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Round Robin: Help Rene with his G1 in the Android Central Forums!
Our good friend Rene desperately needs our help! Having left his iPhone for the T-Mobile G1 it seems like he’s hitting snags around every corner! That’s where we come in folks and offer our advice, tips & tricks, and all around Android expertise. We can’t let him walk away thinking that his precious iPhone is that much better than Android now can we? That’s what I thought!
Head on over to Rene’s Forum Thread at the Android Central Forums.
In any case, lending a helping hand over in the forums will enter you into our Round Robin Contest where you’ll get a chance to win the T-Mobile G1! So Good Samaritan or not, you can’t honestly pass up a chance to win a free T-Mobile G1 now could ya?
And, oh what the heck, let’s make this post another opportunity to win!
This is an Official Round Robin Contest Post, Comment to Win a T-Mobile G1 ! — More Details Here
Phoload Brings Android Support for Free Apps & Games
Phoload is a relatively new site that offers free games & applications to a multitude of mobile platforms — after today, we can now include Android. Phoload is unique because it offers a “community approach” to its applications and games. We’re not exactly sure what that means but it can only be a good thing since all the apps listed are free!
You can access their Android App Lineup either through www.phoload.com/android or if you’re surfing on your G1: www.phoload.com. Pretty simple, eh? The bigger picture with all this is that there may soon be too many avenues to get apps for Android — this could potentially lead to confusion among users especially if a popular app is available in only a few destinations. Hopefully downloading software for Android doesn’t get much harder than using Android Market..
[Phoload via Androinica]
NTT DoCoMo & KTF Bringing Android Devices in 2009
Another day, another Android announcement. What a beautiful thing. Japan’s top wireless provider NTT DoCoMo announced its plans to bring an Android device to its market early next year. NTT DoCoMo will also work with its partner KTF to release an Android device to South Korea in the same time frame. The two companies combine cost in developing so it’s not far-fetched to see that happen with Android.
What is more interesting is that NTT DoCoMo announced that creating an Android phone will be 20% less because of the free licensing of the Android OS. Even more surprisingly, NTT DoCoMo plans to push those savings to consumers. Let’s see what the Japanese and Korean come up with when it comes to Android!
[Reuters]
Banshee 1.4 Brings Music to G1
Banshee version 1.4 is now available and compatible with the G1 Android phone. It is an open source music player that will support playlists on your G1 and will even import music you have purchased from the Amazon MP3 store. It functions very similar to iTunes and will automatically sync your music library with your G1 mobile device.
Aaron Bockover, the lead developer of Banshee, claims that the Banshee/G1 combination delivers the same kind of music management experience as the iPhone. According to his blog:
“Because the Android platform is open source, I was able to easily figure out optimal ways of implementing Android/G1 support. For instance, I was unsure what the maximum cover art size should be on the device, so I just read the source. It was nice for once to not have to reverse engineer or guess!”At this time, Banshee 1.4 is available for Linux and Mac OSX only. Download it here and try it for yourself on your G1.
Round Robin: Rene’s Video Review of the T-Mobile G1
So let me fill you in with how the Smartphone Round Robin works: Every editor of the SPE network sites trade in their phones for a spin with another smartphone. So not only will you be able to see my Androidified opinion about the iPhone 3G, AT&T Fuze, Blackberry Bold, and Palm Treo Pro — you’ll be able to see what everyone else thinks about our beloved G1 and the exciting Android OS!
Since Android is the newest kid on the block and essentially non-existent outside the US and UK, you’ll definitely see some mix ups and false starts from the get go. Our good friend Rene takes the first crack at the T-Mobile G1 and comes away…confused. To give you a preview, the plethora of input options is too much for him to handle!
Go on over to The iPhone Blog to check out Rene’s thoughts and see his video on Android and the T-Mobile G1. I agree with a lot of what he’s saying but believe after a few more days he’ll see that though the Android way is different, it is also a great way to go. Head on over to give him a piece of your mind!
Ed. note: Rene’s video is hilarious. Make sure you’re not eating lunch or reading in a meeting because food pieces will fly and hooting & hollering will surely occur. Just warning ya!
