android

Google has released an Android 1.5 software developer kit, giving programmers access to several new features, such as video support and a faster browser that will appear in a forthcoming version of the company's open-source mobile-phone operating system.

Android competes in the smartphone market with operating systems such as Apple's iPhone OS, Nokia's Symbian, and Microsoft's Windows Mobile. Although Google attracted many partners to participate in the Android project, called the Open Handset Alliance, so far, only Taiwanese handset maker HTC is offering models. New options are expected this year, though.

Google has said it … Read more

Editors' note: The original story incorrectly stated that Motorola is planning to build an Android set-top box for KDDI in Japan, based on reports from the Web site Android Guys. To avoid confusion, the story has been removed. Please click here to see the appropriate information regarding Motorola's set-top box.

Acer executives said that Google's Android still has a long way to go before it can be used as the operating system for the hot new category of laptops known as Netbooks. And the CEO of the Taiwanese company hinted that its Netbooks may soon end up on Verizon Wireless' network.

At a press event Tuesday night to launch the company's new line of consumer and business computers, Chief Executive Gianfranco Lanci and Jim Wong head of Acer's IT products business line, told reporters that the company plans to use Google's Android operating system on its … Read more

Tuesday's release of a much-improved Web client for Gmail on the iPhone and Android handsets was nice, but it's still got me salivating at the idea of a native application for the iPhone. Over the last year we've hounded the Gmail team on whether one was on the way, and the answer is--in typical Google fashion, that there will be no discussion of products that have not been announced.

But that doesn't mean one isn't in the works.

So let's take a look at what a native Gmail application could give us over what … Read more

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