android

Sharetones: Make a ton of ringtones on Android

Industrious cell phone users can always create their own ringtones, and lazy ones can buy them packaged. Sharetones 1.0 beta for Android, released to the Android Market on Tuesday, falls somewhere in between.

The premise is simple, but intriguingly computational. You create ringtones from songs you already own on your phone. Instead of asking you to do the tedious editing legwork, Sharetones will send your songs to a database of over 65,000 tones and return several options that someone else has created. One ringtone may capture the intro instrumentals; another may clip the chorus.

The key here is … Read more

Collect them all

Start with your own music collection on the phone. Sharetones compares your list to its growing database of user-cut ringtones and returns matches. After previewing and picking, Sharetones will extract metadata information about the sample ringtone and rip your own song to match it, including fade-ins and fade-outs. Bottom line: the only person's music you touch is your own.

The application's actual interface is a tad sparse. You can preview the ringtone, pausing or saving it. The menu button reveals options to sort by title or artist, to re-sync the library, and to view the ringtone, alarm, and … Read more

Waze brings free turn-by-turn GPS to Android

Waze is an innovative new GPS app for Android that supplements Census Bureau maps with user-generated data. This social approach to road conditions offers a new level of data that is not possible with other GPS services.

Just imagine your daily commute to work. Though you may have the best route down to a science, significant delays can affect even the best-laid plans. Fortunately, that's where Waze comes into play.

By utilizing real-time information from others, Waze can optimize your drive time and help you make informed decisions. It provides helpful information such as speed traps, accidents, and road … Read more

Creative Zii touch-screen player outed by FCC

A filing with the FCC offers some evidence that Creative has a new touch-screen portable media player in the works. Named after the system-on-a-chip processor Creative showed off during CES 2009, the Zii (and the developer-only Zii EGG) include music and video playback capabilities, 802.11b/g Wi-Fi, and an HD camera on the back.

Little else about the player is revealed in the FCC filing, but it's pretty easy to connect the dots and see that Creative is playing catchup with Apple's iPod Touch. Creative is no stranger to playing second fiddle to Apple, but the company … Read more

Google prepares next Android Developer Challenge

Starting in August, Google will open submissions for the second Android Developer Challenge (ADC2). With close to $2 million in prizes, expect to see some amazing entries.

The first Android Developer Challenge gave us many of the top applications available today. The 50 finalists included Locale, TuneWiki, PicSay, GoCart, Compare Everywhere, and more.

The challenge For the second challenge, Google has changed the format of the contest. This time around, the Android community will play an important role in deciding the winners. Sometime in late August, a voting application published on the Android Market will allow users to sample the submissions for each category and vote for their favorites.

Instead of 50 finalists, there will now be 200 finalists divided into 10 categories. They'll be selected based on the score they receive from the community votes. The official contest categories include:

Education/reference Games: casual/puzzle Games: arcade/action Social networking Lifestyle Productivity/tools Media Entertainment Travel Miscellaneous

Upgrade Android icons to display unread count

Android's open nature makes it easy to customize the look and feel of your phone with widgets, themes, and home screen replacements. Not surprisingly, many have chosen to make their Android phone look and operate like the wildly popular iPhone.

Yet, Android and the iPhone differ in the way they display unread application notifications. Android places new alerts in the systemwide notification bar while the iPhone places a notification directly over the specific app. Both systems work well, but some might prefer the iPhone's system.

SMS Unread Count is a free Android widget that attempts to emulate the … Read more

Nokia Android rumors earn outright denial

Nokia has strongly denied working on an Android-based handset, following a report early on Monday that it's planning to do so.

The report, carried in The Guardian, took a cue from "industry insiders" to predict the launch of a touch-screen Android device at Nokia World in September. When contacted by ZDNet UK later Monday morning, a Nokia representative issued an "outright denial" of the piece.

"There is no truth to this story whatsoever," a statement from the company read. "It is a well-known fact that Symbian is our platform of choice for … Read more

Netbooks and touch screens: A good marriage?

Netbooks are helping boost the PC market as it continues to slide with the economy, but it's only a matter of time before something precipitates a market upturn.

Thanks to the announcement of the Archos 9 PC Tablet on Wednesday, there's even more evidence helping fuel speculation that touch screens can transform the Netbook experience from basic computing into multitouch bliss.

Touch screens are undoubtedly popular in the mobile market, but they have yet to break through in the computing space. Will they be as revolutionary for PCs as they have thus far been for smartphones? … Read more

Android phone running slow?

Though Android can run multiple programs and close background processes as needed, there are times where the OS' overall performance slows down. And during those times in particular it's troubling that Android doesn't let you close applications manually.

Fortunately, the Android Marketplace offers an answer. Advanced Task Manager is a paid application that enables you to view all running applications and end them on demand. For only 99 cents you can see all open applications and background processes on your phone, which can help you identify which are taking up memory. With the tap of your finger, you … Read more

On Call: Apples and Androids

Q: What are the main differences between the iPhone 3G and the iPhone 3GS? With the iPhone 3G being just $99, I'd rather not spend the extra $100 for the 3GS if I don't have to. - James

A: The extra $100 for the iPhone 3GS gets you a few things. They aren't mind-blowing, but they are worth an extra $100, depending on your point of view.

Voice control: This is a welcome and nifty feature that performs well. Not only can you make calls using only your voice, but also you can use the iPod player. It's particularly useful if you'll be using the iPhone while driving. Video recording: Another feature that was long overdue. The video quality is quite good and the editing tool is unique and very easy to use. Accessibility options: The 3GS is the first iPhone to offer a broad range of accessibility feature, like Voice Over, which will read a description of the onscreen controls. Other options will further assist visually impaired users. Compass: The compass and its integration with the Google Maps feature are neat, but I don't see myself using them that much, though you might feel differently. Better battery life: The iPhone 3GS promises double the battery life of the iPhone 3G. We're still testing our iPhone 3GS, but it did seem to last longer than its predecessor did during preliminary use. I'm hoping that it lives up to expectations, as short battery life is one of the drawbacks of both the original iPhone and the iPhone 3G. Faster performance: We have found the the 3GS is faster than the iPhone 3G. It opens applications more quickly and turns on in half the time. If price is your main issue, then I think you'll get a great iPhone experience with the $99 iPhone 3G. But, if money is third our fourth on your criteria list, I'd say that you'll enjoy the added features from the iPhone 3GS.