emirates University and billed as the first of its kind in the world. It could enter mass production to help people at shopping malls.

The Ibn Sina robot, named after an 11th century philosopher, can recognize faces, converse with people by speaking in classical Arabic, connect to the Internet, and retrieve information. As seen in the video below, it can also exchange kisses with people.

Software for Ibn Sina was developed by a team led by computer science assistant professor Nikolaos Mavridis, with the mechanics by Hanson Robotics. … Read more