Android Mobile Continues Ascendancy

Android mobile has continued its rapid ascendancy in smartphone market share at the expense of Blackberry and iPhone. Meanwhile the new Windows Phone 7 has not yet been released.

The report by marketing research company Comscore showed that Android mobile picked up another 5% of the smartphone user pie between April-July 2010.

Over the same three months Apple dropped 1.3% while RIM continued its recent decline and dropped by 2%.

However the smartphone market as a whole is booming (11% increase between April-July 2010) thanks to the massive popularity of the Android and iPhone.

Some industry analysts believe that one reason why iPhone is losing ground to Android OS is because it does not have as many contracts with large network providers. The main network for Apple in the US is AT&T, while Android works over Verizon Wireless and Vodafone.

However the iPhone4 has only been out for a few months, and is selling very well, despite the data showing a faster take up of Android.

The next Comscore report will provide a much clearer view of the situation; after all the iPhone4 had only been out for one month when this report was compiled.

3CX Launches Free VoIP Phone for Android Mobile

3CX, which makes the VoIP PBX 3CX Phone System and the Windows 3CX softphone, today added a free VoIP phone for the Android OS to its growing list of products.

The phone can be downloaded for free by both consummers and enterprises.

Therefore Android smartphone users on a variety of phones (including the Google Nexus, the HTC Desire and the Sony Ericsson Xperia) can make free phone calls via 3G and wireless.

The 3CX free VoIP phone for Android mobile works with standards based SIP servers including 3CX and other Phone Systems.
It is not locked down to a particular PBX or provider.

This gives users the flexibility to pick and choose their favorite VoIP PBX. They can also switch at any time or use different VoIP providers simultaneously.

The CEO of 3CX, Nick Galea, said: “Smartphones will soon be the defacto mobile communication option. With a docking station they can even act as a desk phone in time.
"A VoIP PBX must embrace this technology and deliver seamless integration to provide true mobility to its users.”
“Smartphone support is a key component of our strategy and the 3CXPhone for Android delivers on this vision”.

Mr Galea added: “We chose Android as our first platform because it is gaining market share and evolving at a rapid pace. Right now in the smartphone market Android has an advantage as it is standards-based, open and vendor independent. Furthermore Android mobiles are available at competitive prices.”

3CXPhone for Android is based on SiPagent. 3CX acquired this popular SIP phone for Android in June 2010. SiPagent users are able to upgrade free of charge to the 3CXPhone.

Android Mobile Stands Out from the Crowd

A study has shown that although there is no clear leader in the smartphone market, Android mobile is the one to watch out for as far as the future is concerned.

Research firm IDC has weighed up the performances of Apple's iPhone, Google's Android-based mobile phones, Research In Motion BlackBerrys, Microsoft's Windows Phone 7 operating system and Nokia Symbian operating systems.

Ramon Llamas, the senior research analyst for IDC's Mobile Trends Team, said: "Android is the wild card in the race and Android mobile technology merits close observation for the rest of this year and many years to come."

Mr Llamas added that Android success was partly because consumers could personalise their 'smartphone experience'. Ease of use and the burgeoning app store for Android were also main factors.

The Android operating system is popular on many handsets including the HTC Droid Incredible, the HTC Evo 3G/4G and Motorola Droid. Yet this popularity could mean that companies such as LG Electronics, Dell and Samsung could also produce Android handsets in the future.

Recent data has shown that the Android phones have outsold iPhones and Blackberrys in the US in the second quarter of this year. By 2014 it is predicted that Android will have 24.6 percent of the smartphone marketshare worldwide, up from 16.3 percent.

Despite the success of Android the report concluded that there is ample room for multiple smartphone players to grow with no individual OS dominating. In fact there will be enough market room for up to five OS players over the next five years.

Android Mobile has Angry Birds in Hand

Android mobile users may be glad to know that the smash hit game for iPhone, Angry Birds, is now available on their OS.
However, you can only download it from the Android market if you have version 2.0 of Android, and even some versions of Froyo are incompatible.
Furthermore the Angry Birds Lite free trial has locked some of the game levels as it has not completed testing. The developers had planned to make a closed test but in the end they bowed to intense public pressure to release Angry Birds.
Rumours are that there are some bugs in the system and CNET has even reported that game will not work at all on the HTC Evo Android mobile handset.
That is bad news for people who are trying to get their hands on one of the bestselling smartphone apps of all time.
Personally I cannot see what all the fuss is about. It's basically just a version of Tetris which involves birds catapulting themselves at pigs . Apparently this is incredibly addictive. It must be getting to grips with the precision needed to angle the catapulting correctly...

