Google: Expect 18 Android Phones by Year’s End
By Matt Richtel
Google

Summer Of ‘09 Phone War update: By year’s end, there will be at least 18 phones on the market worldwide based on the Android operating system, Google disclosed for the first time Wednesday.

Andy Rubin, senior director for Mobile Platforms for Google and the spearhead of the Android operating system, said the number could be as high as 20. (That figure does not include devices made by manufacturers that use a basic Android system but have not apprised Google of its use). The 18 to 20 devices Google knows about will be made by eight or nine different manufacturers, Mr. Rubin said.

He declined to say which manufacturers will make said phones or for which wireless carriers. At present, there are at least two Android-centric phones — T-Mobile’s G1, available in the United States, and a phone called “Magic” made by HTC and available in Europe.

Mr. Rubin said that, in general, carriers will be slower to introduce Android phones in the United States than in Europe. The reason, he said, is that the domestic market is so competitive that carriers and handset makers want to create highly distinctive versions of the Android phone to give themselves an edge.

Indeed, the ramping-up of Android phones intensifies a battle among some of the world’s biggest software companies to create the operating system for the world’s phones (of which there are now 4 billion). Android goes up against a coming-soon new version of Microsoft’s mobile version of Windows; Apple’s proprietary iPhone system; the BlackBerry platform; a new Palm OS for its Pre, called WebOS; Symbian (mostly proffered by Nokia); and a host of Linux-based systems.

It is, in short, while the carriers and handset makers battle, a pitched and wide-open contest to control a new generation of higher-powered mobile devices.

For Google, what was important about Mr. Rubin’s disclosure was both what he said and where he said it. His comments came at a conference in San Francisco for developers of applications for Android phones. These are the behind-the-scenes folks who will help distinguish Android from Apple’s iPhone or the Palm Pre, the BlackBerry and Nokia app stores, etc.

On the question of apps, Mr. Rubin reinforced Google’s position that Android is an “open” platform, though, critically, that concept has some nuance to it. It goes like this: there are three flavors of Android. Each is free. But the versions place different requirements on the handset manufacturers and wireless carriers. The differing versions — and the way they’re being adopted — give an insight both into Google’s goals and to the way the market is receiving those goals.

1. The obligation-free option: device manufacturers can download a free version of Android, load it onto their devices and provide access to as many or as few apps as they want. But the manufacturers cannot preload popular Google applications, like Gmail or Google calendar.

2. The small strings option: Same as Option 1, except that manufacturers sign a distribution agreement to include Google applications on the phone. Of the 18 to 20 phones coming out this year, Mr. Rubin said, 12 to 14 subscribe to this option.

3. The bigger strings option or the no-censorship version: These phones Google calls “The Google Experience.” They are physically distinguishable by the “Google” logo on the phone. They include a range of Google applications that the carrier and handset maker agree not to remove from the phone. The carrier and handset maker also agree not to censor access to the Android market. Which means that if some developer comes up with an application that some people find distasteful, or that gets bad press, it must nevertheless remain available to consumers. Of the phones coming out this year, five or six belong to this category, Mr. Rubin said.

The third category provides risk and reward opportunities. The openness of the store could be a hit with consumers, but could also lead to poorly constructed applications or ones, like the baby-shaking app for the iPhone, that could give Google a taint (however temporary and press driven).

When it comes to apps, Mr. Rubin said: “We want to abide by the law, but not rule with an open fist.”

Izvor/

Motorola Droid will be Verizon’s Android handset from Motorola?



We just received word from a tipster that the much-awaited Motorola Sholes or Motorola Tao will actually be called the Motorola Droid on Verizon Wireless. The above information is not confirmed at this time, but we have independently confirmed that regardless of whatever name Verizon (or Moto) chooses to run with, their Motorola Android handset will not run MOTOBLUR. It will be a straight with Google device and will be the first Google Experience handset to offer built-in Adobe Flash support natively.

We have heard that the announcement will be made not next week but the week after.

UPDATE: We’ve been given specifications for the handset:

    * 3.7″ screen
    * 854×480 WVGA capacitive screen
    * 5 megapixel camera
    * ARM Cortex 500MHz CPU
    * Facial recognition using the built-in camera (apparently you take a photo of someone and Google will pull in search results based on the image)
    * Custom Motorola Interface/UI, no MOTOBLUR, no Verizon UI
    * Available in black and titanium colors

We’ve also been told there will be a keyboard-less version that’s planned for 2010.

izvor

HTC Dragon Android device surfaces in firmware build, could pack 1GHz processor



This one's about as early as it gets, but what you're looking at above is purported to be a screenshot of a firmware build for a hereto unheard of Android device called the HTC Dragon. Now, that's interesting enough in and of itself, but the real kicker is that the phone is said to pack a 1GHz processor (most likely Snapdragon), which should help make HTC's Sense UI snappier than ever -- the rumored 800 x 480 display certainly doesn't hurt things either. Not much more to go on than that, unfortunately, but you can check out a few more exciting screenshots at the link below.

Izvor

Motorola Droid aka Tao aka Sholes Gets a Clear Picture, Runs Android 2.0



Finally! After dealing with dark and fuzzy pictures of the Motorola Droid aka Tao aka Sholes, we finally get a clean and clear picture of it--and yes, it looks as good as we want it to. This picture-perfect angle of what we expect to be the first Verizon Android device shows that it is in fact, called the Motorola Droid and that it will run Android 2.0 'Eclair' as listed in the above settings. We're crossing our fingers that Verizon and Motorola plan to launch this very, very soon.

