Angry Birds Ready to Fly on Android Mobile

The full version of Angry Birds for Android mobile will be released in the next three weeks according to developers.

The beta was released at the beginning of the month, but it only allowed access to the first level of this phenomenon.

Although this engrossing game requires a lot of patience to complete as you try to find the right angles with which to catapult birds at pigs, it is safe to say that many people have completed the level and are hoping for more.

Furthermore there were some handset issues when the beta for Angry Birds was released. Because the HTC Wildfire phone uses QVGA displays these were not supported but efforts are being made to address the problem.

An Angry Birds developer called Rovio said: "We are currently working hard to ensure that Angry Birds on the Android mobile will offer best game experience for as many people as possible."

Angry Birds has been a massive success on the iOS4 where the app costs 99 cents, so expect the Android mobile to be priced competitively.

Android About Town

Another busy week for Android mobile as Google has added pedestrian friendly Google maps as an app.

That means you can get directions on foot around major world cities like London, and some smaller ones too. There is a street view feature which lets you know what your future path might look like.

Now sat nav has been around for a while, but it is good to finally get something pedestrian friendly. Many cities, admittedly in developing countries, do not cater to walkers very well.

These directions for Android mobile take no heed of one-way streets and also let you know about short cuts, for instance if you want to head through a shopping mall to get somewhere quicker. Directions can be audible or silent, with a vibrate option also possible.

The beta app is available on the Android market for versions 1.6 or above of the smartphone.

There is also some competition to the Android now that Apple has allowed Flash and Java on its phones.
Could this be a sign that Apple is taking a leaf from Google's book and becoming more relaxed about applications for its smartphone?
If so it will be interesting to see whether more developers side with the well-paid Apple apps or whether their decisions will always be made on an individual cost analysis basis.
Apple will also allow 3rd party advertisers. Watch this space.

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.

StumbleUpon Android

Android mobile users can StumbleUpon their favourite websites now that an app has been created.

Like Technorati and Digg, StumbleUpon is a popular form of social media which allows internet aficionados to find new websites based on their topic of choice, and then share them easily with friends. It also allows people to vote for which websites they like the most and so is a valuable tool for the online community.

To use the app on the Android mobile you will have had to sign up to StumbleUpon beforehand. Although you may consider this to be a nuisance, doing so will carry over the original preferences that you have built up. Once you have installed the app from the Android marketplace a StumbleUpon toolbar will appear just above or below your web browser.

The website Social Beat reported a major flaw. "The one thing that faithful StumbleUponers might object to is how slow pages load over standard mobile networks."
But to compensate there are thumbnail previews of pages which let you look before you leap into a slow download. Android users have control of this setting without having to leave the app.

Cnet picked up on another potential downside, the StumbleUpon bar cannot be hidden and so will stay their throughout your browsing session unless the app is exited.

Otherwise this could be the perfect way to occupy yourself during a long train journey. The StumbleUpon app for Android is available for the iPhone too.

Is Android a good listener?

Google is to release a voice control app for the Android smartphone. It will allow Android users to speak (or bark) commands to their phone such as 'send email' or 'access sat nav'.

Now I'm aware that I have a reputation for being skeptical but I'm not convinced this will be as good as it sounds.
Suffering from RSI, I just purchased the Dragon Speaking Naturally software which is widely considered to be the most sophisticated voice recognition software (I speak - it types) on the market. Please feel free to contradict me if I'm wrong on this.

Sometimes Dragon is brilliant and when it gets a head of steam up it can just sail along, putting lots of words on the page while I twiddle my thumbs.
Other times it will fail to spell a word correctly. Even if it gets the word right 99 times out of 100 and it is a word which I have trained it to spell on numerous occasions.

Allowing for my strange accent I would say that voice recognition software is temperamental to say the least and that this Google app for Android may not be the godsend that some people think.
However Google is a very powerful and knowledgable company and if anyone can get it right I'm sure they can. I'm also convinced they will have had a (legal) peak at the Dragon software for some guidance.

Android Overtakes Apple: Best of the Week's News

This week the Philadelphia Enquirer gleefully ran a story about the Apple 'cult' getting a taste of its own medicine.
The journalist witnessed a smug iPhone owner having an Android shoved in his face. The Google smartphone user wanted to show off his handset, which he felt to be superior.
The story is based around NPD Group market-research findings that Android smartphones are outselling BlackBerry and the iPhone, which is in third place.
Follow-up research (going into a cafe and asking people 'Android or iPhone?') seemed to bear out the theory, with one customer saying he preferred the large screen and the ease-of-use of the Android smartphone.
They all highlighted the flexibility of Android OS. "The heart of Google's strategy is to offer consumers choice, with the cool that comes with smartphones."
On the other hand the iPhone has suffered bad press due to the unreliable AT&T network and some design glitches.
However Macworld said Apple will not go down without a fight and has made some much needed changes to its app store. They include a 'Try before you Buy' feature, although this has not pleased all developers: "Some developers don’t think it’s fair that customers can buy a $3 app while laid over at an airport, then return it once they get home."
Meanwhile JKontherun said that the Android is due to have the largest smartphone market share by the year 2012. James Kendrick noted "Google is firing on all cylinders."
Trends would suggest that Google will have 75 million Android users in 2012 compared to 62 million users of ios4. Currently there are more than 20,000 Android activations per day. It noted that Google benefits from offering multiple handsets compared to this single iPhone design.
But Wired said there was still some work to be done on the Android. There are at least five things Google could fix including pushing for accuracy, i.e automatically correcting spelling mistakes.

Android app gives you PayPal

If Android is transforming the smartphone market then Paypal has revolutionised the world of online payments. Now Android users can send money to each other simply by bumping their phones together thanks to a new PayPal app. This is done by using some very nifty new technology known as bump technology.
This feature has been on the iPhone for a while now so you can also settle your scores across the two different platforms.
However, I am much more excited by PayPal's second feature entitled 'Split the bill'. I am sure that we all know some very stingy people and I am thinking of buying this app for them as a bit of fun. While I would rather treat my friends to a drink than add up every last penny, at least 'Split the bill' means that they will get their figures correct. This app is very easy to install. Personally I think that if you can afford an Android or iPhone smartphone then you should be able to pay for a round of drinks.
As well as this excellent addition, normal PayPal features such as withdrawing and requesting money are both available.

Android Abuzz with VoIP App Nimbuzz

Android users will soon be able to make use of the NimBbuzz application. Nimbuzz allows cheap calls using VoIP and IP telephony over Wi-Fi or 3G networks. This mobile app is available with the latest version of the Nimbuzz software for the Android OS.

It gives customers the choice of a number of different VoIP providers because Nimbuzz is an open application which is not restricted to a single client.

Nimbuzz even has its own VoIP service called NimbuzzOut. The app is expected to increase VoIP usage as it will give more Android users access to the technology. Nimbuzz also supports instant messaging from Google Talk and Windows Live Messenger.

Quentyn Kennemer of Phandroid wrote: "With NimBuzz for Android the Call quality is clear and I couldn't find anything to complain about. They use the Jingle XMPP protocol which delivers unrivaled audio clarity for VoIP calls."