Jerry Hildenbrand's blog

Rumor alert!  I've received a tip from a very trustworthy source that Google will announce support for PayPal payments in the Android Market on Nov. 2.  It's no secret that PayPal and Google have been working on making it happen, and we honestly expected an announcement last week during PayPal's developer's forum, but it didn't materialize.

We take all rumors with a grain of salt (and you should, too!), but the details surrounding this one sure sound right, and I'm going with it.  There's not much more I can say, but be on the lookout for this news as well as some other announcements from developers and publishers on Nov. 2. Thanks to our anonymous friend!

All US citizens who are of age should be prepared to go out and cast a ballot come Election Day, and Google just made it a bit easier with their mobile election center site for Android and iOS.  Head to m.google.com/elections on your phone, enter your address and Google will help you find your official polling place, and track your local and the national elections.

Remember, if you don't vote, you don't get to complain about the winners.  [Google Mobile Blog]

We just received an invite to a "Mobile Event at Facebook HQ" scheduled for Wednesday Nov 3.  No press release, no fanfare, no inkling of what it might be, just the invitation.  When thinking to ourselves, "Why would Facebook invite Android Central to their big Mobile shin-dig?" we can come up with a few answers.  Maybe there's going to be a new and improved Facebook client for Android with deep ties into Gingerbread.  Maybe there really is going to be a Facebook phone.  Or maybe it's our dashing good looks and the great conversation we would bring along.  We'll know more Wednesday.

Another day, another tip about overclocking -- this time it's the Samsung Vibrant hitting a very fast, yet still believable 1.6 GHz.  The method isn't yet public (at the time of this writing), but at least these fellows have some benchmarks to back it up.  Besides the Quadrant benchmark (which is about useless on a Galaxy S phone -- blame the cheaters and developers lack of fixing the I/O scoring algorithm for that one) of 3196, they're showing off a Linpack score of 12.3.  Before you scoff, this is on the OMAP a Hummingbird, still running 2.1.  That's fast.  Very fast.  I'm pretty sure most, if not all, of this will work with all Galaxy S phones, but the skeptic in me says wait for the developers to chime in on that one.

They have also been hard at work on tuning the GPU, and are getting incredible graphics benchmark scores, and these don't involve any suspect benchmark apps.  These are real, folks, and are the kind of scores we all wanted out of the Galaxy S phones.  I, for one, am awful glad to see the community deliver them.  I know benchmarks often don't translate into real-world improvement, but scores this high surely will.  Hit the source link to follow the progress, and read all the juicy details.  [AndroidSpin, CyanogenMod forums (down)] Thanks everyone who sent this in!

Adobe has announced another security advisory for Flash on Android, affecting all builds, including the current version of 10.1.95.2.  Additionally, the same advisory goes out to users on Windows, Mac, Solaris, and Linux for builds up to and including 10.1.85.3, and for Acrobat and Reader 9.4.

According to Adobe, "This vulnerability (CVE-2010-3654) could cause a crash and potentially allow an attacker to take control of the affected system. There are reports that this vulnerability is being actively exploited in the wild against Adobe Reader and Acrobat 9.x. Adobe is not currently aware of attacks targeting Adobe Flash Player." 

Adobe says it is already in the process of finalizing the fix, and will have it rolled out by Nov 9.  Should any real exploits for Flash on Android surface, we'll let you know.  [Adobe via PC Mag] Thanks evoinmypalm for the tip!

It will likely never be the most popular device, but the Samsung Mesmerize is a hell of a phone, and to me, part of reviewing it is using it the way I would if it were mine as well as designed.  So I decided I was gonna poke around and root the darn thing.  It appears that U.S. Cellular or Samsung has done nothing to block access, and the rageagainstthecage exploit by C-skills works just fine.  Then, as luck would have it, I was shown the SuperOneClick program, which uses the same exploit, found someone to help confirm, and it works great!