Android Mobile goes Bing

Google may dominate the world of internet search with a design to become the premier smartphone maker through the Android, but Bing is now available on that platform.

Microsoft's Bing offering brought real time search to the internet, a fantastic idea in the world of minute-by-minute Twitter updates, and now Google is also copying the idea.

But if you don't like Google then network provider Verizon offers a Bing app for the Android mobile. The app is free and will also be pre-installed on all new Android mobiles sold by Verizon.

The app facilitates amazing Android and Bing features. That means that users of the Android OS can expect Bing's image of the day. An even neater option is being able to search by a series of voice commands - though how well this will work in practise will be interesting to see. The app will allow GPS access too with traffic information also supplementing the drectional guidance. And you can see listings of shops and restaurnats in your area.

The Bing app is also available for the iPhone. At the moment it is thought that the Bing app for Android mobile deal is exlusive to Verizon.

Microsoft Marches on Smartphone Market

Microsoft is preparing itself for all out war on the smartphone market with half a billion dollars being spent on the Windows Phone 7 launch. It is thought that another billion dollars will go towards marketing when phone 7 is released.

Android mobile users will realise that this is a genuine competitor to their product, but also that they have helped to make the Android mobile successful and it is the fastest growing smartphone product available.

The success of the Android is part of the reason why Microsoft is spending so much money on branding their phone. The $500 million launch expenses figure for phone 7 is similar to Apple's entire advertising budget for 2009. The other motivation is the failure of the Microsoft Kin smartphone which was withdrawn earlier this year.

Not only is Microsoft spending big bucks on the launch but it has agreed to subsidize handset manufacturers' non-recurring engineering costs. There are also revenue guarantees for the manufacturers of apps. Microsoft hopes to challenge the success of apps for the Android and iPhone with the latter being a billion dollar industry.

An analyst at Deutsche Bank, Jonathan Goldberg, said that this was a pivotal moment for Microsoft in the smartphone market: “This is make or break for them. They need to do whatever it takes to stay in the game.”

Google Finance for Android Mobile is Awesome

As you may have gathered by now I am somewhat sceptical about applications for the Android mobile but I have finally come across one that I really like the sound of. Google Finance is absolutely awesome.

Now I don't know much about finance but I certainly plan to. Interest rates are awful at the moment. I feel stuck in that sort of situation where you can slave away for the next decade banging your head against a wall or take a risk that could transform your fortunes.

So I want to play the stock market and hopefully strike it big. I'm pretty good at poker so I fancy myself as a gambler, but I have none of the requisite knowledge needed to invest. I may sound naive but I am smart enough to know that you do not try to crack Wall St without doing a hell of a lot of research.

But research is tedious and it reminds me of University. Yet an application with all of the fancy features and widgets is far more appealing. And it means that you can spend what is normally dead-time travelling instead learning something important on your Android mobile phone.

Google Finance gives you all of the latest market news and allows you to keep up to date with your portfolio. You can basically keep your eye on any sector that you are interested in all the time. Real-time data is fed to you along with many up-to-the minute quotes.

I have to say that I am impressed.

Android puts Facebook app in its place

Some Android users may be miffed to find that the Facebook Places app is currently only available on the iPhone.

Personally I am not sure who in their right mind would want everyone to know where they have been. Facebook has created a sort of show-off culture where we try to get one-up on our peers by showing them that we have been to cooler places and on more expensive holidays. Unless you are part of the rich jetset I am not sure that this is good for everyone's self-esteem.

Also Facebook Places has some fairly glaring privacy issues. Facebook has come under fire regularly for its haphazard use of personal information and unless you check your settings like a hawk the constant changes could leave you vulnerable.

However the Facebook Places app is only available to those who choose to use it. It can send out a trail of your movements so that you can share your favourite restaurants, bookstores etc with friends.

If you want to use this on the Android mobile phone then visit Touch Facebook and look for the Places icon in the top right-hand corner.

Alternatively the Facebook Places app is very similar to other products on the market including Gowalla and Foursquare which are both available for the Android mobile phone, so you could just use these instead.

All of these apps have obvious commercial uses so expect plenty of promotions in the future.

Android goes to War

From Short Circuit through to the Terminator I and II movies we have always fantasized about sending robots into war. While that vision is not fully true (unless you count drones) it seems that the decision to equip American soldiers with the Android smartphone could still save lives.

Lt. Gen. Jeff Sorenson believes that the deployment of the Android and other smartphones to the US army could happen within the year.

In anticipation of that moment a competition has been created to see who can design the best apps for military use. Among the front runners is a special app which designs training programmes to allow soldiers to prepare physically and mentally for going into war.