This is an Official Round Robin Contest Post, Comment to Win a T-Mobile G1 ! — More Details Here
Video of Flash Running on Android, T-Mobile G1
Well, looky here. We had just reported that Flash was coming to Android and the T-Mobile G1 a bit earlier today. Obviously, hardened smartphone (read: iPhone) users would say those reports are likely bonk since it’s been a lifetime and a half since the rumors and reports of Flash coming to the iPhone first began and still. no. Flash.
Luckily, we have video! Courtesy of I4U.com (via Talk Android), we have a youtube video showing Flash running on Android. Have a peek at it would ya and tell us what you think!
[I4U.com]
Android Can Open Garage Doors Now, WHAT!?
Not only is Android a great open platform that very well may be the future of smartphones. Not only does Android intertwine Google’s Services so well. Android can now open garage doors. I mean it’s an obvious conclusion right? Android and a Garage Door Opener goes about as good as Android and Gmail or Android and the Market.
All jokes aside, Brad Fitzpatrick is the one who hacked Android into doing the simple garage door opening task. The G1 uses Wi-Fi to fire up an HTTP request to his home server which in turn tells the garage door to open. Neat huh? Leave your keys and garage door at home folks, the G1 can do it all. Even better, in true Android fashion Brad released the source code.
What’s next? What task would be ridiculous to see Android and the G1 do?
[Gizmodo]
Andy Rubin Demos Flash on G1, Coming Soon?
Yesterday at an Adobe MAX Event, Andy Rubin was on hand doing a demonstration — a demonstration about flash on Android. During his keynote, he showed off Flash on the G1, which was a combined team effort from Google and Adobe. This is great news considering the Flash Saga that the iPhone faced (and still faces) and hopefully we can get Flash on Android to experience the “full web”.
To quote Andy Rubin:
“We are excited to be working alongside Adobe to bring Flash technology to Android, Adobe Flash is crucial to a rich Internet and content experience on mobile devices and we are thrilled that Google will be one of the first companies along with the Open Handset Alliance to bring Flash technology to the smartphone market.”We at Android Central are happy to see that Android is fulfilling its promise and potential while hitting very few roadblocks and/or obstacles. The Android platform will continue to succeed especially if Apple and the iPhone continue to stick to their unwavering ways.
Round Robin: iPhone 3G Video
And the 2nd Annual SPE Smartphone Round Robin begins! We at Android Central have given up our beloved G1 in favor of the other smartphones in the SPE Network. Though we’ve only had the T-Mobile G1 for a month, we’re already missing the plethora of input options, Android Market, and that nifty slide mechanism. Hopefully we can survive.
The first device we’re going to be reviewing? The iPhone 3G. The iPhone 3G and the G1 have been linked with one another ever since people began whispering about a Google Phone and rightly so. They are the most exciting smartphone platforms because they offer a fresh start: there’s no deadweight of history or dated processes that hold them back.
But behind the comparisons and their similarities lies completely different philosophies in building a smartphone platform. Aside from the great features that they both have (superb touch screen, great web broswer, an application store, etc.) the two platforms really couldn’t be more different.
So with that brief bit of history between the two devices, we’re jumping into a quick look at the iPhone with a video! To give you a bit of a preview: I absolutely love multi touch. love the form factor. love the ease of use. My gripes? Well, you’ll have to stay tuned the rest of the week to read my full review!
This is an Official Round Robin Contest Post, Comment To Win a T-Mobile G1! – Details Here
OMIO Gets Interview With T-Mobile’s Robin O’Kelly
Robin O’Kelly, Head of Corporate Affairs over at T-Mobile, recently gave OMIO an interview about the creation of the G1 in cooperation with HTC. It is an interesting interview in that O’Kelly responds to a question about competing with Apple’s App Store, discusses the iPhone a bit, and anticipation of future T-Mobile Android phones (a G2, perhaps?) and speculation of when competitors may be offering Android handsets of their own. Give it a read here!
[OMIO via AndroidCentral]