So if any of you picked up a Mesmerize, and want to really own it, grab the app and give it a go, then head into the Mesmerize forums and we can compare notes.  Know that it breaks your warranty, and if something happens you're out $500.00. [Android Central Forums]

The T-Mobile MyTouch HD (or is the the MyTouch 4G?) makes an appearance once again, this time to show off some under the hood power and some WiFi calling magic.  Above we see the unrooted, stock myTouch pulling off a Quadrant benchmark score of 1890.  I'll pause to let that settle in for a bit.  And we're back, with a most respectable (read: pretty darn fast) Linpack score of 34.34 (photo after the break).  Those kinds of scores are on par with other devices that have been hacked nine ways to Sunday, and it means the MyTouch HD will be fast, right out of the box.

If you're the kind of person who cares more about features than speed, we also get a chance to see WiFi calling running on the MyTouch HD.  We were pretty sure it was there, as it is in the ROM dump, but just seeing it running on the phone itself is pretty satisfying.  Check the screenshot after the break.  Nov. 3 is eight days away, folks.  Thanks to our anonymous friend!

From the department of things that really suck: Yahoo! Mail for Android is prompting users to upgrade to version 1.2.0.  Normally we all love updates, but this time Yahoo is forcing users to download and install this update from outside the Android Market.  Users who fail to accept and install the update from mobildl.zenfs.com are unable to use Yahoo! Mail on their phones or tablets.  We've reached out to Yahoo for a response, especially since AT&T users are out in the cold -- unless they use the Android Central Sideload Wonder Machine that is -- and if they respond we'll update accordingly.

We get it -- Yahoo and Google are competitors.  But this only serves to alienate your users, Yahoo.  Here's hoping you care enough about them to get this righted. Thanks Matthew for the heads-up!

Update from Yahoo! Mail for Android's Market page:

"IMPORTANT! A pre-release alpha version update was accidentally published on OCT 25th. If you downloaded this broken non-market version, please remove from your device and reinstall 1.0.4 from the Market"

So there you go, it was all a slip of the finger, err mouse.  Uninstall and reinstall from the Market and you're set.  I take back all those evil thoughts.

Adobe has ramped up its presence in the application space with AIR 2.5, and to help get the content out to the masses it introduced Adobe InMarket.  AIR 2.5 is available on devices ranging from phones, to tablets and televisions -- including Android 2.2 devices, of course.  In addition, AIR 2.5 enables hardware acceleration across all major chip makers, including Broadcom, Intel, NVIDIA, ST Micro, Trident, Texas Instruments, Qualcomm and others.  Samsung is scheduled to take the lead and be the first to ship AIR preinstalled in their SmartTV line, and Acer, HTC, Motorola, RIM, and Samsung will be releasing smartphones or tablets that ship with AIR enabled.  Adobe AIR 2.5 for Android is available from the Market as a free download, we'll have a link after the break.

Adobe InMarket is Adobe's foray into the publishing and distribution space. InMarket will assist developers distribute and sell their applications on many different application stores across, on various device types from Acer, Intel, and others.  Android is not specifically mentioned, but I'm certain InMarket will help Android developers publish to alternative Android application stores.  There's a catch, though -- Adobe will pull 30 percent off the top for the service, according to their developer connection page, but that's standard for app stores these days.  The full press release, and AIR 2.5 download link are after the break.

We're not really sure what to make of this one, but word is that the HTC Knight is destined for Sprint, and something on it slides.  Apparently the source behind the rumor has access to the device (or at least the ROM itself) and the words "do not slide screen in/out during operation" are hidden away in a menu.  That could mean that this has a sliding keyboard, or something else, but that's really anyone's guess at this point.  I've even heard stirrings of a T-Mobile G2-style device headed for Sprint, but for now even I'm not going there.

Now that the word is out, expect rumors and leaks if this one turns out to be as close to release as was reported, which is within two weeks.  We've got our ears on.  [XDA-Developers via Pocketnow]