In terms of logistics and communication, using Android OS has obvious benefits as soldiers could contact each other easily out in the field. But they would more likely use the Android for making calls home. However, security of the phone lines would be of upmost importance.
What you don't want though is for the Android to be a distraction, for instance if you received a call just as you were hiding from the enemy.
Given that the US army is so chronically overstretched and underfunded at the moment too it would be interesting to see if this one comes to fruition or whether it is just another piece of propaganda.

Android gets touchy

For the last decade everyone being has been raving about touchscreen technology. Personally I can't see it myself. Touching the screen just leads to it getting smudgy while accuracy is always an issue.
Now researchers have found that there are also security concerns. In fact passwords on your Android smartphones could be at risk because of the fingerprint trail.
Google's Android OS system requires users to swipe for access and this can cause "information leakage."
University of Pennsylvania scientists discovered that: "Oily residues, or smudges, remain on the screen as a side effect of touchscreen technology."
The researchers were able to partly guess the passcode of an Android smartphone 92% of the time and completely guess it 68% of the time. They did so using photo-editing software, lighting and a camera, which are all easily accessible to your average criminal.
Furthermore this is not the only vulnerability that the Android smartphone might have as a result of its touchscreen sign in.
The iPhone does not suffer from the same problem as users lift up their finger between each press.
In response Google said the Android 2.2 Froyo OS will include the option of an alphanumeric password instead of the finger swipe.

HTC Reaps Profits from Android

Despite predicting a huge 58.45% rise in sales, mobile handset provider HTC has exceeded its own sales forecasts.
Last month (June), there was actually a 66.69% rise in smartphone sales against the comparable period in 2009. In fact HTC outdid its revenue estimates for sales in both the quarterly and the monthly figures.
Sales of the Android smartphone form a large part of the revenue of HTC and there have been record breaking figures recently.
For those who have been part of this boom peroid, there is news about when to expect the new Froyo 2.2 Android update.
Eric Lin of HTC said: "We are aiming to roll-out all planned HTC updates to Android 2.2 Froyo before Christmas."
The update will cover the HTC Desire and the HTC Incredible among other handsets. However there is no news yet on whether there will be an update to Froyo 2.2 on older handsets like the HTC Hero.

App enables Yahoo! on Android

Hard to believe it may be but only now has Yahoo! rectified for Android users the problems of trying to reach its search engine. While Hotmail and Gmail could connect with the Android OS easily via the address and email password, Yahoo! experienced some glitches in the system.
But the standalone app that has been released for the Android VoIP phone is about to change all that. Now you can send emails to Yahoo! contact from your Android, get email notification and download attachments - all the things which you would expect from your smartphone.
Yahoo! product manager Lee Parry said: "The Yahoo! Messenger and Yahoo! Mail apps for the Android offer the core features that you would expect while using a PC. They allow you to search for important messages and organize them into personal folders.
He added: "You can also view your status messages and buddy list contacts while chatting with Messenger friends."
The app also allows you to launch the instant messaging service Yahoo! Messenger. It will work on the Android 2.0, 2.1 and 2.2.
You can pick up the app in the usual manner on the Android marketplace. Customers in America can also get a Yahoo! search widget for their screen.

Nexus One Android 2.2 Froyo Update

Below is a really useful video for users of the Nexus One Android smartphone. They can now access the Android 2.2 Froyo, which is the latest software update. Its main advantage is increased speed (5 times faster) over a range of different features including web browsing. It also gives you access to portable Wi-Fi hotspots. Android 2.2 Froyo will also allow certain mobiles to share their Wi-Fi connection with up to eight other devices.
Jealous? Well the Android 2.2 upgrade should be available to other users including the HTC smartphone soon.
An HTC spokesperson said: "We are working hard in conjunction with our partners to update the HTC Sense experience on Froyo and get it to our customers ASAP. We expect to release updates for 2010 models including the Legend, Wildfire and Desire smartphones in the third quarter of 2010."

IBM serves up Wimbledon app for Android smartphone

Football fans may not even have noticed but it is that time of year again; strawberries and champagne while watching the cream of tennis players battle it out at Wimbledon.
Tennis aficionados can often be seen feverishly checking their smartphones between points and with that in mind IBM has released its new Seer Wimbledon app.
This nifty app allows you to check out everything that is going on around SW19. You can see how is playing who and where, and work out where the nearest restaurants, toilets and much more are all located.
You can also access a number of radio stations with Wi-Fi technology. The only questions hanging over this app are whether you will have Wi-Fi access and whether your batteries can support it for a whole day (take some spares).
You might also spend so much time playing around with it that you forget to watch the tennis!