android

Google has released a new Web-based version of Gmail that gives iPhone and Android phone users a more sophisticated version of the online e-mail service, including access to messages that's faster and that works even when offline.

Google demonstrated the Web-based mobile version of Gmail last week and announced its availability Tuesday on the Google Mobile blog. "You'll notice that it's a lot faster when performing actions like opening an e-mail, navigating, or searching. And if the data network drops out on you..., you'll still be able to open recently read messages and to compose … Read more

During Samsung's press conference at CTIA 2009, company executives didn't have much to say about its Android plans, other than that it's on track to deliver devices during the second half of 2009.

However, Samsung Mobile's executive vice president of global product strategy, Won-Pyo Hong, was feeling a little more chatty and revealed some new details in a conversation with Forbes.

While Hong didn't get any more specific about release dates, he did say the United States will get two smartphones using Google's mobile operating system later this year and that they will be … Read more

SAN FRANCISCO--What Google did with Gmail in conventional browsers five years ago it is expecting to do again with a new mobile version of its Web-based e-mail service.

Vic Gundotra, who leads Google's mobile software and developer relations efforts, showed off the Web application "technical prototype" Friday in an onstage interview here at the Web 2.0 Expo. Google offers Gmail applications that run natively on BlackBerry and Android mobile phones, but the company clearly has high hopes for a Web-based version as well.

Building a Web interface means Google can reach more phones more easily, Gundotra … Read more

The Shortcovers e-book reader that's available now for BlackBerry, iPhones, and Google Android phones sounded like a good idea when we first heard about it back in February. It still is a good idea, but falls a little short in the execution.

Shortcovers is attractive and modern-looking with a nice, legible default font throughout and a menu system you can find your way around. What it trips on are the details. For instance, thumbnail images draw you in on the page of featured e-books, but are excluded from the actual content. Sometimes the only freebie you get is the … Read more

DataViz announced on Thursday that it is now offering Documents to Go Standard Edition version 1.0 and a beta version of RoadSync through the Android Market. The two applications will give T-Mobile G1 and HTC Magic owners the capability, for the first time, to work with Microsoft Office documents and get support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync.

Documents to Go has long been available for Windows Mobile and Palm devices, but now Android users can finally have the capability of viewing, editing, and creating Word and Excel documents through the productivity suite. The suite's editing capabilities are vast, including … Read more

Google confirmed that it pulled a Wi-Fi tethering application from the Android Market because it violated T-Mobile's terms of service, but said it hadn't intended to pull that application from the market entirely.

Earlier this week an Android developer said his tethering application--designed to let PC or Mac users get on the Internet through their Android phones--was removed entirely from the Android market because T-Mobile, the exclusive U.S. carrier of the only Android phone on sale in the U.S., does not allow tethering. T-Mobile users still can't get that application, a Google spokesperson said, but … Read more

We've seen several stories recently (including one by our own Maggie Reardon) about how HP and other companies are considering using an operating system based on Google's Android platform for Netbook laptops, replacing the ubiquitous Windows XP. Examining the short history of the unexpectedly popular Netbook market, it seems unlikely that Android will be able to gain a foothold.

The very first Netbooks ran Linux operating systems, usually with a custom front-end to give users easy access to a Web browser and other frequently used apps. But as well-intentioned as that plan was, it wasn't until PC … Read more

It's hard to be friends with an 800-pound gorilla without getting stepped on from time to time. It's perhaps not surprising, therefore, that some of Microsoft's closest Windows allies are reportedly seeking to undermine their hegemonic partner with Linux initiatives in Netbooks and laptops.

According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, Hewlett-Packard and other personal computer manufacturers are testing Google Android for Netbooks and other mobile PC devices in a bid to boost margins that otherwise get consumed by Windows license fees. These PC manufacturers are seeking to have more control and money in the … Read more

By now, you've probably heard that Samsung revealed the Samsung Mondi and Samsung Instinct s30 during a press conference on Tuesday night, one day before the official start of CTIA 2009. At the end of the event, there was a Q&A session and one of the questions that came up was the status of Samsung's Google Android devices.

Unfortunately, the company didn't have much to say, other than what we already know. (Hey, I'm just passing along the message, so don't shoot me, OK?) Samsung said it is absolutely committed to the Open … Read more