What do you guys think?

Izvor

Motorola Droid Booted Up, Caught on Video!



BGR has their mitts on the Motorola Droid and was kind enough to record it booting up on video. The 35-second video itself doesn’t tell us much, we just see it go through the usual (but unique) startup progressions a phone would go through. It begins with a Motorola logo then stylishly flashes the word DROID, after that a red beacon pops up and runs a bit and the phone says ‘Droid’ in a robotic voice. Looks like ‘Droid’ is the name it likes being called.

There’s no sign of MOTOBLUR or any unique features that Android 2.0 ‘Eclair’ might have. The only thing we can tell from this brief Motorola Droid video is that it runs on Verizon. As cute as everything looks right now, we’re going to be positively tripped out every time our future Droid utters the word ‘Droid’.

Izvor

Verizon Attacks iPhone, Introduces Droid



The glove are off. After attacking AT&T, Verizon just released a commercial attacking/mocking the iPhone as an 'iDon't' device that doesn't have a real keyboard, can't multitask, can't take 5-megapixel pictures, can't take pictures in the dark, can't customize, can't run widgets, and can't interchange batteries. And guess what? Everything that the 'iDon't' can't do, the Droid does.

No shots of the Droid (previously known as the Sholes) were actually shown in the commercial but there is no doubt that Verizon is betting big on their first Android device. We're absolutely certain that interest in the Droid will soon reach a fever pitch and come November, it's going to be one of the most anticipated devices of the year. Expect more commercials and ads about what the Droid does and what the 'iDon't' cant.

What do you guys think? Smart move by Verizon? If anything, 'iDon't' is catchy as heck.

Izvor


-----------------------------------------------------------------

Sjajna reklama   

Motorola Droid hands on!



We absolutely nailed this puppy to the wall over and over and over again, so it’s only fitting we’d be doing the first actual unveiling, right? We’re not going to get too in-depth though, that will come at a later time. Here are some brief thoughts before the photos:

    * It’s running Android 2.0. Duh.
    * It’s thin. Just slightly thicker than an iPhone 3GS and the thinnest QWERTY-slider we’ve ever seen.
    * It is the fastest Android device we’ve ever used. (It’s running a TI OMAP3430 processor)
    * The feel of the device is very reminiscent of the OQO 02 model computer. Just smaller. It’s metal with a non-spring-assisted slide, very sturdy, and half soft-touch plastic.
    * Awesome capacitive display. Plus it’s huge. Easily the best screen we’ve ever seen on an Android handset, and an amazing screen overall.
    * The QWERTY keyboard is actually pretty usable and has a soft-touch rubberized finish. We’ve been told the keyboard design isn’t final on this unit, thus the two no-shows.
    * Have we mentioned this phone flies? It’s the Android device to beat, and easily the most impressive. From what we’ve been told, Google had a direct hand in the Motorola Droid. Something to the point of almost dictating every move Motorola made when designing and making the phone. Interesting, huh?
    * There’s a desktop cradle/charger that will ship with the Motorola Droid that we’ve been playing around with. It turns your Droid into a “multimedia station” and displays local weather, the time, etc.
    * No one wants to listen, but it makes the CLIQ looks like a child’s toy (partly because it is, and partly because the Droid, even in its non-final form, is the most impressive phone we’ve used since the iPhone. It’s positively amazing).

Ok, enough of that — enjoy the photos! We’ll put together a nice little review soon.

Click on over to our Motorola Droid hands on gallery!

izvor

ASUS Android smartphone unveiling to be 'this year'



It's short and sweet but we thought you'd like to hear the good news doled out by ASUS chairman Jonney Shih and CEO Jerry Shen at a local press meeting in Taiwan today. Shih says that the company's first Android phone will be "unveiled this year," not next as originally rumored. For a second, it makes you wonder what's going to happen to the OS underpinning the ASUS-Garmin nuvifone G60 -- then you remember that you weren't going to buy that phone anyway.

izvor

Ericsson Twitter Feed Mentions XPERIA X3 In November



This is pretty interesting. Ericsson, despite being a separate company from Sony Ericsson, has just tweeted a post about the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X3 mentioning a November announcement and linking to a Softpedia news article. Let’s bet this tweet won’t be online much longer, eh?

Here’s the link for the tweet anyway.

By the way, don’t forget that you can follow us on Twitter right here for extra content and thoughts.

Izvor

Motorola Calgary live photos: Verizon’s second Motorola Android device



If you thought you were in Android heaven, think again. We’ve just been given the go-ahead from one of our Motorola connects, and what you’re looking at is the Motorola Calgary (that’s a codename you might remember) slated to hit Verizon. Let’s focus on what appears to be a pretty popular theme with Motorola’s recent comeback efforts: a decent low-to-mid range handset with BLUR, and a high-end super smartphone, both Android of course. This would give Verizon customers (mostly those fickle teenyboppers) a real smartphone completely positioned for their liking, instead of the featurephones which shall remain nameless that are currently available on Big Red. In terms of hardware, there’s three touch-sensitive Android keys on the display, an optical joystick which we’ve been told performs really well, a workable QWERTY keyboard, and it sounds decent as a phone. The Motorola Calgary also features a 3 megapixel camera, 3.5mm headset jack, GPS, digital magnetometer, Wi-Fi, microSD card slot, and spring-assisted slider.

Our connect has been testing it over the past month and said the OS builds running on it are incredibly smooth as well as responsive. It’s certainly no Droid, but hey, it doesn’t have to be. No hard release date but we might be looking at a Q4 release… Hit the jump for some more pics!







izvor